The Chicago Cubs and the entire baseball world mourns the time around Hall-of-Famer Ryne Sandberg. The legendary Second Baseman died on Monday at the age of 65. Sandberg had a long fight with cancer.
According to a message from the Cubs, Sandberg died in his house with his family. This month he had publicly announced that he was still fighting and at the same time “looking forward to enjoying my loving family and my friends to the fullest every day.”
Sandberg made his diagnosis with prostate cancer in January 2024. After chemotherapy and radiation, he first reported in August of the same year to be cancer-free again. In December, metastases were discovered again, which had now also spread to other organs.
On a stage with Jordan and Payton
“He was a superhero in this city,” said Cubs President Jed Hoyer just a few days ago during a TV broadcast via Sandberg. “If you think of Michael Jordan, Walter Payton and Ryne Sandberg, who were all here at the same time, I can not imagine anyone who deals better with his fame and responsibility for a city than he.”
The chairman of the Cubs, Tom Ricketts, honored Sandberg “as one of the greatest players of all time in the almost 150 years of this historical franchise”. “His dedication and respect for the game as well as his relentless integrity, his courage, his commitment and competitive spirit were trademarks of his career,” said the team.
Sandberg was selected in the 20th round of the amateur drafts from the High School by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1978 and made his debut in the Major League in 1981. In January 1982, together with Larry Bowa, he was traded to Chicago against the experienced Infielder Ivan de Jesus – it should become one of the most serious deals in baseball history.
Monument in front of the Wrigley Field
Sandberg reached an average of .285 with 282 Homeruns, 1,061 RBIs and 344 steals in 15 years. He was MVP of the National League in 1984, made it to the All-Star team ten times, won the Home Run Derby in 1990 and won a total of nine Gold Gloves.
In June of his MVP season, he played the “Sandberg Game”, which is still memorable today, when he defeated the St. Louis Cardinals with two Homeruns and seven RBIs at 12:11 over eleven inning. Chicago praised Sandberg and this game with the unveiling of a statue of the information in front of the Wrigley Field in 2024.