Cubs honor Spokane’s Ryne Sandberg, unveil statue outside Wrigley Field

CHICAGO – As Shawon Dunston, the second of three speakers to introduce Chicago Cubs legend Ryne Sandberg, wrapped up his speech on Sunday, there was a little commotion coming from Wrigley Field. The current Cubs, led by manager Craig Counsell, walked up the stairs to a balcony that overlooks Gallagher Way to watch the unveiling of Sandberg’s statue. It was a touching moment as 40-plus players and coaches took time from preparing for their game that evening to honor one of the greatest Cubs to ever play.

Bob Costas, who called the famed “Sandberg Game” 40 years ago, took the mic and pointed up at the players assembled above.

“Take a look up there,” Costas said. “That is respect.”

Respect. Work ethic. Drive. Before any of the numbers that got him into the Hall of Fame, those are the types of words used when people bring up Sandberg.

Sandberg, a three-sport star at North Central High, who was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer in January and has been going through treatment since, had this date along with throwing the first pitch at the home opener, marked on his calendar.

“My life changed a lot in 1984,” Sandberg said. “But that’s nothing compared to what happened six months ago. So my thoughts today are instead about love, life, family and friends.”

Sandberg was surrounded by all of that on Sunday. Teammates from the two playoff teams he played on, the 1984 and 1989 Cubs, were there. His children and grandchildren were in attendance, the latter of whom pushed the button to unveil his statue. And of course, there were the fans. Hundreds were packed into Gallagher Way and beyond, trying to get a glimpse of the second basemen who helped many kids in the 1980s and ’90s fall in love with the game of baseball.

“I’ve learned about the people in my life,” Sandberg said about making his cancer diagnosis public. “From my family to my friends to my neighbors to my teammates to the Cubs fans, it’s all about the relationships I have with people and there’s a lot of them. So just a reflection on that and to see everybody here today, that’s what I’m talking about, how special it is. I’ve felt it.”

Beyond who he is as a person, Sandberg etched his name in Cubs lore on June 23, 1984. In a wild 11-inning affair against the archrival St. Louis Cardinals, Sandberg hit two late-game home runs – game-tying shots in both the ninth and 10th innings off Hall of Fame closer Bruce Sutter. The game is still talked about with fondness in Cubs nation decades later. So it’s only fitting that Sandberg was immortalized with his own statue on Gallagher Way on the same day 40 years later.

Forty years ago today Ryne Sandberg left his mark on the game of baseball.

Costas explained that most Hall of Famers aren’t primarily known for a single game or moment. There’s Willie Mays’ catch. Hank Aaron passing Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list. And then there’s the Sandberg Game. It was broadcast on national television during an era when cable had yet to explode and watching anything but your local team was a rarity.

“ ‘The Natural’ had come out only a few weeks before that game,” Costas said. “I recall saying something to the effect of, ‘Roy Hobbs, The Natural played by Robert Redford, would be happy to be Ryne Sandberg today because this is something out of mythology.’ The game was legendary almost right away.”

That game catapulted Sandberg into the national consciousness. But it was merely the beginning of what would turn out to be a brilliant career. In an era when Chicago had megastar athletes like Michael Jordan and Walter Payton to swoon over, Sandberg was a bit overshadowed. But it wasn’t as if he went unnoticed.

Sandberg would go on to win the NL MVP during that 1984 season, but it was just the beginning of the accolades he’d accumulate during his illustrious career. Sandberg finished top-four in MVP voting twice more and garnered down-ballot votes three other times. He made 10 straight All-Star games, won nine straight Gold Glove awards and was a seven-time Silver Slugger winner.

It was those Gold Gloves that he had in mind when he described what he wanted his statue to look like.

“The statue reflects ’80s, ’90s baseball for me,” Sandberg said. “It’s got the old vintage flip-down glasses which were a must every single day game at Wrigley Field. The gold patch on the glove signifies the Gold Gloves that were won. The vintage pullover jersey, not the button-down, and the elastic pants right on down to the stirrups. The fans will recognize that as ’80s style. They might even call it retro.”

Sandberg’s priorities on defense and desire to hit .300 and score 100 runs may be seen as retro in today’s game. But who he was in his prime would fit quite well on any team. Sandberg played second and hit second in an era where that position and that spot in the lineup usually meant power was going to be limited if not nearly nonexistent. Before Jeff Kent and Robinson Canó changed the way people thought about the offensive profiles of second basemen, Sandberg was slugging 25-plus home runs for four straight seasons from ages 29 to 32.

The jump in power really started in that MVP campaign season when he hit 19 triples and 19 home runs along with a career-high 36 doubles.

“I made some adjustments, (manager) Jim Frey played a big part in that,” Sandberg said. “He wanted me to turn on some fastballs ahead in the count. ‘Why not? Try and pull the ball and swing for the fences on this pitch. If it doesn’t work, you can go back to your way.’ I did that and learned how to cover the inside pitch and hit some home runs. It was instant results.”

The results led to a Hall of Fame career, a “23” flag that hangs from the right-field pole and now, along with Fergie Jenkins, Ernie Banks, Ron Santo and Billy Williams, Sandberg is immortalized in bronze outside Wrigley Field.