Phillies Name Sandberg Interim Manager

Ryne Sandberg has been named interim manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, effective with tonight's 7:05 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Senior Vice President & General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. announced today.

Sandberg, 53, has spent the 2013 season as the Phillies third base coach, his first major league coaching position. This year is his third in the Phillies organization, having served the first two as the manager for triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he went 155-132 (.540) and led the team to their first playoff appearance.

Before joining the Phillies, Sandberg managed four years in the Chicago Cubs minor league system, leading his clubs to two first-place finishes. He has an overall managerial record of 439-409-1 (.517) in the minor leagues.

A 2005 inductee into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Sandberg was originally drafted by the Phillies in 1978 and made his major league debut with the team in September of 1981 before being traded to the Cubs. He played 15 years for Chicago and finished his career with a .285 batting average, 282 home runs and 1,061 RBI in 2,164 games.

In addition to Sandberg being named manager, first base coach Juan Samuel will now be the third base coach and assistant hitting coach Wally Joyner will be the first base coach.