NEW YORK _ Ex-Mets second baseman and Long Island Ducks manager Wally Backman was arrested Friday morning after a domestic dispute with a woman at her home in Riverhead, law enforcement officials said.
Riverhead police responded to a report of a domestic dispute at 7:42 a.m. at a home in the town, according to Chief David Hegermiller.
Backman, of Deer Park, reportedly pushed the woman against a wall, grabbed and twisted her left hand, and took her cellphone, preventing her from calling 911, according to charging documents. The woman told authorities that her left hand was in pain and she suffered a cut that required medical attention, according to the complaint.
Backman, 59, was taken to the Riverhead Police department for processing and arrested on charges of second-degree harassment and fourth-degree criminal mischief, Hegermiller said.
Backman was arraigned in Riverhead court and released on his own recognizance. Judge Lori Hulse also ordered Backman to stay away from the victim. He is due back in court Sept. 22.
Stephen Civardi, Backman's Freeport-based defense attorney, called the allegations "baseless" and said his client expected to be exonerated.
"Any well known sports figure is vulnerable to false accusations," Civardi said. "And my client adamantly and completely denies the allegations. We can show them to be baseless and completely without merit. When the facts are heard we are fully confident that he will be completely exonerated."
In a tweet Friday, Long Island Ducks president and general manager Michael Pfaff said Backman would remain the team's manager.
"We are aware of the alleged incident involving Wally Backman," Pfaff wrote. "We have spoken with Wally and understand he categorically denies all charges against him. Wally will continue as manager and neither he nor the Long Island Ducks will comment further on this pending legal matter."
Backman played for the Mets from 1980 to 1988 and was a key member of the 1986 World Series championship team. He coached in the Mets' system from 2010 to 2016 and was named the sixth manager in the Ducks' history in late November 2018.
In total, he played 14 years in the majors, including for the Twins, Pirates, Phillies and Mariners, finishing with a .275 batting average, 893 career hits and 482 runs scored.
After the 2004 season, he was introduced as the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, but was fired four days later after revelations of two previous arrests and financial difficulties came to light.
In 2001, he was arrested for domestic abuse and charged with misdemeanor harassment in an incident involving his wife, Sandi, and her friend, Sherrie Rhoden, in Princeville, Ore. Authorities at the time said Backman suffered a broken arm in the domestic scuffle when Rhoden struck him with one of his own used bats from the '86 World Series.
A year earlier, Backman was arrested for DUI. In 2003, he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.
