Jimmy Rollins calls ex-manager Sandberg disrespectful

Philadelphia Phillies great Jimmy Rollins says Hall of Famer and former Ryne Sandberg were disrespectful to him

Jimmy Rollins spent a portion of 17 years in the major leagues, and he spent 15 of those years in a uniform for the Philadelphia Phillies. During his time with the Phillies, he was a three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner, and won the 2007 NL MVP award.

Now that he’s retired, Rollins is part of the media as he is an analyst for TBS on their MLB coverage. He also has a podcast with Audacy, where he co-hosts with fellow TBS MLB analyst and former MLB player Ron Darling Unwritten: Behind the Secret Rules of Baseball.

In her last episode, which guest-starred retired Albert Pujols, Rollins revealed his former manager Ryne Sandberg was disrespectful to him. Sandberg was a Hall of Famer, having spent most of his career with the Chicago Cubs.

Phillies: Jimmy Rollins says Cubs legend, his former manager Ryne Sandberg, was disrespectful

Jimmy Rollins said Ryne Sandberg was disrespectful to him during spring practice with the Phillies in 2014.

In March 2014, Rollins incurs the wrath of his manager for saying he doesn’t care about spring training results. As a result, he was benched for three straight games … but he didn’t hear Ryne Sandberg didn’t specifically speak to Rollins about his issue with him.

“I got a full explanation, from there to the spring training bench press, via an interview for saying I don’t care about the spring training results, which is the truth,” Rollins said. “Who cares about the results of spring training? You don’t matter. If there’s a closer in the fourth inning, that’s not real baseball.

“From saying I don’t care about spring training to not even getting a call from the manager, a call from the clubhouse guys like, ‘Hey, they said you don’t have to come today.’ Ok cool, that’s weird. Tomorrow, that was the next day, it will happen again. I’m like real? Here I am, Supervet, about to break Mike Schmidt’s all-time hit record (as Phillie). Just the lack of respect that was given, like wow.”

As Rollins explained, the first two games were road games, so he “wasn’t too upset about that” since the veteran players have the option to choose which days they travel anyway. But he got questions in the clubhouse from others for it.

“So I go to the clubhouse and it’s like, ‘Why didn’t you play?’ My response: “Go ask the manager,” Rollins said. “Do not ask me. I got a call from the clubhouse guy. Don’t ask me why I don’t play. Then being called into the office and saying why and saying, “I hope you’ve learned your lesson,” I guess there’s no lesson, period. I dont know what you are talking about. Whatever you try, it didn’t work.”

2014 was Rollins’ final season with the Phillies and Sandberg’s last full season as manager. The Phillies went 73-89 in 2014 and after a 26-48 start in 2015, Sandberg was fired and replaced by Pete Mackanin on an interim basis. The club hired Mackanin as a full-time manager at the end of the season.

Sandberg never made it or trained again. If the story is true, then it’s easy to see why Sandberg never managed or coached again. A lack of communication is a major problem for many professions, but as an MLB manager, it could be the single most important tool in your players’ success and respect.

You can watch or watch the entire podcast below here. Rollins talks about Sandberg at 10:50 p.m.