RIP Ryne Sandberg

[micropolitan guy]

After the statement Jane Forbes Clark delivered before the HOF inductions, I had a sinking feeling that this would be coming.

RIP Ryno.

Yes, me too. He would have been there had it been possible.

I knew the scout who signed him for the Phillies, he lived in Microville. They always stayed in touch and the scout was invited to Ryne's HOF induction, which I guess is a traditional thing. He had a football offer at WSU as their QB but chose baseball. He went to North Central High School and was a three-sport star in the Greater Spokane League.

RIP to a great one.

Dallas Green was with the Phillies, they fired him, Green went to the Cubs and immediately got Sandberg included as a throw-in on the Bowa-DeJesus deal.

Get your PSA checked. My guess is he didn't, and by the time he started having symptoms it had metastasized into his bones.

Harry Caray's call:

 

[BTExpress]

Don't know why, but he was one of those guys I just thought would stay 30 years old forever.

 

[dixiehack]

The Braves and Cubs weren’t my favorite superstation programing in the 80s, but they were the metronome you could rely on to tick away the summer. Somehow more than with Harry Carey, that consistent rock of childhood crumbled a great deal tonight.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

Yeah, this one really hurts, and just sucks.

My best friend growing up loved the Cubs. When we were old enough to drive, we made a bunch of road trips to Wrigley. He loved Grace, Dunston, Dawson, Maddux, all those guys.

But Sandberg was his sports idol. His No. 1 sports hero. The kind you can only have as a kid.

Sandberg’s death brings back a flood of those memories. The road trips and baseball talks.

All of that time with my friend, who died of a brain aneurysm at 21. Buried in his Cubs hat.

 

[tapintoamerica]

Didn’t realize he was a 20th-round draftee. Pretty nice career for an afterthought.

 

[maumann]

Yeah, this one really hurts, and just sucks.

My best friend growing up loved the Cubs. When we were old enough to drive, we made a bunch of road trips to Wrigley. He loved Grace, Dunston, Dawson, Maddux, all those guys.

But Sandberg was his sports idol. His No. 1 sports hero. The kind you can only have as a kid.

Sandberg's death brings back a flood of those memories. The road trips and baseball talks.

All of that time with my friend, who died of a brain aneurysm at 21. Buried in his Cubs hat.

Excellent post. And a great way to remember a person who still means that much to you despite dying so young and with so much life ahead.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Didn't realize he was a 20th-round draftee. Pretty nice career for an afterthought.

I think he went so low because everyone figured he was going to play college football.

 

[bumpy mcgee]

Heaven needed someone to never swing at the first pitch.

 

[Starman]

Whitaker was better. But Sandberg was an everyday presence in baseball for about 15 years.

Because of the Superstation phenomenon, Sandberg and Dale Murphy to some extent "marked the time," in the Terence Mann phrase, for a couple generations of baseball fans.

Almost exactly one year younger than me, too, so it's sobering news on that level as well.

 

[Bubbler]

Summers in the 80s on a lazy day in front of the tube …

Lincoln Carpet
Dominick Foods
Old Style … brewed with pure artisian spring water and krausened!
588-2300, Empire! Today!
Ryne Sandberg and the Cubs on the tube.

Back then, I had no animus towards the Cubs, other than being a Chicago team, with my Brewers in the AL. Watching the Cubs allowed me to see how the other half lived in the National League. Ryne Sandberg was worth the price of admission. RIP.

 

[maumann]

Whitaker was better. But Sandberg was an everyday presence in baseball for about 15 years.

Because of the Superstation phenomenon, Sandberg and Dale Murphy to some extent "marked the time," in the Terence Mann phrase, for a couple generations of baseball fans.

Almost exactly one year younger than me, too, so it's sobering news on that level as well.

Same here. I was born 363 days earlier than him. And had my prostate cancer diagnosis four years ago.

 

[MisterCreosote]

RIP.

His was the earliest I can remember in the long, long list of ****ty Philadelphia trades.

 

[BTExpress]

In the Jack Brickhouse-Lou Boudreau announcing days there would occasionally be some dead air, as broadcasters didn't feel the need to suck up every second of time with their voices back then. And you could hear an old-fashioned sports ticker running in the background, and some typing. Such a pleasant sound and memory.

I'm like, "Yeah, I'm going to be the one monitoring those tickers and doing that typing in a few years!"

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

I always felt bad for Sandberg replacing Charlie Manuel and taking the reigns of an aging Phillies team that was in the middle of a half-assed rebuild.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

RIP.

His was the earliest I can remember in the long, long list of ****ty Philadelphia trades.

That trade was on Jan. 27, 1982. On Dec. 9, 1982 the Phillies traded Julio Franco, Manny Trillo, Jerry Willard, Jay Baller and George Vuckovich for Von Hayes

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

Rooted for a rival of the Cubs, so I never liked him. But my word, you could never in a million years have anything but the utmost respect for him, his talent and his professionalism.

Was bummed out about his first retirement. Glad he was able to come back, and though he wasn't dominant, was able to finish with a sense of peace and happiness.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

I always felt bad for Sandberg replacing Charlie Manuel and taking the reigns of an aging Phillies team that was in the middle of a half-assed rebuild.

With his high standards and belief that everyone should be treated exactly the same and work exactly the same (all of this is complimentary towards Sandberg), he was never going to be a good fit in the modern game. But the alpha male-filled Phillies on the downside were a particularly bad fit.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Rooted for a rival of the Cubs, so I never liked him. But my word, you could never in a million years have anything but the utmost respect for him, his talent and his professionalism.

Was bummed out about his first retirement. Glad he was able to come back, and though he wasn't dominant, was able to finish with a sense of peace and happiness.

Wasn't his first retirement because he didn't want to pay his soon-to-be ex-wife any part of the windfall from a new contract he was supposed to sign? She supposedly was cheating on him with anyone who walked in the room. Or so it was speculated.

He retired for 1995, they got divorced, and then he signed again and came back.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Wasn't his first retirement because he didn't want to pay his soon-to-be ex-wife any part of the windfall from a new contract he was supposed to sign? She supposedly was cheating on him with anyone who walked in the room. Or so it was speculated.

He retired for 1995, they got divorced, and then he signed again and came back.

Almost sure the story is he retired to deal with the divorce, whether that was to be with their kids, to regather himself or to ensure she didn't get any of the next contract.

The speculation about her affairs is WILD. Lots of stories out there.

 

[swingline]

Thanks for posting the Willie McGee game.