Ryne Sandberg is finally getting his chance to be a big league manager. Not with the Chicago Cubs like he originally had hoped, the team with which he had a legendary career as a player, but with the Philadelphia Phillies instead.
You might recall the Phillies were the team Ryne Sandberg broke into the Majors with. In one of the best trades in Cub history, Sandberg was traded for Ivan DeJesus. For Chicago, it was the anti- Lou Brock for Broglio deal.
Anyways, the Phillies will soon officially announce that Charlie Manuel will be relieved of duty in a press conference later today.
Manuel won 780 games with the team, most in franchise history. Numerous sources have pegged Ryne Sandberg as the successor; at least in the interim. “Ryno” worked his way through the ranks as a manager within the Cubs minor league system, and he’ll get his shot at managing at the MLB level in Wrigley Field Aug 30th-September 1st when the Phillies visit Chicago.
Sandberg has already managed in Wrigley Field; leading the Single A Peoria Chiefs into a game at the Friendly Confines when he managing there a few years ago.
Ryne Sandberg is regarded as one of the best second basemen of all time: both offensively and defensively. He’s such a local legend in Cub Nation that a local brewbup even had a beer named after Ryne Sandberg for awhile. The “Ryno 23” was a popular “draft choice” in Wrigleyville a couple years ago.
Good luck to Ryne Sandberg, with the Phillies, he’s going to need it.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan, he also writes on Chicago sports media for Chicago Now. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)