Wednesday evening, the Philadelphia Phillies held their 21st annual winter banquet in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, home to their Low-A minor league affiliate, the Lakewood BlueClaws. Many members of the Phillies' organization were in attendance, including manager Ryne Sandberg who will be entering his second full year in the position this upcoming season.
One of the most important things for a manager to do in the offseason, in order to create a positive atmosphere within the club going into Spring Training, is to stay positive-minded and enthusiastic about the upcoming campaign. Prior to the banquet, Sandberg spoke to reporters and quite frankly exhibited the exact opposite, saying:
"I didn't think we had a good clubhouse last year."
As NJ.com's Matt Lombardo writes, last night was not the first time Sandberg publicly spoke down upon his players. When Sandberg joined Mike Missanelli on 97.5 FM The Fanatic the day prior, he had similar beliefs about the clubhouse's culture."
Last season, closer Jonathan Papelbon had plenty of issues on the field, and presumingly off the field as well. In addition, by the end of this past September, starter A.J. Burnett openly stated his discontent with the state of the franchise by saying, "I expected a lot of things to be different. A lot." These cases were likely just a few of the many instances of player unhappiness that occurred last season. Losing day-in and day-out surely will generate this type of behavior across the clubhouse, however Sandberg does not attribute such to his opinion of the overall team:
"I don't think it was about that at all. I think between the white lines the guys played hard. They showed up early, they got their work in. They were prepared. Between the white lines, guys hustled, ran balls out, did everything they were asked. But, just as far as being complete players – the type of player that I like them to be on and off the field, representing the Philadelphia Phillies in the locker room, that could have been better."
As the 2015 season fast approaches with Phillies' pitchers and catchers due to report on February 18 (27 days away), Sandberg is optimistic to a fresh start:
"With younger players and younger energy, sometimes you can get more work in – and the players can get better under those [circumstances]. I'm looking forward to younger faces, some energy and some players that want to prove themselves and do that with energy, who play hard and hustle and mix that in with the rest of our group."
Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is a contributor to Philliedelphia.com.
