The tour hits Des Moines next

The Ryne Sandberg Tour, that started in 2007 with the Peoria Chiefs game at Time Warner Cable Field, moves on to Des Moines, Iowa. That is where he will manage the I-Cubs, the PCL affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

“I’ve been very pleased with the progression,” Sandberg said in a telephone interview today with the Des Moines Register. “Getting closer to the major leagues is very gratifying. I’m looking at this as another stepping stone.”

Sandberg, 50, replaces Bobby Dickerson, who has accepted an assignment in the minor leagues with the Baltimore Orioles.

“He’ll bring a level of excitement to the field and to the stadium,” Iowa Cubs general manager Sam Bernabe said. “He’s going to bring a buzz to the park everyday.

“We’re excited about being his next step toward becoming a big-league manager.”

Sans Sandberg

By far, the biggest news in the Midwest League yesterday.
Ryno up, over and out

The inevitable happened on Wednesday to the Peoria Chiefs.

Ryne Sandberg was promoted.

The Chicago Cubs revealed their managerial assignments, and after two years in Peoria the Hall of Fame second baseman will be managing in Double-A next year with the Tennessee Smokies.

Who is the new manager of the Chiefs?

Former Toronto Blue Jays third-base coach Marty Pevey replaces Sandberg with the Chiefs. Sandberg's promotion was not unexpected after Pat Listach left the organization to join the Washington Nationals staff.
...
Pevey comes to the Cubs organization after 12 years in Toronto's organization, with the last two and a half on the Major League staff. He was replaced in June along with manager John Gibbons.

'He played for (Cubs' minor-league field director Dave Bialas) and knew (Chicago's director of scouting Tim Wilken) from their Toronto days,' Fleita said. 'Marty's managed all the way to Triple-A. With that kind of experience our players will really benefit.'

Pitching coach Rich Bombard returns to the Chiefs and will be joined by hitting coach Barbaro Garbey.

Best picture of the Sandberg era is this one from the South Bend Tribune.

Guess who's pretty happy about the move...Just guess...Wow. You're pretty good.

The Tennessee Smokies, Double-A minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, proudly announce today Cubs Hall-of-Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg will be the Smokies’ manager for the 2009 season. Joining Sandberg on the 2009 staff will be pitching coach Dennis Lewallyn, hitting coach Tom Beyers and athletic trainer Nick Frangella.

“Ryne has been a great ambassador for the game over his career as a player, manager and-Hall of-Famer, and we welcome him to East Tennessee,” Smokies General Manager Brian Cox states. “We are excited our fans will get the chance to see a Cubs legend every night this summer at the ballpark.”

Pssst, Smokies! That photo is labeled SANBERG on your website. You might want to change that before anyone notices.

What did you do for the All-Star Game?

Probably not what the manager of the Peoria Chiefs did:

[Ryne] Sandberg took part in festivities Monday and Tuesday for Major League Baseball's All-Star game in New York and missed Wednesday's game in Peoria to attend a baseball celebration at the White House.

"Those were once-in-a-lifetime types of experiences," the former Chicago Cub and Hall of Fame second baseman said before Thursday's game against the Lansing Lugnuts.

I'm going to skip around a bit, because the kicker of this story should be at the end.

Tuesday began with a parade of Hall of Famers and this year's all-stars down Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. Sandberg said the number of fans who came to watch shocked him.

"Thousands, millions of people? I don't know," he said. "It was a 30-minute ride and jam-packed on both sides of the street. They had the red carpet rolled down the street. That was a big thrill."

Then it was on to Yankee Stadium for the Midsummer Classic. It was the first time Sandberg had set foot in perhaps baseball's most historic venue. Making the occasion even more special was being on the field prior to the game as part of the largest collection of stars in the game's history.

"To be able to walk from center field onto the field in that arena that night, it almost doesn't get any better than that," Sandberg said.

Not even one of the sport's greats was immune to getting goosebumps from the ceremony.

"I just took it all in, and it was a great moment," Sandberg said. "It was great for everybody that was out there, and it was great for baseball."

Then, there was the trip to the White House. Finally, there was the return home:

He was ejected for the fifth time this season Thursday when he argued base umpire Phil Henry's call that Elvis Lara was out on a close play at first base.

Brett and Sandberg

Post-Crescent writer Brett Christopherson caught up with Peoria manager Ryne Sandberg for a Q&A.

A line of about 30 fans, a smattering draped in Chicago Cubs jerseys and others wearing royal blue caps adorned with the classic block, red C on the front, have filled an aisle near the first base dugout at Fox Cities Stadium on Monday.

Some are clutching baseballs. Some are holding photos. A few have cameras.

And all want just two things: A few seconds with that guy who's casually swinging the fungo bat — and his autograph, for sure.

"It's great. It's all Cubs fans," Cubs legend, Hall of Famer and Peoria Chiefs skipper Ryne Sandberg said with a smile when asked if he ever gets comfortable with the amount of attention his visits throughout the Midwest League continue to generate.

Nice use of the word 'smattering', Brett.

Plenty of good Q's and good A's in that link. Here's a taste.

Q: Last month, you were suspended three games by the league following a bench-clearing incident at Clinton, Iowa. You were also suspended two games last season for an altercation with an umpire and have been ejected a total of eight times as Peoria's manager. According to an ESPN.com article, you were ejected just twice during your entire major league career. You have the reputation of being a 'nice guy,' so what's the deal? Are you getting ornerier?

A: It's all part of the job. Everybody's here to learn. I'm competing. I think I compete with passion, and that's part of it. Sticking up for my players. When I see a couple of calls go against my team and we're trying to win a ballgame, I'll go out and get verbal and see what's going on. That's all.

Head over for the whole thing.

Suspended

Peoria Chief manager Ryne Sandberg has been suspended three games...

...for his role in a bench-clearing incident last Thursday involving his Class A Peoria Chiefs team and Clinton manager Mike Micucci.

The Chiefs and the Midwest League announced the penalty. Sandberg began serving the suspension Saturday in Clinton, and also was to miss Sunday's game between the Chiefs and LumberKings at Alliant Energy Field. Sandberg also will miss the Chiefs' game on Monday night against the Quad Cities River Bandits at O'Brien Field in Peoria.

Sandberg apparently confronted Micucci between the sixth and seventh innings of a 7-3 Peoria loss. He was allegedly upset about a sixth-inning bunt attempt by Clinton, which was leading 6-0 at the time.