WHEN THE national reporters begin making mysteriously authoritative proclamations about your bosses' feelings concerning your job performance, you needn't possess a persecution complex to sense the skids being greased.
Yesterday, Ryne Sandberg did what many proud, financially ambivalent men would have done in his situation. He left before the inevitability of his leaving became awkwardly obvious.
The result was a remarkable press conference that featured a stunned general manager, a silent president, and a gigantic elephant invited by the outgoing manager and ignored by the other two men. The Phillies might be the worst team in the major leagues, but man, do they make it interesting.