Phil Rogers  Hurdle made the Bucs believe they could win again
Now in his fourth season with club, skipper has turned Pirates
into contender  Hurdle made the Bucs believe they could win
again  Don't tell Ryne Sandberg that managers don't matter.
"For me, I think the leadership starts with the manager," said
Sandberg, the former Hall of Fame player who is now in his first
full season managing the Phillies. "That's what I always felt.
The managers on my [winning Cubs] teams -- Don Zimmer and Jim
Frey -- they were the leaders, I felt. We took on the
characteristics of them, and just took care of business.  "First
and foremost, I think that's where the leadership starts. You
get the players believing in what you're doing, you get on the
same page, and they start doing a lot of the work. Then it's
just about baseball, concentrating on winning games."
Sandberg's right. The most critical thing a manager has to do is
to get players to believe. There are places where it's a lot
easier for them to do that, but Texas