CHICAGO — Ryne Sandberg was the sort of great player, the sort of great person, who transcended fan allegiances.
Cubs fans loved him, of course, with the Hall of Fame second baseman being the favorite of many who watched his stellar career on Chicago’s North Side for parts of 15 seasons. But White Sox fans appreciated Sandberg, as did even Cardinals fans. That love and respect was seen throughout the outpouring of emotion and tributes for “Ryno,” who passed away at age 65 on Monday after a battle with cancer.
“I love Ryno,” Darrin Jackson told MLB.com shortly before Sandberg’s death. “He’s somebody I was very happy to watch play on a daily basis and learn from. He was as good as they ever came.”
“This is a guy you looked at and said, ‘I’m going to raise my son and I want him to be like that guy.’” said Steve Stone of Sandberg during a media gathering prior to Tuesday’s White Sox contest at Rate Field. “And Ryno was that guy.”
Jackson and Stone work for the White Sox as broadcast analysts, with Jackson adeptly handling the radio side and Stone lending his expertise on television. But they have direct connections to Sandberg.
Stone began his broadcast career with the Cubs in 1983, one year after Sandberg started playing for the Cubs following a trade with the Phillies in January 1982 that sent him over with Larry Bowa for Iván de Jesús. Stone — paired with Hall of Famer Harry Caray, who also loved Sandberg — was in the booth for most of Sandberg’s Cubs career.
Sandberg and Jackson were Cubs teammates for parts of four seasons (1985, 1987-89).
“He was such a multi-tool player,” Jackson said. “He could do everything. Gold Glover, speed, surprising power, knowledge of the game. He did everything. But you put the combination of him and [Bob] Dernier at the top of the lineup, those two were sparks who just got them going.”
“Well, I thought he was a wonderful player. Everybody realizes that at this point,” Stone said. “Those of us who got the chance to see him play realized it a long time ago. You go 123 straight games without making an error? That’s pretty good. Plus, the rest of his game was really interesting.”
Interesting, as in, changing the Cubs’ franchise through his 1984 National League Most Valuable Player season, including the “The Sandberg Game” on June 23, 1984, when he homered off fellow Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter to tie the game in the ninth and 10th, finishing with five hits and seven RBIs during a 12-11 victory over the Cardinals at Wrigley Field. He turned into a power hitter at second base, with the help of Jim Frey, launching 40 homers in 1990.
Ichiro Suzuki was inducted into the Hall of Fame this past Sunday, and Stone referred to Sandberg as his generation’s Ichiro.
“When you watched Ichiro in the outfield, you realized everything he did was to perfection,” Stone said. “He set up perfectly for catching fly balls. If he was gonna throw, he was in a perfect position to throw. When he ran the bases, he did it perfectly. And Ryno had a whole lot of that in him. He didn’t make a lot of mistakes.”
A moment of silence was held by the White Sox for Sandberg at 6:26 p.m. CT on Tuesday night. He has been remembered across baseball.
“That guy that you see in person, the humility,” said White Sox manager Will Venable, who grew to know Sandberg when he worked for the Cubs. “Really funny guy, but just a guy that feels like a baseball guy and certainly went about it in a way that did transcend Chicago and the sport in general. Special guy, special to be around, and he’s gonna be missed.”
Some people considered Sandberg a quiet superstar, with Stone using the word “introspective” in one of his responses. Stone also used the word “delightful” to describe Sandberg, who was known to be a bit of a clubhouse joker.
“Yeah, he was a behind-the-scenes joker,” said Jackson with a smile. “He was the guy with a straight face that you would never know he did something because he was always so quiet. There was an explosion in your room? He was the last one you would think who did it, but he was the one. It was awesome.”
“His teammates absolutely loved him,” Stone said. “The fact that he was great or not great didn’t really matter to his professionalism. He went out there every day and gave you everything he had. … He was a real gentleman. He represented the game exceptionally well.”
