SANTO

 

342 HR,  1331 RBI,  .277 career avg.,  9 time All Star,  5 Gold Gloves

He wanted two things…a Cubs World Series and a cure for diabetes.  He lived everyday believing both would happen.

Then the news came.  It was not a surprise.  Ron fought a list of ills that would have taken down ten lesser men.  Somehow it is still a shock because Ron Santo was truly one-of-a-kind and people like that just aren’t supposed to die.  It just makes you want to throw up your hands and say, ”boy, oh boy”!

You should know that what you heard is who he was everyday.  He was as real as it gets.  He had no filter on the air or off.  In others that trait would be a disaster.  In Ron it just made you laugh and like him all the more.

Was he a great player?  Of course he was.  He was rightly proud of what he did on the field and those memories were as sharp as if they had happened the day before.  Statistics, impact on the game, by any measure he was a Hall of Famer.  There is a majority of fans and friends who will be a bit angry if and when Ron makes Cooperstown now that he is gone.  I would offer another opinion that the rediculous voting methods that kept him out might just be changed for the better because of Ron’s story.

Was he a great broadcaster?  Of course he wasn’t.  He was the fan with a microphone.  The “Pat and Ron Show” made good games great and bad baseball bearable.  Pat Hughes was brilliant in handling the play-by-play while never knowing what Ron would say or when he would say it.  Old #10 was never burdened with the trappings of a color analyst or the rules that supposedly go along with that job.  He loved his Cubs and every game was a chance for him to cheer from the best seat in the house.

Was he a great interview?  You bet he was.  I loved having him on the show because he answered every question with honesty and passion.  He had an endless supply of great stories.  And you could count on him telling you that no matter what shape the Cubs were in tomorrow was going to be an even better day.

One of the nicest things he ever did for me involved my son.  I was Ross’s little league coach and he played third base for our team.  He made a couple of errors late in a game that we eventually lost and he felt terrible.  I felt worse because I wasn’t having much luck cheering him up.  I called Ron and told him the story and he said he wanted to talk to Ross.  Then I watched my kid smile as he heard Ron tell him a story about making big league errors and that the greatest thing about baseball is we get to play again tomorrow.  One of the best to ever play the game took the time to make my son feel better.  How great is that?

The last time we spoke was just a few weeks ago during the World Series.  I called to say a quick hello and we ended up talking for most of an hour about family, friends, work and baseball.  I asked him about Nolan Ryan and he told me a great story about facing him when it was early in Ryan’s career.  Ron said he was so wild you just hoped to survive.  He talked about facing Ryan another time, in the All Star game, where he hit fifth…ahead of Joe Torre…and behind Hank Aaron.   And that was just one of his days at work.  He had a pretty cool job.

The great joy of knowing Ron Santo and calling him a friend was that you always felt better after talking to him. His unending optimism was infectious.  He was a big man with an even bigger heart.

Each summer Ron would host his golf outing and I had the pleasure of mc’ing the event for most of the last several years.  He had great respect for those who gave up their time, money, or even a rare day off in-season.  There were two rules.  Have fun and make it quick.  He knew folks had to go home and he wanted them to want to come back next year.

He specialized in being Ron Santo.  The other stuff didn’t come as easy.  At this year’s event dinner he helped me auction off a jersey.  When I say he helped I mean he smiled and held up the jersey.  I asked him if we should “sell it” for the last bid we had and he smiled and said…”what”?  When I told the crowd he was the worst auctioneer ever he just laughed and hugged me.  Nobody had a better sense of humor about themselves than Ron Santo.  True story.  This is the guy who commented after a New Balance shoe store commercial that he really liked those shoes…when he had his own feet.

Each fall Santo held his JDRF Walk for a Cure.  The event grew to five locations around the city and raised millions in a single day each year.  No matter how he was feeling he stopped at each walk site to meet and thank the people who gave up their day to join the fight to beat the disease that had taken so much from him.

January was the month when the JDRF held their thank you dinner for the walkers who raised the most money.  It was another event I often hosted.  I must admit it was a bit selfish of me because it was one of the few times Ron and I could hang out for a few minutes backstage and have some laughs.  He loved gossip about the radio station and never failed to ask how my family was before we went on stage.  Then I watched him ad lib another great speech to say how much the families there meant to him.

One of my favorite memories of Ron came from these JDRF events.  He loved kids and he hated that any child had to deal with juvenile diabetes.  I watched him meet and greet hundreds of children dealing with the disease.  He always looked them in the eye and told them they didn’t have to go through what had happened to him.  He reminded them how close they were to a cure and how much better the science was today.  He told them to listen to their doctors, watch their levels, and take good care of themselves.  He inspired them in ways that only he could.

Keep in mind the kids Ron talked to were mostly born 20 or more years after he played his last big league ballgame.  The Ron Santo they knew was the funny guy on the radio who loved the Cubs and was one of them.  He knew what they felt like.  He got them and they got him.  I promise you that there is no better way to honor Ron’s life than to continue to fight for a cure.  Donate, volunteer, help… http://www.jdrfillinois.org

Ron was special in another way.  Regardless of all the physical struggles he often talked about how he was blessed.  Blessed to play the game he loved and blessed to still be in it more than 50 years later.  For all the joy he gave others he was paid back every day by people who would line up to tell him that they loved him.

So now what?  We wait ’til next year.

Spring will come.  Opening day will be here again.  But it will never be the same.

Baseball heaven just picked up the best third baseman ever…and a simply great man.

We’ll always love you Ron.  Thanks for making every summer a little better by letting us in to your life and being a part of ours.