For those of you who do not know, Ron Santo was an All-Star 3rd basemen for the cubs. He was the recipient of five golden gloves and finished his career with a .277 BA. There has been much debate over his entrance into the Hall of Fame. He has come extremely close to gaining the necessary 75% of the HOF voters' approval, but never quite got over the hump. Sound familiar cubs fans?
After a quick google search, I realized that Ron had passed away this morning. He had been battling Type 1 Diabetes for all of his adult life. It is quite inspirational to imagine someone with that significant of a disease being a MLB All-Star and a five-time gold glover. The final cause of his death was bladder cancer, but it had clear links to his Diabetes, which eventually took both of his legs.
For my generation, Ronnie is best know for his no-holds-barred Cubs Radio announcing on WGN 720. When I think summer, I think of sitting in a backyard with some friends around the grill, tossing back a few old styles, playing bags, and listening to Ron and Pat Hughes call cubs games. It has been something I've taken for granted as a Cubs fan. There is always someone who is cheering louder and taking losses harder than you, if thats possible. That man happens to be in a profession that is technically supposed to be bias. Not Ron. He was always the first to let you know just how he felt, whether it be during a July game where the cubs are hanging around 3rd or 4th in the division and utterly hopeless or a late-September game in the bottom of the ninth in a close pennant race. His passion never wavered. Take this clip from 2010, a brutal year for the cubs. This game meant nothing, but still...the passion:
There have been countless moments that I have been listening to Ron call a game that have brought me to tears in laughter. The thing is, he's not trying to be funny. The man cared so much about our Cubbies that he would become piping hot with anger towards whatever umpire, opposing player, goat, or evil spirits that had doomed the Cubs on that day.
My one personal experience with Ron was one that I am extremely privileged to have had, and one that I will not soon forget.
I was about 14 years old when a friend invited me and another one of our buddies to go to a Cubs game. Great, I thought, I haven't been to a game this summer. Should be fun. So the three of us went, and around the 8th inning, the friend who got us the tickets let us know that we were going to make a quick pit stop upstairs in the booth.
Ummmmm, awesome? Apparently, my friend's mother is friends with Santo's wife, so he offered for us to come up. A few minutes later and the three of us were standing outside of the WGN booth on a sweltering mid-July afternoon. After a less than intrusive security check by an apathetic guard, we were granted access to the Holy Grail of Chicago sports radio.
We just sat there watching as the bottom of the 8th came to an end and when they went to commercial, he motioned us over to him. Whoa! We spoke for a brief moment and met Pat Hughes, but soon they were back on air.
I've always imagined that being a baseball radio announcer would be brutally difficult, because it has got to be difficult to come up with interesting things to talk about on a Tuesday afternoon when your club is losing to the Reds by 4 runs. Luckily, Ron ran with this opportunity. I will never, in my life forget these two minutes.
"So, Pat, me and my wife's good friends' son just entered the booth with two of his friends, and I gotta tell you, it really is amazing the way these kids grow up. I have known this young man for a long time and it really brings a smile to my face to see how they grow up. Welcome boys, and maybe you will give us some good luck!"
The story would be better if the Cubs had come back and won while we were in the booth, but I already took enough artistic liberty with the paraphrasing of Mr. Santo in that quote. Pretty close though.
The highlight of everything was when Ron gave us a ride home! That's right, Ron Santo gave me a ride home from Wrigley Field in his legendary Chevy Tahoe. Since, at that point, he had already lost his right leg to the Diabetes, he had a contraption installed with which he simultaneously controlled the gas and brakes with his right hand. To accelerate, he pulled down on a lever that was installed under the wiper lever, and to brake he pushed a button on the same lever. Pretty interesting and border-line safe. What is a cop going to do? Give a ticket to Ron Santo? Get outtta heeaaaa.
Trying to pull out of the Wrigley parking lot in Ron Santo's tinted out Tahoe made me feel like Burt Reynolds or somethin. Dozens of people stumbling out of the bleachers with 3rd degree sunburns and 14 beers under the belts (on a tuesday afternoon) came up to the car to get pictures and autographs. Ron, the great Chicagoan that he was, genuinely smiled and obliged to every last request. And to think, he had to do that exact same thing every home game (and probably most away games) every summer from 1990-2010. Unreal.
It is with great sadness that we, the people of Chicago, say goodbye to Ron Santo. "This Old Cub" will never be forgotten. The next time any cubs fan is sitting in their backyard around the grill, tossing back old styles, and playing bags, they will surely cherish the memory of hearing that gritty old voice willing, with every fiber in his being, for the boys in blue to pull one out so that W flag can fly high. Rest in Peace Ronnie, the Truest of the Blue.
