Late on Monday, Ryne Sandberg, a Hall of Fame second baseman, passed away at the age of 65 following a battle with cancer.
Sandberg was a Chicago Cubs’ icon: the most Valuable Player in 1984; as well as a spark at the top of the lineup for that team as it navigated to its first playoff appearance in 39 years. Sandberg was affectionately known as “Ryno.” He ranks as one of baseball’s greatest second basemen, and the best second baseman in the history of the Cubs.
The man who snuck Ryne Sandberg to the Cubs and away from the Phillies
Ryne Sandberg is synonymous with the Cubs for a generation of fans. But he almost never wore the blue pinstripes of the team from the North Side.
Sandberg became a Cub because of Dallas Green’s loyalty to an old scout. When Green left the Phillies after the 1981 season to become general manager of the Cubs, he asked his former boss, Paul Owens, if he could take three people with him. The first two were coach Lee Elia (who became Cubs’ manager) and John Vukovich (who became a coach). The third was a man named Gordie Goldsberry, a scout. Green had tremendous respect for Goldsberry, a baseball lifer who had signed Robin Yount for the Brewers. Green made Goldsberry the head of scouting for the Cubs. Only months after Green and Goldsberry became Cubs, they traded shortstop Iván de Jesus to the Phillies for Larry Bowa. Goldsberry urged his boss to insist the Phils include Sandberg in the deal. The rest, as they say, is history.
Sandberg’s sacrifice for his family
In the middle of the 1994 season, Sandberg abruptly retired. It was a shock. He had more than $16 million remaining on his contract with the Cubs.
Sandberg’s exit was a mystery, at the time at least. It was later revealed that he was fed up with the front office. However, that was only a small part of the reason he left the game when he was still just 34 years old and coming off ten straight All-Star seasons. Sandberg left the game for a noble reason: his family. At the time, he and his wife were in a rocky spot, and less than two weeks after he retired, his wife filed for divorce. There was only one thing Ryno loved more than being a ballplayer: being a dad. He wanted, and needed, to be with his kids at a difficult time. After more than 18 months away, and having missed one-and-a-half seasons, Sandberg returned in 1996, having remarried. The best father in baseball hit 25 home runs in his return, and played one more season before retiring for good.
