Philadelphia Phillies great Jimmy Rollins says that Hall of Famer and his former Ryne Sandberg was disrespectful to him
Jimmy Rollins spent part of 17 years in the major leagues and he spent 15 of those in a uniform for the Philadelphia Phillies. While with the Phillies, he was an All-Star three times, a four-time Gold Glove winner, and won the NL MVP Award in 2007.
Now that he is retired, Rollins is part of the media, as he is an analyst for TBS on their MLB coverage. He also has a podcast with Audacy where he is a co-host with fellow TBS MLB analyst and former MLB player Ron Darling called Unwritten: Behind Baseball’s Secret Rules.
On their most recent episode in which the retiring Albert Pujols was their guest, Rollins revealed that his former manager Ryne Sandberg was disrespectful to him. Sandberg was a Hall of Fame player as he spent nearly all of his career with the Chicago Cubs.
Phillies: Jimmy Rollins says that Cubs legend, his former manager Ryne Sandberg was disrespectful
Jimmy Rollins said that Ryne Sandberg was disrespectful to him during one Spring Training with the Phillies in 2014.
During March 2014, Rollins caught the ire of his manager for saying that he didn’t care about spring training results. As a result, he was benched for three straight games … but didn’t hear Ryne Sandberg did not specifically talk to Rollins about his issue with him.
"“Given a full explanation, from there to being benched in spring training over an interview ‘cause I said ‘I don’t care about spring training results,’ which is the truth,” said Rollins. “Who cares about spring training results? They matter none. When a closer comes in in the fourth inning, this is not real baseball.“From a point of saying I don’t care about spring training to not even getting a call from the manager, getting a call from the clubhouse guys like ‘Hey, they said you don’t have to come in today.’ Alright cool, that’s strange. Tomorrow, which was the next day, it happens again. I’m like really? Here I am, supervet, on the brink of breaking Mike Schmidt’s all-time hits record (as a Phillie). Just the lack of respect that was given, like wow.”"
As Rollins explained, the first two games were road games so he “wasn’t too upset about it” since, as a veteran, players get the opportunity to choose which days they travel anyways. But he got questions in the clubhouse from others for it.
“So I get in the clubhouse and it’s like ‘Why haven’t you played?’ My answer: ‘Go ask the manager,’ said Rollins. “Don’t ask me. I got a call from the clubhouse guy. Don’t ask me why I’m not playing. Then getting called to the office and told why and being ‘I hope you learned your lesson,’ I’m like there is no lesson, period. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Whatever you’re trying to do, it didn’t work.”
2014 ended up being Rollins’ final season with the Phillies and Sandberg’s final full season as a manager. The Phillies went 73-89 in 2014 and after a 26-48 start in 2015, Sandberg was fired and replaced by Pete Mackanin on an interim basis. The club hired Mackanin as their full-time manager at the end of the season.
Sandberg has never managed or coached again. If the story is true, then it’s easy to see why Sandberg has never managed or coached again. A lack of communication is a huge issue for a lot of professions but as an MLB manager, that might be the tool that is paramount for success and respect from your players.
You can check out the entire podcast below or you can check it out here. Rollins talks about Sandberg at 22:50.