Ryno's Wife wrote:
It's hard to quantify leadership skills...obviously there are no stats where that is concerned. What I do see is his dedication to the game, his willingness to work with younger players, his committment to the fans and to the game of baseball, and his yearing for the game to be played "the way it should be played." One article that sums it up nicely:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2916921. Granted, it's an older article (2007) but I think it demonstrates Sandberg's leadership potential very well.
He's also become much more vocal regarding the issues du jour in baseball, and has called out several contemporaries (Sosa) in public forums for less than stellar sportsmanship and lack of dedication to the game or to the team. These are lessons young ballplayers need to learn if they are going to be sucessful.
I don't qualify leadership by statement of opinion, personally. We're all going to have different ideas on what constitutes leadership. Elmhurst Steve, for example, seems to think leadership comes from clean pants.
I will give you that he's more vocal. But... what I'm looking for is the guy that grabs a guy like bradley by the ears and tells him that his bat breaking, lazy baserunning, eye rolling on each called strike act is horseshit and doesn't belong in the game. I'm looking for the guy who tells Sosa to turn off the fucking salsa music so other players can prepare for the game too. I'm looking for a guy who's gonna put an end to a starter stalking around the mound foaming at the mouth each time something doesn't go his way. I don't see any reason to believe that Sandberg is that guy. Yet. I'll give him some time, but you don't live 47 years as a meek quiet man and then become a leader in a couple years. Maybe Sandberg can teach the kids some fundamentals, but can he contain the big boy egos that are a problem with the Cubs?
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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014
bigfan wrote:
Many that is true, but an incomplete statement.