Phillies Fire Charlie Manuel, Ryne Sandberg Becomes New Manager

Charlie Manuel has been fired. The Philadelphia Phillies told the manager on Friday that he was being replaced on an interim basis by Ryne Sandberg.

In a public statement, Manuel said he was upset by his sudden firing:

“I’m mad because they took the best seat in the house from me. I enjoyed every bit of it.”

The move was the team’s way of giving Ryne Sandberg a chance at proving what he can do with the head coaching position with a good number of games still left in the regular season.

The 53-year-old Sandberg has been serving as the Phillies third base coach this season. The move to third base marked the first major league coaching position for Ryne. Before his time with the Phillies, Ryne Sandberg spent two seasons as manager of the franchises Triple-A team. Sandberg took Lehigh Valley to its first playoff appearance.

If Ryne Sandberg is successful with Philadelphia, it could be a slap in the face to the Chicago Cubs, which spent four years grooming his managerial talents before he departed from the club. Sansberg left the Cubbies after Theo Epstein took over the franchise and made it clear that Sandberg would not receive the head manager role anytime in the near future.

Charlie Manuel may not be leaving the ball club all together. According to reports, he has been offered a different role. Manuel says he has not decided if he will take the role. According to Manuel, “What I need to do is get some time off to sit and think.”

Charlie took the Phillies to the 2008 World Series championship, and he is the club’s most winningness coach of all time with a record of 780-646.

Over his 12 season manager career, Manuel has a record of 1,000-826.

Do you think Ryne Sandberg will be a competent replacement for Charlie Manuel?