Ryne Sandberg

Ryne Dee Sandberg was named after relief pitcher Ryne Duren, grew up in Spokane playing three sports, turned down a football scholarship to Washington State, and was traded to the Chicago Cubs as a throw-in. He played 16 major league seasons at second base, won the 1984 NL MVP, earned nine consecutive Gold Glove Awards, stole 344 bases, hit 282 home runs (the most by a second baseman until Jeff Kent surpassed him), and became the first player at his position since Rogers Hornsby to lead the National League in home runs. On June 23, 1984, with the nation watching on NBC, he hit two home runs off Bruce Sutter to tie a game the Cubs had no business winning, and the broadcast turned him into a star. "Ryne Sandberg is the best baseball player I've ever seen," Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog said that afternoon. The BBWAA elected him to the Hall of Fame in 2005 with 76.2% of the vote. He died on July 28, 2025, of metastatic prostate cancer, at 65.

Spokane

Sandberg was born on September 18, 1959, in Spokane, Washington. His father Derwent, who went by Sandy, was of Swedish descent and worked as a mortician. His mother Elizabeth grew up in the Belgian Congo as a Methodist missionary's daughter. Sandy Sandberg's guiding philosophy was simple. "Keep your mouth shut and eyes and ears open," he told his son. "Then you might learn something."

Sandberg attended North Central High School, where he earned All-America honors in football as a quarterback (Parade magazine), captained the basketball team (competing against future NBA point guard John Stockton), and batted .417 in baseball. He maintained a 3.2 grade point average and signed a letter of intent to play football at Washington State before the Philadelphia Phillies drafted him in the 20th round of the 1978 draft with a $20,000 bonus.

Sandberg appeared in 13 games for the Phillies in 1981 and collected one hit. On January 27, 1982, Philadelphia traded him and Larry Bowa to the Cubs for shortstop Ivan DeJesus. The Phillies had Mike Schmidt at third base and Manny Trillo at second. Sandberg was viewed as a utility player included to balance the deal. The trade became one of the most lopsided in baseball history.

Wrigley Field

Sandberg started the 1982 season at third base for the Cubs and moved to second base in September. The position fit him as though he invented it. He won his first Gold Glove in 1983 and then won eight more, nine consecutive from 1983 through 1991, breaking the record of eight shared by Bill Mazeroski and Frank White. His .989 fielding percentage was the major league record for second basemen at the time of his retirement.

Sandberg won the NL MVP in 1984, batting .314 with 200 hits, 114 runs (a Cubs franchise record), 19 triples (tied for the league lead), 19 home runs, 84 RBI, and 32 stolen bases. He received 22 of 24 first-place votes. The Cubs won the NL East title and reached the postseason for the first time since 1945. Sandberg batted .368 in the NLCS before the San Diego Padres rallied from a two games to none deficit to win in five. He was the first Cubs MVP since Ernie Banks in 1959.

The Sandberg Game

On June 23, 1984, NBC broadcast the Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals from Wrigley Field to a national audience of 38,079. The Cubs trailed 9-8 entering the bottom of the ninth inning. Sutter, who would finish 1984 with 45 saves and a 1.54 ERA, was on the mound. Sandberg hit a solo home run on a 1-1 count over the left-center bleachers and onto Waveland Avenue, tying the game.

The Cardinals scored twice in the top of the 10th to lead 11-9. Sutter returned for the bottom half. With two outs, Sandberg hit another home run off Sutter on a 1-1 count, this one with a runner on, tying the game 11-11. The Cubs won 12-11 in the 11th inning on a pinch-hit single by Dave Owen.

Sandberg finished 5-for-6 with seven RBI. Willie McGee hit for the cycle in the same game with six RBI for the Cardinals and still lost. Bob Costas made the call on NBC, comparing Sandberg to Roy Hobbs and Frank Merriwell. Harry Caray called it on WGN, "It might be. It could be. It is! Holy Cow!" The game became known simply as "The Sandberg Game."

40

Sandberg hit 40 home runs in 1990, the first second baseman to lead the National League in home runs since Rogers Hornsby in 1925. He followed with 26 home runs in 1991 and 26 more in 1992, becoming the first second baseman to post consecutive seasons with 25 or more. He made 10 consecutive All-Star teams from 1984 through 1993, won seven Silver Slugger Awards, and surpassed Joe Morgan's record for home runs by a second baseman on April 26, 1997.

Sandberg retired on June 13, 1994, batting .238 in 57 games and forfeiting roughly $16 million remaining on his contract. "I lost the edge that it takes to play," he said, "the drive, the motivation, the killer instinct." He returned in 1996, hit 25 home runs and drove in 92 runs, then played one more season before retiring for good on September 21, 1997. The Cubs held Ryne Sandberg Day the day before his final game. He retired with 2,386 hits, 403 doubles, 282 home runs, 1,061 RBI, 344 stolen bases, and a .285 batting average across 2,164 games.

Respect

Sandberg's Hall of Fame induction speech on July 31, 2005, is remembered for what it said about how the game should be played. "I had too much respect for the game to play it any other way," he said, "and if there was a single reason I am here today, it is because of one word. Respect." He spoke about fundamentals, about bunting and hitting and running and turning two. He said, "Make a great play? Act like you've done it before. Get a big hit, look for the third base coach and get ready to run the bases. Hit a home run, put your head down, drop the bat, run around the bases, because the name on the front is a lot more important than the name on the back." In a season when baseball was consumed by the steroids debate, he noted that he "weighed the same his entire playing career" and that "learning how to bunt and hit and run and turning two is more important than knowing where to find the little red light on the dugout camera."

The Cubs retired his number 23 on August 28, 2005, the fourth number the franchise retired alongside Ernie Banks' 14, Billy Williams' 26, and Ron Santo's 10. Sandberg managed in the minor leagues from 2007 through 2012 and managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 2013 until resigning in June 2015. He was inducted alongside Wade Boggs in the class of 2005.

Sandberg was diagnosed with prostate cancer in January 2024. Doctors briefly declared him cancer free in August, but the cancer returned in December. He died on July 28, 2025, at his home in Lake Bluff, Illinois, at 65. On October 30, 2016, he threw the ceremonial first pitch before World Series Game 5 at Wrigley Field, the year the Cubs finally won it all.