Ryne Sandberg, the Cubs’ superstar second baseman, is becoming impatient, and you can’t blame him.
“I watch the World Series every year,” he explained, “and each time it seems I see more and more of my ex-teammates in the Series, but I’m not there.”
He was in between swings during batting practice here at the Cubs’ spring-training complex.
I asked if it bothered him that he could be another Ernie Banks, 20 seasons with the Cubs without the joy of participating in a World Series.
“Definitely, it bothers me very much,” Sandberg replied. “It’s very important. The World Series is on top of my list of what I want to accomplish as a ballplayer. With the new season coming up, that’s the only thing I think about. It’s what motivates me. Winning. That’s the ultimate.”
Sandberg, 34, preparing for his 17th professional season, 13th with the Cubs, is aware time could be running out.
“It kind of set in last year that I didn’t have a lot of years left,” Sandberg said. “I started counting the years, and I said, `Where are we going? What’s happening?’ And I realized everything’s up in the air again. Another new manager. More new players.”
The problem, Sandberg insists, has been the lack of stability.
“The building of a winning team in baseball doesn’t happen overnight,” he said. “It takes two or three years, sometimes longer. It’s a tough thing to do. It seems like every time someone comes in, if they don’t win right away, they’re gone. And everything is changed.
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“Since I’ve been here, the managers and general managers haven’t been given the time to do what they’d like to do. Last year (manager) Jim Lefebvre did a good job. We went from about 20 games under to six games over .500. And now he’s gone.
“It takes time for players to get to know one another, to feel comfortable. That’s why we didn’t have a good first half. It took half a season for the new guys to know what their roles were, to get accustomed to National League play and National League pitching. That’s why we played so well after the All-Star beak.
“Six games over .500 was our third best season since I’ve been here. What’s wrong with filling in a few holes and building from last year? Instead, we’ve lost six players since the end of last season. And the year before, seven guys were moved. That’s 13 guys off a 25-man roster.
“There’s been too much movement. We have only three players left from the ’91 club-Mark Grace, Shawon Dunston and myself. In ’89 we had a team built mainly through our farm system. It was a young team with good promise. We were going in the right direction. Today, I don’t know where we’re going.
“It’s hard to tell about this year. I’m optimistic. I’m always optimistic in the spring. We’ve got a good lineup, a good catcher and the best relief pitcher (Randy Myers) in the league. We don’t know about our starting pitching. We have a lot of good arms in camp, but you never know what they’re going to do.”
And what about Ryne Sandberg, who is coming off his least productive season? Twice disabled with hand injuries, he hit only nine home runs last season, a third of his 1992 production. He drove in 45 runs, approximately half as many as the season before.
Is he fully recovered?
“Everything is back to normal. I had no spring training last year, and when I got into the lineup, after missing the first month, the power wasn’t there. To get on base, I adjusted my swing and concentrated on hitting for average (.309, highest since his 1984 MVP season.) I am now back to my natural swing.”
There was only one more question. After so many years of silence, why had he begun to speak out?
“I was a rookie when I was 22,” Sandberg said. “I was 24 when I won the MVP, and the next season I was still one of the youngest guys on the club. We had guys like Larry Bowa, Billy Buckner, Rick Sutcliffe and Ron Cey-all veterans. I just didn’t think it was my place to speak up. It’s different now. I’m 34 and starting to count the years I have left.”