Wally Backman out to prove polarizing baseball journey is not over by rescuing woeful Staten Island team

The Staten Island FerryHawks are as happy to have Wally Backman as the umpires of his 10-year-old grandson’s baseball games are to be rid of him as a heckler.The last two years proved to Backman and his family that his competitive juices still are flowing.And, if the 66-year-old former Mets great is going to be managing from a dugout, he only wants to do it in New York.“My time in baseball is not over,” Backman told The Post on Monday, shortly after he was announced as the manager of the FerryHawks.

“I’ve been a lifer.I love the game.

And I take a lot of pride in winning.Losing sucks.

This is a team that has struggled, and I accept the challenge.I believe I can turn this team into a winner.”The FerryHawks — formerly a Single-A affiliate of the Yankees — are off to an 8-40 start in the independent Atlantic League, which prioritizes winning over developing young players for the majors.

The standings reset July 3 for the start of the second half.Upon his return to the Atlantic League — where he managed the New Britain Bees (2018) and Long Island Ducks (2019-23) — the notoriously fiery Backman jokingly asked league president Rick White for a few freebie ejections to get reacclimated.“I try to teach the players like major leaguers — I’m not going to let a kid throw 140 pitches,” Backman said before boarding a bus for a nine-hour ride and gathering his thoughts for his first team meeting.“All they have to do is YouTube me and they’ll find out.

[The meeting] will be about winning No.1 and basically no bulls–t.

You’re never going to win every game, but we’re not going to get outhustled and outplayed.”Backman is a beloved member of the 1986 World Series champions who are celebrating their 40-year anniversary at a time when the Mets are mired in last place.He was last part of the organization as its Triple-A manager in 2016.Does Backman still dream of returning to the Mets? Or testing his managerial chops in MLB, as he nearly did...