Dave Huppert was the IronPig’s skipper for the first 3 seasons here in the Lehigh Valley.
He led the team with much criticism and did the job the Phillies expected him to.
While not the most loved baseball manager in IronPig’s history, Huppert will not have to face what manager #3 will have to face.
It’s more than likely that Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg will not return to the IronPigs in 2012. There are many teams, many cities and many fans clamoring for him to take the helm of their teams. I don’t blame them. That’s how we felt last off-season.
Sandberg pushed the IronPigs to win the first game of the season this year catapulting them to the first over .500 winning percentage in team history, a share in first place for the first time (and held in that position for a good part of the season) and got them to the finals in the International league playoffs.
Whoever comes in next is going to have a tough time winning over fans. Will that new manager care? You never know but I think whoever it might be needs to be ready for it. With a taste of winning, IronPig fans have grown to expect more and more. What will year 5 bring us?
I noticed something this season that I hadn’t heard often at Coca Cola Park. The fan base booed a player off of the field. Domonic Brown did struggle and may or may not have deserved the reception but fans were more supportive or, for lack of a better word, understanding in the past.
Pig Fans have gotten a taste of winning and I foresee a season filled with second guessing the manager and hearing “What would Sandberg have done there?”
I look forward to hear who the 2012 IronPig Manager will be… but I don’t envy the position he will be in one bit.
Of note: A friend is looking to sell a Dave Huppert auction jersey. If you’re interested let me know and I’ll get you in touch.
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
It could be ugly if the team goes back to it’s losing ways. It’ll be playoff hangover and I can hear the fans screaming “we want Sandberg!!” Yep that manager who ever it is will have some big shoes to fill.
I think Sandberg will be back with Pigs in 2012—and be the Phillies manager in 2013. The Phils job is probably the best in baseball, Sandberg is smart enough to wait a year for his dream job. If Sandberg is not even on the Redsox long list, this should tell everyone that his stock is not as high as we think—-so here you go, sandberg in 2012, then signs a three year $8 million deal with the big club for 2013-2015 seasons
Sandberg already HAS waited a year for his dream job, and with Hendry out and Epstein in, I don’t see him turning it down so he can spend another year coaching AAA.
As for Boston: These are the Red Sox, not the White Sox. They’re not going to hire a manager with no big-league coaching experience. Frankly, I’m not even sure the Cubs are going to bring Sandberg in as manager. Depends on who else is available and whether Epstein wants Sandberg getting the blame for the mess Hendry left for somebody else to clean up. But if Epstein wants the Confines to stay friendly, he’ll put Sandberg on the coaching staff in some capacity.
The hiring of Ventura by the Cubs’ crosstown rivals — boneheaded as it may have been — ratchets up the pressure on the Cubs to get their own #23 back home as quickly as possible.
I’m not sure where Sandberg WILL be next year, but I’m pretty sure I know where he WON’T be.
Article by Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports:
http://mlbbuzz.yardbarker.com/blog/mlbbuzz/another_battle_looming_between_cubs_red_sox/7435789
The haggling between the Cubs and Red Sox over Theo Epstein might not be the last battle between the two clubs this offseason.
The teams also could end up competing for managers — and specifically, Cubs legend and Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg.
Sandberg turned down an offer from Epstein to manage the Red Sox’s Triple-A team last season; he already was committed to a similar position with the Phillies at that point, major league sources say.
Now Epstein is on the verge of joining the Cubs, whose previous GM, Jim Hendry, snubbed Sandberg for Mike Quade a year ago.
If Epstein hires a manager without major league experience, he probably would have little choice but to go with Sandberg. The hiring of another first-time, major league manager — say, Rays bench coach Dave Martinez — could alienate Sandberg from his former team for good.
Epstein, of course, might prefer a more established type, perhaps even his former Red Sox manager, Terry Francona. But Cubs owner Tom Ricketts reportedly wants to renew the organization’s ties with Sandberg.
Where do the Red Sox come in?
They also are likely to show interest in Sandberg; their incoming GM, Ben Cherington, was involved with the pursuit of Sandberg a year ago. And while it seems likely Sandberg would choose the Cubs over the Red Sox, the events of the past few weeks have proved yet again that in baseball, nothing is assured.
Sandberg, 52, managed at Class A with the Cubs in 2007 and ’08, Double A in ’09 and Triple A in ’10, when he was the Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year.
He impressed Phillies officials with his work at Triple A last season, leading the team to a wild-card berth in the International League.
— Ken Rosenthal