In today's Phillies news update, baseball's all-time hits leader, Pete Rose, used a radio interview on Wednesday to levy criticism against both Philadelphia Phillies starting shortstop Jimmy Rollins and manager Ryne Sandberg.
Speaking with Mike Missanelli on 97.5 The Fanactic, Rose laid into Rollins for his noted refusal to waive his no-trade clause until he franchise's hits records and games played record:
"I don’t want to hear that [expletive]. I don’t want to hear that, okay? Here’s a guy that’s worried about Philly records and not Philly championships. How is it gonna change his life if he gets more hits…he’s not gonna get more home runs than Mike Schmidt got, he’s not going to get more RBIs than Mike Schmidt got. So when he says he’s looking for Philly records, what Philly records is he talking about?"
Along with his ire for Rollins' perceived slight, Rose also criticized Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg for what he believes is a lack of fiery leadership on the struggling ballclub.
"Sometimes, when you don't have spark, someone in the dugout has to create something. I thought [Larry] Bowa would do some of that," Rose said one day of after Bowa ripped into the Phillies for a lack of heart and effort. "Sandberg was a real good player. He was a strong willed player. I know that he's not a yelling type of manager."
"A team will take on its manager's personality. If it's a laid back manager, you'll have a laid back personality. The players will see that if it's OK for the Manager to be laid back, then you'll have a laid back team."
"When I was with Philadelphia, if guys didn't play hard, I didn't turn over any tables. See, that's where Sparking [Anderson] was right.. There are three kinds of ways you can handle guys; if a guy needs kicked in the butt, kick him. If a guy needs to be patted on the back, pat him. If a guy needs to be left alone, leave him alone..A manager has to find out who he is going to war with every night and know who he wants to be in the foxhole with him."
"As a manager, I don't know if Ryne knows his personnel yet. He's only been there since January."
Pete Rose and Larry Bowa both gained a reputation as hard-lined, no-nonsense managers - something which hasn't seemingly been the case with Sandberg.
Whether that is the reason for the Phillies' current slide or not, the recent losing ways of the team isn't doing Sandberg any favors from a perception standpoint.
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