RIP Ronnie, Summer Will Never Be The Same
Legendary Cubs third baseman and radio broadcaster, Ron Santo, passed away early Thursday morning.
Former Cubs third baseman Ron Santo passed away last night at the age of 70. The Chicago Tribune reported that Santo went into a coma late Wednesday night and died early Thursday morning.
He was never enshrined in the Hall of Fame, but Cubs fans across the country know the baseball world has lost a legend. On the field he was spectacular, but his role as color commentator for Cubs radio broadcasts since 1996 is a large part of the reason that Cubs fans everywhere felt like they lost a grandfather when they heard the news of his passing. That's the best way I can describe the connection Cubs fans have to Ronnie; he seemed like family to us all.
I have only met him once but I feel like I knew him personally, because of the countless times I listened to his voice alongside Pat Hughes. Whether I was listening in the car, turning the radio on and muting the TV volume while watching the game, sneaking my AM radio around in class during April and May, or inviting him and Pat into my room while the Cubs were in extra innings on the West Coast and my parents had sent me to bed hours ago, it always brightened my day to hear his voice. He transcended the emotions of being a Cubs fan over airwaves better than anyone because he loved the team dearly.
During the final week of the 1998 season, he famously shouted "Oh no!" when outfielder Brant Brown dropped a fly ball with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth in a game against the Brewers. That call exemplified the passion with which he brought to the broadcast every day. Cubs fans know what suffering feels like, and Ron Santo provided the perspective of a true Cubs fan. After his playing days, he became the largest fan out there, and every time a player made an error, failed to hustle, or frustrated fans in any other way, Ronnie was there to yell about it.
When the Cubs retired his number 10 during the 2003 season, he told the Wrigley Field crowd in his speech at the ceremony, "THIS is my Hall of Fame."
Despite suffering from Juvenile Diabetes, Santo wore a smile on his face almost all the time. I say "almost" and not "always" because you would never find him grinning after a Cubbie loss. Those close to him said he lived and died with the Cubs, getting a little too high with every win and a little too low with every loss. Whether he was walking on the field before a game talking to the players and coaches or signing autographs for fans, Santo always seemed merry. In an era of shouting voices on sports radio that seem to get frustrated over everything and yell about it just for the sake of generating listeners, Santo never pretended to be happy or mad, he simply wore his true emotions on his sleeve.
I never got a chance to watch Santo play on the diamond, but hearing him on the radio was as much a part of my adolescent years as anything else. Every summer from 1996 to 2010, I could count on turning on WGN Radio in the car and hearing the comforting voices of Pat and Ron. The Cubs have not selected a replacement for Santo, but with no disrespect to whichever well-qualified color commentator they decide to bring in, it will seem as though there's something missing every time I listen to Cubs broadcasts on the radio. I am not sure if that uncomfortable feeling will ever go away.
Thanks for the memories Ron. My thoughts and prayers are specifically with the Santo family; however, millions of Cubs fans across the country are mourning as well. That says something about the impact this man had on the world.
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I'm sure you are up there in heaven looking down on us all, and I know you will be jumping up and clicking your heels when a championship finally comes to the North Side.
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