On Friday afternoon, Ryne Sandberg informed the Philadelphia Phillies that he was quitting as the team’s manager. CBS Sports is reporting that Sandberg is stepping down and third base coach Pete Mackanin will take over as interim manager.
ESPN is reporting that Sandberg just got sick of losing all the time. This statement is a little bit funny since he spent most of his Hall of Fame playing with the Chicago Cubs, a team known as lovable losers.
“I do not like to lose. I hate to lose, I think that’s the biggest thing that weighed on me.”
Sandberg was at the helm for the Phillies for less than two full seasons. Ryne took over a sinking ship from Charlie Manuel in August 2013 and led the Phillies to a less than impressive 119-159 record. The Phillies are certainly in a rebuilding mode, which has only delayed because general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is still holding onto veterans who are no longer in their prime. However, Sandberg looked lost at times. Ken Rosenthal tweeted that many in baseball feel Ryne isn’t cut out to be a manager.
Collapse of #Phillies obviously not Sandberg’s fault, but widespread feeling within industry is that he was overmatched as a manager.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) June 26, 2015
Mackanin played for four teams in a nine-year Major League career. This will be his third stint as an interim big league manager, but he has never landed a permanent managerial job. He took over the Pittsburgh Pirates after Lloyd McClendon was canned for 22 games in 2005. Then, in 2007, he took over the Cincinnati Reds from Jerry Narron and led a struggling team to an above .500 record, 41-39, in his brief tenure. Noted baseball writer Bob Nightengale tweeted that Mackanin may be the permanent solution for the Phillies.
Pete Mackanin, highly respected in baseball circles, will be the interim #Phillies manager with chance to make it permanent.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 26, 2015
This could be just the first of a number of changes that the Phillies make. The team is expected to bring veteran baseball executive Andy MacPhail as the new club president. New leadership will probably bring about a flurry of roster moves at the July 31 trade deadline. Players like Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard will probably be in new uniforms by the time August rolls around. Hamels has been rumored to be leaving for over a year, but as reported on by the Inquisitr , the trade talk has heated up recently with Hamels even saying he would block a trade to the Houston Astros but allow a trade to the New York Yankees.
Who do you want to see as the next permanent manager of the Philadelphia Phillies?
[Image by Mitchell Layton / Getty Images]
