2015 Philadelphia Phillies 10th Anniversary: Part 3 - Ryne Sandberg had seen enough

In this final edition of a three-part series "celebrating" the 10th anniversary of the 2015 Philadelphia Phillies, we look at the departure of manager Ryne Sandberg and how it was a pivotal point in the long, slow process of bringing the Phillies back to contention years later.

ICYMI: Read the first two installments of this series, Part 1 - End of an Era and Part 2 - One-Year Blunders

When Ryne Sandberg took over for Charlie Manuel and his sad Wawa bag, Phillies fans liked the move, even if it was tough to see Uncle Charlie depart. Sandberg, a Hall of Fame player, had absolutely done things the right way up to that point as he paid his dues in the minor leagues as part of reaching his stated goal of becoming a big league manager. He didn't take any shortcuts, and he was rewarded for his efforts when the Phillies handed him the reins.

Taking over a team that was well under .500 in 2013, Sandberg guided the Phillies to a respectable 20-22 mark to close out the year. The following season had to qualify as a bit of a disappointment, although the team's 73-89 mark shouldn't have been surprising considering its rapidly declining core players and lack of new blood to build around. The team's next wave wasn't ready yet, but 2015 was supposed to be the first step in Sandberg leading the Phillies back to where they had been just a few years earlier. Looking back a decade later, however, any optimism was entirely misplaced.

The 2015 Phillies drove manager Ryne Sandberg into quitting in the middle of season

It didn't take long to realize that the 2015 Phillies were a bad mix of former stars who were past their "best by" date, veteran castoffs from other clubs, and young players who weren't ready for prime time (and, in most cases, never ended up getting there ever.) The Phils were 8-15 by the end of April and 19-33 by the end of May to fall a cool 10 games back in a division that they had no real shot at winning.

In mid-June, the team carried a six-game losing streak (during which they were outscored 28-11) into Baltimore for a series with the Orioles. That's when things got worse than anyone could have possibly imagined.

The Phillies dropped the opener at Camden Yards, a punchless 4-0 defeat that extended their skid to seven games. Then, on Tuesday, June 16, it all came to a head. The Orioles pounced on Phils starter Jerome Williams for six runs in the bottom of the first, punctuated by Williams leaving the game with a hamstring injury suffered covering home plate after his own wild pitch. Two runs scored on the play. You can't make this stuff up.

Dustin McGowan replaced Williams and proceeded to allow three solo home runs in the second inning and a three-run home run in the third. At least there was some variety, I suppose. After six innings, the O's led 17-3, and the Phillies turned to noted reliever Jeff Francoeur to pitch the seventh. He proceeded to set the Orioles down in order on 16 pitches, so Sandberg decided to send him back out for the eighth. It didn't go as well, as "Frenchy" threw 32 more pitches and allowed two runs. The game is most memorable for the communication breakdown between the dugout and bullpen, as well as team leader Chase Utley being visibly frustrated at the whole situation. As it turned out, Utley would only play a dozen more games in a Phillies uniform.

The Phils lost again the next day to extend their losing streak to nine games before winning the final game in Baltimore to prevent a four-game sweep. But the damage was done. The 19-3 loss clearly broke Sandberg, who resigned a week later. It was a surprising announcement, and the blowback was predictably harsh. It was also a disappointing end to a once promising managerial career. Pete Mackanin took over the reins on an interim basis and would guide the club through the 2017 season in what was a very forgettable period in team history.

Sandberg's departure set off a chain reaction and delayed the Phillies from being any kind of contender for years

As Sandberg wages an ongoing personal health battle, Phillies Nation and all of baseball continues to wish him the best. Sandberg made a great contribution to Major League Baseball for a long time. Unfortunately, it all came to a screeching halt once he took over behind the Phillies bench. Sandberg was given a group of players who collectively had no idea how to play winning baseball, and it took its toll on him, zapping his passion to teach and to manage. Since formally leaving the game, Sandberg has returned to the Cubs to perform occasional ambassador duties, but he'll likely never be back on the field in any capacity. The 2015 Phillies were simply that frustrating.

Sandberg's resignation was also the first domino in a disastrous chain of events. Three days later, the Phillies hired longtime baseball executive Andy MacPhail as a special assistant to team president Pat Gillick. As the Phillies plodded through the season, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. was given the axe in September, his fate seemingly sealed years earlier by a litany of bad contracts that he gave out during his tenure. Gillick retired after the season, MacPhail moved into his position, and he hired his protégé Matt Klentak for the vacant GM job. As we all painfully remember, the MacPhail/Klentak regime brought us Gabe Kapler and Joe Girardi as managers alongside numerous other personnel missteps.

The tide finally started to turn after the 2018 season when the Phillies signed Bryce Harper and traded for J.T. Realmuto. They also hit big on signing Zack Wheeler the following offseason. And while you have to officially attribute these moves to MacPhail and Klentak, it was really John Middleton finally deciding that it was time to pay up for good players that drove these types of decisions.

In terms of actually shrewd trades or free agent signings that overdelivered, it's arguable that MacPhail and Klentak did almost nothing right during five years of torture. It would be too simplistic to blame Ryne Sandberg for everything, but you can definitely draw a straight line back to the turmoil that he put the organization in when he decided to quit. Sandberg was a great competitor as a player, and he no doubt did not arrive at his decision lightly. But he made it, and the organization (and more importantly, its fanbase) dealt with the fallout for years.

This really was the lasting legacy of the 2015 Phillies as we look back at them 10 years later. An absolute rock bottom that took agonizingly long for the organization to pull itself out of. They nearly returned to the promised land seven years later before falling two games short in the 2022 World Series, and they're still chasing it three years later as sand drains from the hourglass on the aging core of the team.

Let's hope that the team and city can at least experience another parade before we ever see another season even remotely resembling 2015. With that, we bid "smell you later" to this trip down memory lane to examine the 2015 Phillies.

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