Ryne Sandbergs speech today...espn insider help needed

[Spaceman Spiff]

Did anyone see it? i thought it was awesome...anyway, can anyone post this article? its on espn insider.

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=2121189&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmlb%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dcrasnick_jerry%26id%3d2121189

[Spaceman Spiff]

shameless bump for my own thread

[galentjm]

Ask and you shall receive......

Sandberg speaks his mind

Insider

Crasnick

By Jerry Crasnick

ESPN Insider

Archive

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Theories abound for Ryne Sandberg's inability to deliver a single usable quote in 16 major-league seasons with the Chicago Cubs.

Sandberg insists that baseball was never easy for him, and that he channeled so much energy into preparation that he had nothing left to give to the media. But he might have underestimated his gifts. Former Cubs teammate Mark Grace once told a Chicago reporter that Sandberg was so good it scared him, and that he responded to the demands of fame by withdrawing rather than embracing the role of star.

The end product was a portrait in bland. Sandberg hit 282 career home runs, made 10 All-Star teams, won nine Gold Gloves, and maintained a subterranean profile because he shared so little of himself for public consumption.

But in the end, the joke was on everybody else. Ryne Sandberg, we now know, had lots to say. He was just waiting for the right occasion.

It came Sunday, at the 2005 Baseball Hall of Fame inductions in sun-splashed Cooperstown. Before a crowd of 28,000 -- the third largest in the history of this event -- formerly reserved Ryno stood on a podium with 49 other Hall of Famers and turned town crier. In his call to arms, Sandberg urged today's players to respect the game, hustle out ground balls, and start paying more attention to the team name on the front of the jersey and less to the individual name on the back.

Certain elements of Sandberg's speech were subject to interpretation. Some observers in the crowd thought that Sandberg was railing against steroids, and that he took a veiled shot at former Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa. The only certainty is that Ryne Sandberg, old-school ballplayer, is not happy with the current state of the game.

"When did it become OK for someone to hit home runs and forget how to play the rest of the game?" Sandberg asked. "These guys up here [on the podium] did not pave the way for the rest of us so that players could swing for the fences every time up and forget how to move a runner over to third base.

"A lot of people say this honor validates my career, but I didn't work hard for validation. I didn't play the game right because I saw a reward at the end of the tunnel. I played the game right because that's what you're supposed to do. If this validates anything, it's that learning how to bunt and hit and run and turn two are more important than knowing where to find the little red light at the dugout camera."

When asked later if he was referring to anyone in particular, Sandberg smiled and said, "Who do you have in mind?"

Two themes were predominant at this year's Cooperstown inductions. The first was rampant Cubs mania, as evidenced by the sea of Sandberg No. 23 shirts and the roar of the crowd in response to all things Cub-releated. Fans cheered Ferguson Jenkins and Billy Williams the loudest, laughed over Father Roberto Corral's plug for the Cubs in his invocation, and gently chided Hall chairman Jane Forbes Clark when she omitted Harry Caray from a list of great broadcasters in her presentation of the Ford C. Frick Award.

Theme No. 2 was a return to the roots of the game. It was evident in a poetic, uplifting speech by ESPN's Peter Gammons, who spoke of baseball as "our metamorphic soul," and paid tribute to ballplayers who play the game for the pure joy of it. But then, simple pleasures are a staple on induction weekend. As fans walked through Cooperstown on their way to the Clark Sports Center, they passed kids selling lemonade in driveways, and knew that Stan Musial was already warming up for his harmonica solo.

“ When I watch games today I see players self-promoting. If they hit a home run and their team is down four or five runs, they're tipping their cap to the camera. My feeling is, 'Hit a home run and circle the bases, and have your team win, and then tip your cap.' That's what I'd like to see.”

— Ryne Sandberg

Wade Boggs, Sandberg's fellow inductee, invited a passel of friends from Florida for the ceremony. Those fortunate enough to make the "A" list stayed at the Otesaga Hotel, where the rocking chairs on the porch afford a breathtaking view of Lake Otsego. Boggs' other friends, those on the "B" list, stayed several miles up the road at the Best Western, where $250 a night could buy a spacious room and ready access to a Pizza Hut and a McDonald's.

Craig Cooley, a lawyer from Orlando, Fla., used to catch batting practice at Tampa's Plant High School, Boggs' alma mater, when Boggs would return from the minor leagues for workouts in the late 1970s. "I don't think Wade is going to make it through his speech," Cooley said before the event. "He wants to hit it perfectly. But it's so emotional, there are bound to be some cracks."

In a concise, 12-minute speech, Boggs recalled the thrill of having former Yankees teammate Don Mattingly call and tell him he had just won his first career Gold Glove. He came perilously close to breaking down when remembering his mother, Sue, who died in an automobile accident in 1986, and in recognizing his father, Win, in the audience.

"Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad," Boggs said. "That's why I call you dad, because you are so special to me. You taught me the game and you taught me how to play it right."

Sandberg's speech was littered with references to former teammates, coaches and managers -- several of whom were in the crowd. Of former Cubs shortstop Shawon Dunston, Sandberg joked, "Shawon knew three weeks in advance if we were facing Nolan Ryan, and he always had a hamstring pull planned the day before."

Sandberg praised Andre Dawson for playing "the right way, the natural way," and expressed the hope that Dawson and Cubs broadcaster Ron Santo, whose fate is subject to the Veterans Committee, will join him in Cooperstown one day.

Both Sandberg and Boggs cited Pete Rose as influences, and while refusing to condone his betting on baseball, praised him for a head-first-slide approach that they believe other players should emulate.

"Pete Rose loved the game and played it as hard as you can play," Boggs said. "Nowadays, it's fashionable not to hustle, and I just don't understand it. I really don't."

At a press conference after the ceremony, Sandberg refused to back down from his rant against baseball's current home run-first mentality. At the risk of sounding like a grouchy old man at age 45, he's seen enough preening to last a lifetime.

"When I watch games today I see players self-promoting," Sandberg said. "If they hit a home run and their team is down four or five runs, they're tipping their cap to the camera. My feeling is, 'Hit a home run and circle the bases, and have your team win, and then tip your cap.' That's what I'd like to see."

As a brand new Hall of Famer, Sandberg has the greatest forum of all to turn back the clock and promote his old-school vision. Surprise of surprises, he just might take advantage of it.

Jerry Crasnick covers baseball for ESPN Insider. His book "License To Deal" has been published by Rodale. Click here to order a copy. Jerry can be reached via e-mail.

[codeorama]

I knew there was a reason that I always liked him.

[galentjm]

Originally posted by codeorama

I knew there was a reason that I always liked him.

Yeah, he was one of my favorite players growing up as a kid. A true throwback player and a Class A individual. The league needs more guys like this.

[codeorama]

Originally posted by galentjm

Yeah, he was one of my favorite players growing up as a kid. A true throwback player and a Class A individual. The league needs more guys like this.

I loved players like Cal Ripken, George Brett, Ryno etc...

That era of player is gone. That's why I have trouble loving MLB today.

[galentjm]

Originally posted by codeorama

I loved players like Cal Ripken, George Brett, Ryno etc...

That era of player is gone. That's why I have trouble loving MLB today.

There is a few of them still out there, Tejada, Pujols, Jeter, Maddux to name a few. But you're right, these types of players have become few and far between and that is truly a discouraging thought.

I'm still holding out hope that the face of the game will change and the values of Ripken, Sandberg, Aaron, etc. will once again be the standard. Alas, my hopes are most likely in vain.

[codeorama]

Originally posted by galentjm

There is a few of them still out there, Tejada, Pujols, Jeter, Maddux to name a few. But you're right, these types of players have become few and far between and that is truly a discouraging thought.

I'm still holding out hope that the face of the game will change and the values of Ripken, Sandberg, Aaron, etc. will once again be the standard. Alas, my hopes are most likely in vain.

I'm with you buddy.

I'm hoping all of this steroid stuff coming out now is a good thing. My nephew is 6 and is exceptional at baseball. I don't want to see him face those types of choices when he gets older.

[rebornempowered]

That's great stuff. He and Mark Grace are my two favorite players ever.

Sad thing is Grace probably won't make it to the hall even though he had more doubles than any other player in the nineties.