It has just been announced that the late Ron Santo has finally been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. It is a day long in coming. It is especially poignant that Santo died over a year ago, his long-held dream of making the Hall yet unrealized.
Santo was the Cubs third baseman when I became a Cub fan back in 1963. It was a bitter disappointment to him that he never made it to the World Series as a Cub. After his retirement, he remained in the Cub family as a radio broadcaster for Cub games. He was a Cub fan till the end and, like the rest of us, suffered with the Cubs' failures and near-misses.
He was also greatly disappointed over the years in not being elected to the Hall. His career stats fully justified his being admitted. Yet, there were stories that many resented Santo from the times in his playing days when he would click his heels in the air after Cub wins. That seems a rather petty reason to me-especially when you consider the actions of today's athletes, as well as the old practice of bench-jockeying (which I guess is a lost art).
Back in the early 1960s, Santo was a close friend of teammate Ken Hubbs, the gifted second baseman who was killed in a plane crash after his second season. A few years back, when I was contemplating writing a book on Hubbs' life, I spoke over the phone with his brother, Keith, who was also a friend of Santo. He told me that Ron had taken his brother's death especially hard. He also told me that he would call Ron every year when the Hall of Fame voting came around.
Santo suffered from diabetes even in his playing days. In his later years, he was plagued by poor health and eventually had to have both legs amputated.
In 2003, the Cubs honored him by retiring his number 10, an honor not many former Cub players have received. He told the Wrigley Field crowd that it was just as big of a thrill as if he had gone into the Hall of Fame. With the possible exception of Ernie Banks, no Cub was more loved by Cub fans both during and after his playing days.
So I rejoice that Santo will now go into the Hall of Fame. The big regret, of course, is that he didn't live to experience it.
Gary, you never wrote a truer word. I'm old enough to remember having Topps baseball cards of Ron Santos. In fact, he is the only name I remember from my entire collection.
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