The Chicago Cubs are the oldest continuously-operating professional sports franchise in the United States of America, having been founded in 1870 as the Chicago White Stockings. They have had many heroes. Some have been problematic: Adrian "Cap" Anson, Mike "King" Kelly, Lewis "Hack" Wilson, "Slammin' Steroids" Sammy Sosa. Some have been golden: Frank Chance "The Peerless Leader," Charles "Gabby" Hartnett, "Mr. Cub" Ernie Banks.
Ryne Sandberg was one of the golden heroes of Chicago Cub baseball.
Ryne Dee Sandberg was born on September 18, 1959 in Spokane, Washington. His father, Derwent "Sandy" Sandberg, was a Yankee Fan, and named his son after the Yankees' top reliever at that time, Ryne Duren.
In the late 1970s, there were 3 great athletes in the Spokane area, each of them a high school star in baseball, in basketball, and as a quarterback in football: Ryne Sandberg of North Central; Mark Rypien of Shadle Park, North Central's arch-rivals, who went on to play for the Washington Redskins, and was the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXVI; and John Stockton of Gonzaga Prep, who starred for the Utah Jazz.
Also graduates of North Central: Singer-actor Bing Crosby and actress Dyan Cannon. Shadle Park produced a few other pro athletes, including Rypien's brother Brett. Gonzaga Prep produced Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Ray Flaherty, House Speaker Tom Foley, actress Julia Sweeney, and Stockton's son David, who briefly played for the Sacramento Kings.
Like Rypien later did, Sandberg signed a letter of intent to play quarterback at Washington State University, in nearby Pullman. But he chose baseball instead, and was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1978. He debuted with them on September 2, 1981: Wearing Number 37, and pinch-running for Bob Boone in the top of the 9th inning, he was singled home by Pete Rose, but the Phils lost to the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
At this point, Sandberg was mainly a 3rd baseman. But it was too soon to need a successor to Mike Schmidt. So, on January 27, 1982, the Phillies traded him and starting shortstop Larry Bowa to the Chicago Cubs, for their starting shortstop, Iván de Jesús. Cub general manager Dallas Green, who had managed the Phillies to win the 1980 World Series, moved him to 2nd base, and gave him Number 23.
The 1984 season would be an epic one. The Cubs were now owned by The Tribune Company, which owned, among other things, the Chicago Tribune newspaper, radio station WGN (which stood for what the Trib used to call itself, "the World's Greatest Newspaper"), TV station WGN-Channel 9, and its new nationwide cable "SuperStation WGN."
Since Wrigley Field did not yet have lights, Cub home games were nationally broadcast in the afternoons. The whole country could hear broadcaster Harry Caray -- previously broadcasting for the crosstown Chicago White Sox, and, for many years before that, for the Cubs' arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals -- the Cubs got off to a great start, and became a national phenomenon, far beyond the "Chicagoland" area.
On June 15, then the trading deadline, they picked up pitcher Rick Sutcliffe, and he went on to win the National League's Cy Young Award. On June 23, the Cubs played the Cardinals at Wrigley, and NBC covered it for their national Saturday Game of the Week.
In the 9th inning, and again in the 10th inning, Sandberg tied the game by hitting home runs off Bruce Sutter, the Hall of Fame reliever that the Cubs had let get away, helping the Cards win the 1982 World Series. The Cubs won it in the 11th inning, 12-11. Now, baseball fans who didn't have cable -- it wasn't even a majority of Americans yet -- had Cub fever.
The fact that it turned out to be the New York Mets, who had been dreadful for several years, who bounced back and battled the Cubs for the NL Eastern Division title, thus the biggest and 3rd-biggest markets getting involved, made it an even bigger story. When they had their magical season of 1969, cut short by the Mets' own "Miracle," they made themselves beloved in the Chicago area; but in 1984, they excited the whole country.
And it turned out to be not that close: The Cubs went 96-65, and won the Division by 6 1/2 games. It was their 1st postseason appearance since winning the Pennant in 1945. Sandberg was named the NL's Most Valuable Player. He was named to the 1st of 10 All-Star Games. He won the 2nd of 9 Gold Gloves.
With that great 1984 season, Ryne Sandberg, Rick Sutcliffe and Harry Caray not only thrilled a nation, but saved Wrigley Field for at least two more generations. A fine legacy to leave. I was a Yankee Fan, and the fact that the Cubs were driving Met fans up the wall made it fun to watch. The 1984 Cubs
made a world that scared the hell out of an already-troubled 14-year-old kid, on multiple levels, a bit more bearable.And they beat the NL Western Division Champions, the San Diego Padres, in their 1st postseason appearance, in the 1st 2 games of the NL Championship Series, in front of adoring crowds at Wrigley. But the Padres took all 3 games in San Diego, including a walkoff extra-inning home run by Steve Garvey in Game 4, and a key error by 1st baseman Leon Durham in Game 5 -- presaging the one 2 years later in the World Series, by former Cub 1st baseman Bill Buckner.
It was a result that was heartbreaking for anyone who didn't root for the Padres (or the Mets, or the White Sox, or the Cardinals), and as staggering as, the next month, Walter Mondale losing 49 out of 50 States to Ronald Reagan in the Presidential election.
The Cubs couldn't sustain it, and struggled for most of Sandberg's tenure with the team. Finally adding lights to Wrigley Field in 1988 didn't help much. They did win another NL East title in 1989. They lost the NLCS to the San Francisco Giants, although there was no heartbreaking moment: They simply got beat by a better team. In 1990, the Cubs hosted the All-Star Game, and Sandberg led the NL with 40 home runs, and reached 100 RBIs for the 1st time, but they were nowhere near a Playoff berth.
The switch to the 3-Division setup in 1994, and the move of the Cubs to the NL Central Division, didn't help much. Sandberg got off to a slow start, and on June 13, for reasons that had nothing to do with the upcoming strike, he announced his retirement at the age of 34. He admitted, "The reason I retired is simple: I lost the desire that got me ready to play on an everyday basis for so many years."
When the strike ended in 1995, he still sat out the entire season. He returned in 1996, and broke Joe Morgan's career record for home runs by a 2nd baseman. He played his last game on September 21, 1997. He finished with a .285 batting average, 2,386 hits, including 403 doubles, 76 triples (a very high figure for the post-1920 Lively Ball Era), 282 home runs, 277 of them as a 2nd baseman. (Jeff Kent now holds the record, with 351.)
He also stole 344 bases. Here's a list of the players with at least as many home runs and at least as many stolen bases as Ryne Sandberg, in chronological order: Bobby Bonds, Rickey Henderson, Barry Bonds, Craig Biggio and Bobby Abreu. That's it. That's the list. (Barry Bonds had already exceeded Sandberg in both categories before, it is believed, he started cheating. Willie Mays almost did it, stealing 339.)
The trade of Sandberg from The Vet to Wrigley has been called one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history. It's not. Let the record show that, from 1982 to 1997, when Sandberg played his last game, the Phillies won 2 Pennants, in 1983 and 1993; while the Cubs won none.
The Cubs retired his Number 23, and dedicated a statue of him outside Wrigley Field. In 1999, he was named as one of the 100 finalists to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2005, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. As a member, he lobbied for the election of fellow Cubs legends Ron Santo and Andre Dawson. Both were elected, but while Dawson lived long enough to see it (and is still alive as of this writing), Santo didn't.
In 2007, Sandberg returned to the Cubs' organization as a minor-league manager. In 2010, with the Des Moines-based Iowa Cubs, he was named the Pacific Coast League's Manager of the Year. (Iowa in the Pacific Coast League? Geography has never been baseball's strong suit. After all, the NL once had Chicago and St. Louis in the East, and Atlanta and Cincinnati in the West. The NFL has been even worse: They still have Dallas in the NFC East.)
In 2011, Sandberg returned to the Phillies' organization, and managed their top farm team, the Allentown, Pennsylvania-based Lehigh Valley IronPigs, to their 1st Playoff appearance. Baseball America magazine named him the 2011 Minor League Manager of the Year.
In 2013, he was named the Phils' 3rd base coach. When Charlie Manuel, who had managed them to win the 2008 World Series, was fired on August 16, Sandberg was named manager. But the timing was bad: The Phils' 2007-11 quasi-dynasty had collapsed, and there was little he could do. After the 2015 season, he was fired. His managerial record was 119-159.
In 2016, the Cubs named him a team ambassador. That was the year they finally won their 1st Pennant since 1945, and their 1st World Series since 1908. Like Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins and Rick Sutcliffe, but unlike Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Jack Brickhouse and Harry Caray, Ryne Sandberg had lived to see this magical moment.
He married twice. With his high school sweetheart, Cindy, he had son Justin and daughter Lindsey. With his 2nd wife, Margaret, he raised her 3 children from a previous marriage. Ryne's nephew, Jared Sandberg, played 3rd base for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 2001 to 2003.
Ryne and Margaret Sandberg, Opening Day 2024
Early in 2024, Ryne Sandberg announced that he had prostate cancer. He died yesterday, July 28, 2025, at his home in the Chicago suburbs, at the age of 65. Although he didn't win a Pennant with the Cubs, he remains one of the most beloved athletes in Chicago history.
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