Salisbury: Sandberg’s Solid Status, Bowa on Bench?

Jim Salisbury wrote early this morning that it “seems to be a fait accompli“ that Ryne Sandberg will soon have the interim tag lifted from his job title. Salisbury believes that an announcement may come before the September 29 season-ender in Atlanta or in the days shortly after. Sandberg has led the Phillies to a 18-14 record since taking over the club.

Salisbury wrote this afternoon that should Sandberg shed the interim tag for next year, a leading candidate to fill his coaching staff may be a shortstop he was once traded with to the Cubs, Larry Bowa. Bowa, 68, managed the Phillies to a 337-308 composite mark from 2001 until Game 160 of the 2004 season. According to Salisbury, Bowa visited Sandberg on Wendesday. While Salisbury said Sandberg deflected questions about filling out his bench coach line-up, noting that he was currently the interim manager, the always good-for-a-quote Bowa had this to say to Salisbury:

“Let’s just say this: I like what I’m doing,” said Bowa, an analyst for the MLB Network since 2011. “Do I miss the game? Yeah. I miss a lot of parts of it. But that’s something that Ryno and Ruben Amaro and David Montgomery have to figure it out.”

A return to the Phillies would be interesting to say the least – Bowa did not leave the team on good terms, exiting after game 160 of the 2004 season on his own terms.