Former Chicago Cubs third basemen Ron Santo was recently elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame just over a year after his death. Santo fought a long list of diseases at the end of his life including bladder cancer, pneumonia, and juvenile diabetes, which he battled his entire life and took both of his legs but never his love for baseball. He was 70 years old when he passed away December 3, 2010.
When I heard the news that he finally was going to the Cooperstown, I immediately felt saddened because he deserved to be inducted many years ago so he could have enjoyed this moment and he famously said he did not want to get elected to the Hall post-humorously. We would have been blessed with likely one of the better acceptance speeches leaving hardly a dry eye in the stands. This also would have been one of the happiest baseball days for Ronnie; topped likely only by the chance the Cubs were to ever win the World Series.
Ron Santo had stats that stacked up against just about every third basement in history. He batted .277, hit 342 home runs, 1331 RBIs. He led the National League in walks 4 times, triples one time, went to 9 All-Star games, and won 5 Gold Gloves in a row between 1964-68. Well respected baseball historian, Bill James, has long claimed Santo as the most deserving non-Hall of Fame member not to be elected, calling Santo one of the top 100 players of all time and the sixth best third basemen.
He played 14 years for my favorite team, the Chicago Cubs (as well as 1 year for the Chicago White Sox), well before I was alive so I knew him only as the radio color commentator or more fittingly, the dying-hardest of Chicago Cubs fans. He would celebrate/agonize over not only wins and losses but down to every ball and strike. He was the Cubs biggest fan and had the honor and responsibility of holding the microphone to speak to all the millions of fans within earshot of WGN radio. I heard some replays of his epic calls this morning on the radio and found myself crying because I missed listening to Ronnie hoot and holler about the Chicago Cubs.
When I was still in school, my mom would have the Cubs game on TV but mute it so she could listen to Ronnie and play-by-play partner Pat Hughes. I remember of course the famous calls that are replayed often; like the “OH NO!” after Brant Brown’s dropped fly ball in Milwaukee from the ’98 season that almost cost the Cubs the wildcard. But I also remember a game from 2007 season when the Cubs gave up 6 runs in the 9th inning to the Colorado Rockies to blow an 8-3 lead. Santo was moaning and groaning on air about Scott Eyre and Bobby Howry. Then the Cubs scored 2 runs in the bottom half of the inning and Ronnie was going nuts and could hardly speak. The bottom of the 9th inning was filled with “Alright! Alright!” and “YES!!!” followed of course “YES! Cubs WIN!”
I was lucky enough to meet Ron Santo in person one time. The Cubs were on a trip in late July playing in Los Angeles and I was out there on vacation. We were going to the Cubs vs. Dodgers game that night but ran into Ron at the Warner Brothers studio tour that morning. He talked with us about the team and the pitcher that night and how excited he was that we were also from Chicago and how great Cubs fans were. It wasn’t more than 5 minutes but it sure felt like he genuinely wanted to talk to us because we were supporters of his beloved Cubbies.
Although Ron Santo will not be able to attend the ceremony, the Santo family, the millions of Chicago Cubs fans, and even more baseball fans will be able to honor the talented third basemen, beloved announcer, and devoted philanthropist for juvenile diabetes, which for the right reasons brings a tear to my eye.
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