From a fan’s viewpoint.. Ryne Sandberg’s arrival means a lot. Sure, the probabilty of the team having a winning season after 3 consecutive losing seasons is better… flip a coin, it doesn’t always land tails side up… but there is much more that will be impacted.
Sandberg will bring an energy to The Coke that hasn’t been seen there yet. Huppert did his best. I don’t fault him for much but I think I only saw him fired up once in 3 years and that resulted in Andy Tracy throwing 2/3 innings of relief in a blowout game. Frequent reader ‘Saturn’ brings up a good point adding that a renewed running game should show itself under Sandberg. Think Rich Thompson. Get on base. Run. Run. Run! More thrills should be here in 2011.
I would have to say the happiest folks in town right now are those of Ironpig’s Charities. Looking back over those jersey auctions where people pushed, shoved and kicked to bid a few hundred dollars on Dave Huppert and Rod Nichols game used jerseys. What will a Ryne Sandberg jersey bring? I’m sure he will also be involved with the Phillies caravan night and other charity events such as the Hackers and Homers golf tournament. Imagine what a bid to golf with Ryne Sandberg would draw? This charity program will thrive with the arrival of Sandberg.
At the end of this past season all the talk was about how the Ironpig’s would top the last 3 years. The first 2 years had a new team and new stadium. Year 3 brought us the AAA All Star game. How were the Ironpig’s to match their previous totals in tickets? They brought in Ryne Sandberg!
To Ryne Sandberg.. WELCOME! To the Phillies organization.. THANK YOU!
OinK!
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
Did the IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) re-sign Rich Thompson?
Perhaps they should. As far as veteran AAA players go, there are worse to be had.
Where do you project Domonic Brown to start the 2011 season?
(12/18 sb with AA R-Phils, 5/6 sb with AAA IronPigs)
“Did the IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) re-sign Rich Thompson?”
Not yet but they should.
According to Jeff Schuler’s latest Hog Blog, Rich Thompson has been signed. Also signing was Nate Bump and Tagg Bozied who had a very good year at Reading.
From this fan’s viewpoint, while it’s nice to have a marquee name as manager it won’t mean much unless he is able to attract first rate talent to the Ironpigs. With the Iowa Cubs in 2010 Sandberg had Jason Dubois who hit .300, 20 HR, 59 RBI in just 223 at bats, plus Bryan LaHair, .308-25-81, Micah Huffpauir, .283-22-95 and Brad Snyder, .308-25-106. I’m not 100% sure but I think all of the above are currently free agents. If Sandberg made a positive impression on any of them, why not pursue them so they can play for him again in 2011? One of Iowa’s better pitchers, Mitch Atkins (8-3 3.63) was also a free agent but he’s already been signed by the Orioles.
A hall of fame manager may initially attract fans to Coca-Cola Park and help raise money for Ironpigs Charities but nobody goes to a baseball ballgame to watch the manager manage. Put a winning team on the field behind a hall of fame manager and you’ll fill Coca-Cola Park every night.
For the record, the 2010 Ryne Sandberg managed Iowa Cubs hit 156 homeruns and stole 105 bases. The 2010 Ironpigs had the worst team batting average and worst on base percentage of any AAA team yet they still managed to steal 7 more bases than Sandberg’s team in 2010.
I wish Ryne Sandberg well with the Ironpigs but his success is totally dependent on the Phillies giving him a quality team to put on the field. I don’t think Sandberg could have done any better than Dave Huppert with the 2010 version of the Ironpigs.
The initial 2010 Pigs had some talent. Most of it bailed after the first few weeks. I remember listening to that initial road trip of late inning one run losses. It was heartbreaking. Then Valdez was called up. Wise bailed on us. Brown hadn’t made it up yet. 2011 could be one of those seasons we shake our head at. Still prefer positive attitude and hustle over talent.
“… nobody goes to a baseball game to watch the manager manage …”
Actually, I drove from Tulsa to Oklahoma City and back (100 miles each way) three times in four days last summer to sit in 100-degree weather and watch Sandberg manage.
My husband and I had been planning what would have been our fifth Route 66 trip to California next summer but decided to head east and explore the Lincoln Highway instead after Ryno got the Lehigh Valley job. We’ll be planning that trip around the Ironpigs’ schedule, of course.
Yeah, I’m a hopeless fangirl, but look: I grew up sitting in the living room with my daddy, watching Ryno on WGN. I loved watching him play, and I love watching him manage. There’s a certain joy in watching your childhood hero grow up, y’know?
I love it! That’s a dedicated fan! š
Make sure to find us when you visit or if you need any directions or suggestions for the area.
Dan
If I can only have one thing – it would be hustle.
It can and has been proved to make up for talent.
“Huppert did his best. I donāt fault him for much”
Really?
Let’s not fault Huppert for forgetting to utilize the hit and run.
Let’s not fault Huppert for forgetting to allow that crazy thing called the stolen base to occur.
Let’s not fault Huppert for having the team so unfundamentally sound that they must have either struck out or popped out on 30+ bunt attempts this season.
Let’s not fault Huppert for getting about as fired up as marshmallow when his players did fundamentally stupid things. He always just stared out into space placidly with his arms over the dugout railing.
While it is the players fault for not performing, it’s the managers fault for allowing the incompetence to continue and for not holding the players accountable.
Good riddance Hupp.
I should also note that the Ironpigs are getting one helluva first lady. Margaret Sandberg was a very enthusiastic supporter/organizer of the charity events the I-Cubs put on during Ryno’s tenure there. I’m not sure what she did before she met Ryno, but I’d be surprised if it didn’t include P.R. at some point, because she’s very good with the media. She’ll be a great asset to the community and to the club’s image. I have a lot of respect for her. (Probably not enough respect to quit checking out her husband’s backside when he’s coaching third, but maybe enough to make a halfhearted effort in that direction. *LOL*)
That’s good to know. We are putting together a charity cook book in the offseason. Would you know any way to contact her to see if she would be willing to submit a recipe to include?
No idea, but I’m guessing the Ironpigs’ front office might be able to help you out. I’d see if the P.R. department has a contact or is willing to send a message for you. What’s your deadline? You could probably go through Ryno’s agent, but that’s likely to take more time. I know he contributed a recipe to a Cubs cookbook a few years ago, so I imagine they’d help you out if you could reach them, but I don’t know how long it would take to get a message to them.
I’ll check into it. You could submit a recipe too if you’d like š