Ryne Sandberg, the biggest ‘what might have been’ in Philadelphia history, dies at 65

Like so many stars before him and after, Ryne Sandberg’s connection with Philadelphia is a tale of what might have been, both as a player and as a manager.

In 1982, former Phillies manager Dallas Green was the Chicago Cubs’ general manager. Phillies GM Paul Owens was locked in a contract battle with shortstop Larry Bowa. Green offered Owens shortstop Iván DeJesús in exchange for Bowa, but only if a triple-A infielder named Ryne Sandberg was included in the deal. Sandberg was a skinny, fast, sure-handed shortstop, a high school quarterback who projected as a superb second baseman.

And so he was.

To be fair, the story isn’t as cut-and-dried as it has grown to become; DeJesús played well for three seasons in Philly, and helped them to the World Series in 1983. Bowa got his two-year extension and helped the Cubs to the 1984 postseason.

» READ MORE: Baseball Hall of Famer Ryne ‘Ryno’ Sandberg, who started his career with the Phillies, died at 65

So did Sandberg.

As the National League MVP.

That also was the first of 10 consecutive seasons that Sandberg went to the All-Star Game, won the second of his nine consecutive Gold Glove awards, and won the first of seven Silver Slugger awards. The Phillies had acceptable second basemen for much of that era — Manny Trillo, Joe Morgan, Juan Samuel — but they had no one like Ryno.

Oh, what might have been.

The Cubs unveiled a statue of Sandberg outside of Wrigley Field in June of 2024. Like me, he was delighted that the statue depicts him in a defensive stance, his glove at the ready.

This was six months after Sandberg announced that he had metastatic prostate cancer. He died Monday night.

In Philadelphia — a city that saw Ferguson Jenkins and Sergei Bobrovsky climb to fame after they were traded — Sandberg will be remembered as the most painful departure of them all.

When he retired, Sandberg held the major-league record for home runs as a second baseman. Among Phillies, Samuel was second, with 92, until Chase Utley came along and his 233. Utley finished his career with 259 home runs, which is still 23 fewer than Sandberg. As good as Utley was, Sandberg was that much better.

» READ MORE: From 2013: Ryne Sandberg: The path less traveled

Their paths eventually crossed.

Fast-forward nearly 30 years. Sandberg had retired as a lifelong Cub after the 1997 season, left baseball for a spell, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 on his third try, then returned as a minor-league manager with the Cubs two years later. He seemed destined to manage the big-league team but, after being passed over by the Cubs, he defected for the Phillies’ triple-A club in 2011.

Two years later he was the Phillies’ third base coach and infield instructor, which means he was one of Utley’s coaches in 2013, until the Phillies fired Charlie Manuel, at which point Sandberg became Utley’s manager on an interim basis. In fact, the pair first met in 2012, when Utley was on a rehab assignment at Lehigh Valley.

They clicked.

By 2013, the Phillies’ Golden Era had faded. Ryan Howard never recovered from an injury suffered in the 2011 playoffs, Roy Halladay was pitching his final season, Cliff Lee had only one more year left in him, and Utley’s knees were nearly shot.

The Phillies named Sandberg permanent manager in September of 2013, but he had no real stars. By late June of 2015 he was managing a last-place team, he had a career record of 119-159, so Sandberg resigned. He never got another chance to manage.

You can’t help wonder, though, what might have been.

Anyone who spent five minutes around Sandberg knows what a fine baseball mind he had. Anyone who spent two minutes around Sandberg knows what a fine human being he was.

What if Sandberg had the stable of talent Manuel had? What if he had the horses John Middleton and Dave Dombrowski have given Joe Girardi and Rob Thomson?

Oh, again, what might have been.