Ronald Edward Santo [1] was an American
Major League Baseball player and long-time radio announcer. A power-hitting
third baseman, he was a nine-time
All-Star in a career that spanned from 1960 to 1974, mainly for the
Chicago Cubs died from complications from diabetes and bladder cancer he was , 70. Deft defensively as well, Santo won five
Gold Gloves at his position, proving a highly productive player despite suffering from
diabetes. Carefully concealing the condition for most of his career, it eventually necessitated the amputation of the lower half of his right leg.
[2]
While initially showing little support for induction into the
Baseball Hall of Fame, Santo's standing among baseball enthusiasts and
sabermetricians has gradually increased over time. He is widely regarded today as one of the best ballplayers not to have been admitted to the Hall.
[3]
| (February 25, 1940 – December 3, 2010) |
Major League career
Santo was signed as a
free agent by the Chicago Cubs in
1959, and made his debut on June 26, 1960.
[4][5] In
1961 he set a Cubs record with 41
double plays at third base, breaking the previous mark of 33 set by
Bernie Friberg in 1923. In
1962 he led the
National League in
assists for the first time with 332, setting the team record for assists at third base, breaking the mark of 323 set by
Randy Jackson in 1951. Santo continued to lead the National League in assists every year through 1968, breaking
Ned Williamson's major league record of leading the league six times;
Brooks Robinson went on to lead the
American League eight times.
Mike Schmidt eventually tied Santo's National League mark of seven. In 1963 Santo broke the modern National League record with 374 assists at third base, passing
Tommy Leach's 1904 mark of 371. In 1966, he set the all-time league record with 391, the previous record being
Billy Shindle's 382 in 1892; his total was 99 higher than that of league runner-up
Ken Boyer. Santo broke his own record in 1967 with 393 assists,
[6] which remained the National League record until Schmidt posted 404 in 1974. He also finished fourth in the
1967 National League
Most Valuable Player Award voting results.
[7] Santo's assist totals from 1963 through 1968 were the sixth highest by an National League third baseman between 1905 and 1973. He also led the National League in
putouts every year from 1962 through 1967 and again in 1969, tying the league record shared by
Pie Traynor and
Willie Jones in leading the league seven times;
[8] Tim Wallach later tied the mark as well.
Santo was deeply saddened by the loss of teammate
Ken Hubbs, the Cubs second baseman, killed in a plane crash just prior to the 1964 season. Santo is interviewed by
Tom Harmon, narrator of the film
A Glimpse of Greatness–The Story of Ken Hubbs, in which Santo pays the highest respects to the young Hubbs.
[citation needed]
1969
In 1969, Santo and
the Cubs were in first place in the
National League East for 180 days, before going 8-17 in their final 25 games, while the
New York "Miracle" Mets went 37-11 in their final 48 games.
[9] During that season, the Cubs sent their entire starting
infield, including Santo, to the
All-Star Game in Washington, D.C.; he and Cubs shortstop
Don Kessinger started for the National League team.
[10] Santo finished the season with a .289
batting average, 29
home runs and a career-high 123
runs batted in (RBI), and finished fifth in the National League Most Valuable Player voting.
[4][11]
Heel Click
During the 1969 season, Santo became known for performing a heel click after a game on June 22, 1969, against the
Montreal Expos.
[2][6] Going into the bottom of the ninth
inning, the Expos were leading 6-3. With one
out,
second baseman Paul Popovich hit a
single, and moved up to
second base after another single by
left fielder Billy Williams. Although Santo
grounded out for the second out, Popovich and Williams each moved up a base. Then a future Baseball Hall of Fame inductee,
first baseman Ernie Banks, singled to bring home Williams and Popovich and bring the Cubs within a
run.
Rick Bladt substituted as a
pinch-runner for Banks. That set it up for Cubs
right fielder Jim Hickman, who hit a two-run
walk-off home run to win the game, 7-6.
[12] When Hickman reached
home plate, Santo was so excited that after congratulating him by bear hugging and pounding him on his head, Santo ran down the third base line and jumped three times, clicking his heels on each jump.
[2][6]
The next day, Santo walked into
manager Leo Durocher's
office; Durocher asked him to keep clicking his heels whenever the Cubs won at
Wrigley Field to motivate the team. Santo continued this after every home win. The stunt antagonized opponents and served to make the team a target for payback in the final weeks of the season. When the Cubs began their September
swoon, which took place shortly after Santo called out rookie teammate
Don Young in public after a loss against the Mets in New York, he discontinued the heel click routine suddenly. His final "click" was performed on September 2, the last Cub home victory while still in first place. During and after the epic collapse, Santo never again performed the heel click, as critics decried the routine for its arrogance and overconfidence, which many believe was at the root of the late fade.
[citation needed] In his book,
The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, baseball historian
Bill James cited Durocher's method of using his regular players everyday without any rest days as a factor in the Cubs' collapse.
[13]
Trade Request
Santo became the first player to invoke the ten-and-five rule under the
collective bargaining agreement signed after the
1972 Major League Baseball strike (the rule allows players with 10 years' service, the last five with the same team, to decline any trade).
[6] The Cubs had agreed upon a deal to send Santo to the
California Angels; the ballclub would have received in return two young pitchers:
Andy Hassler, who went on to have a middling career as a
reliever/spot starter, and
Bruce Heinbechner, a very highly-regarded
left-handed pitching
prospect. Santo didn't want to play on the
West Coast and
vetoed the deal.
The Cubs still wanted to
trade Santo, and since his preference was to stay in Chicago, they worked out a deal with the White Sox, acquiring
catcher Steve Swisher, and three young
pitchers:
Jim Kremmel,
Ken Frailing, and one of Santo's future co-broadcasters,
Steve Stone.
[5] The White Sox already had a third baseman,
Bill Melton, so Santo was relegated mostly to
designated hitter duty, which he hated. He wanted to play in the field, but White Sox manager
Chuck Tanner wouldn't bench Melton (who had had a couple of 30 home run seasons for them), so he unsuccessfully tried Santo at second base. Finishing
1974 with a .221 batting average and 5 home runs, Santo retired from baseball at the age of 34.
[4]
Legacy
Santo was a nine-time National League
All-Star, and led the league in
walks four times, in
on base percentage twice and in
triples once.
[4][8] An All-Star-caliber player at Wrigley Field and fairly ordinary on the road, he hit for a .300 average and hit 30
home runs four times each,
[6] and is the only third baseman in major league history to post eight consecutive seasons with 90 RBI (
1963-
1970).
[4][8] The winner of five consecutive
Gold Glove Awards for fielding excellence (
1964-
1968),
[14] he set or tied National League records by leading the league's third basemen in
total chances eight times, in games, putouts and assists seven times each, and in
double plays six times.
[6][8] From 1966 to 1974 he held the National League record for assists in a single season. He also set National League records for career assists (4,532), total chances (6,777) and double plays (389) at third base, all of which were eventually broken by
Mike Schmidt between 1986 and 1988; his National League total of 2,102 games at third base fell 52 short of
Eddie Mathews' league record, and he then ranked sixth in National League history in putouts (1,930) and ninth in
fielding percentage (.954).
Santo led the league in double plays six times (1961, '64, '66–'68, '71), tying the major league record held by
Heinie Groh;
[8] Schmidt also later tied this record. He led the National League in total chances every season from 1961 through 1968.
[8] He appeared at third base in every Cubs game from April 19,
1964 through May 31,
1966, establishing a league record with 364 consecutive games at the position;
[6][8] his 164 games at third base in
1965 remain the major league record.
He was the second player at his position to hit 300 (exactly 342) career home runs, joining
Eddie Mathews, and also ended his career ranking second to Mathews among third basemen in
slugging average (.464) and third in runs batted in (1,331),
total bases (3,779) and walks (1,108). Santo broke Mathews' National League record of 369 career double plays at third base in 1972, and in 1973 he broke Mathews' league records of 4,284 assists and 6,606 total chances. Schmidt passed Santo's record for double plays in 1986, his record for assists in 1987, and his mark for total chances in 1988. During his 14-season run with the Cubs, Santo hit 337 home runs, then the eighth most by a National League
right-handed hitter; his 1,071 career walks with the Cubs remain the team record for a right-handed hitter. He was the first third baseman to hit 300 home runs and win five Gold Gloves, a feat since matched only by Schmidt.
Santo became the first player in major league history to wear a
batting helmet with protective ear flaps, when in 1966, in the midst of trying to break the Cubs' modern consecutive-game
hitting streak record of 27 games (set by
Hack Wilson in 1929), Santo was sidelined for nearly two weeks following a pitch thrown by the Mets'
Jack Fisher (
beaning) that
fractured his cheekbone and ended his consecutive playing streak. When he returned (and broke the hitting record with a 28-game streak
[6]) he was wearing an improvised ear flap on his batting helmet in order to protect the injury; ear flaps have since become standard equipment on batting helmets.
On September 28, 2003, Santo's jersey #10 was retired by the Cubs organization, making him the third player so honored behind his teammates Ernie Banks (#14) and Billy Williams (#26).
[15] Other prominent Cubs had worn #10 after Santo's retirement, notably
Dave Kingman and
Leon Durham; the most recent wearer had been interim manager
Bruce Kimm, just the previous year. In April 2004, Santo was inducted into the inaugural class of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (Washington's high school athletics league) Hall of Fame as a graduate of Seattle's
Franklin High School.
[16] About a month after Santo's death, Cubs Chairman
Tom Ricketts announced that Santo would be honored by the Cubs in the
2011 season. Beginning in Spring Training, & continuing through the end of the season, the Cubs will wear a patch on the sleeve of their jersey with the number 10 on it. Also in his honor, a statue will be unveiled outside of Wrigley Field on August 10, before the game vs. the
Washington Nationals.
Hall of Fame qualifications
When Santo first became eligible for election to the
Baseball Hall of Fame in
1980, he was named on less than 4 percent of all
ballots cast, resulting in his removal from the ballot in subsequent years; he was one of several players re-added to the ballot in
1985 following widespread complaints about overlooked candidates, with the remainder of their 15 years of eligibility restored even if this extended beyond the usual limit of 20 years after their last season. After receiving 13 percent of the vote in the 1985 election, his vote totals increased in 10 of the next 13 years until he received 43 percent of the vote in his final year on the
1998 ballot, finishing third in the voting behind electee
Don Sutton and 2000 inductee
Tony Perez. Following revamped voting procedures for the
Veterans Committee, which elects players retired for over 20 years, Santo finished third in
2003, tied for first in
2005, and again finished first in voting for the
2007 and
2009 inductions, but fell short of the required number of votes each year. Following further major changes to the Veterans Committee voting process announced in 2010, Santo's next opportunity for admission will come in voting for the induction class of 2012.
Although Santo has become a widely supported candidate for selection, his initial poor showing in balloting has been attributed to various factors, including a longtime tendency of Hall voters to overlook third basemen; at the time Santo retired, only three of the over 120 players elected were third basemen.
[citation needed] Also, the fact that Santo's best years occurred in the 1960s, when
offensive statistics were relatively lower than in many other eras (due to an enlarged
strike zone and raised
pitcher's mounds, among other things), has been cited as a factor that has led voters to perhaps overlook him.
[17][18] Another possible reason that has been suggested is that voters have not focused sufficiently on Santo's high walk totals and defense. These aspects of play are perhaps more valued by
sabermetrics--newer methods of evaluating a baseball player's productivity—than they have been by Hall of Fame voters in the past. For example, Santo's career
adjusted on-base plus slugging (OPS+)—the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage, adjusted for the park and league in which he played, and expressed as a percentage of the league average—would rank him exactly in the middle of the ten major league third basemen currently in the Hall of Fame.
[18][19]
One argument that has been raised against Santo’s Hall of Fame candidacy is that his
batting statistics, over the course of his career, were significantly better at
home than on the
road. He hit 216 of his 342 home runs at home, and only 126 on the road.
[20] His career batting average at home was .296, versus .257 on the road.
[20] However, several players elected to the Hall of Fame by the
Baseball Writers Association of America, such as
Carl Yastrzemski,
Wade Boggs,
Jim Rice and
Kirby Puckett, batted significantly better in their home
parks than they did on the road.
[21][22][23][24] Hall of Famers with a significant differential between their home numbers and road numbers in terms of home runs include
Mel Ott (323 homers at home and 188 on the road),
Frank Robinson (321 at home, 265 on the road),
Jimmie Foxx (299 at home, 235 on the road) and
Hank Greenberg (205 at home, 126 on the road).
[25][26][27][28] Others have also commented that two Cubs who were in their prime during Santo’s prime years have already been honored by the Hall of Fame (
Ferguson Jenkins and Billy Williams), and the team also featured a third Hall of Famer, Ernie Banks, who was arguably past his prime, yet the team never won a
pennant. However, the late 1960s Cubs were far from the only team in baseball history with multiple Hall of Famers that did not win a pennant or a
World Series.
Santo also fell short of such traditional standards of Hall election as
3,000 hits and
500 home runs; however, by the time his career ended, only two third basemen (
Brooks Robinson and
Lave Cross) had even collected 2,500 hits, and only one (
Eddie Mathews) had reached the 500-home run plateau.
[29][30][31][32] Bill James, a notable
statistical guru who has ranked Santo among the 100 greatest players of all time (sixth among third basemen), believes his election to the Hall of Fame is long overdue.
Although disappointed at being bypassed, on the day his jersey number was retired by the Cubs, the ever-optimistic and emotional "old Cub" told the cheering Wrigley Field crowd, "This is
my Hall of Fame!"
[8][33] During
Ryne Sandberg's Hall of Fame acceptance speech in 2005, he echoed his support for Santo's selection, saying, "...for what it’s worth, Ron Santo just gained one more vote from the Veterans Committee."
[34] On April 19, 2007, the
Illinois House of Representatives adopted HB 109 (
Cross), urging the Veterans Committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame to elect Ron Santo to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
[35]
Post retirement
Broadcast career
As the "single Biggest Cubs fan of all time," Santo joined the Cubs' broadcast booth in 1990 as the
WGN radio color commentator.
[2][36] He worked with
play-by-play announcer Pat Hughes, and these radio broadcasts were also known as the
Pat and Ron Show. He also worked with
Harry Caray,
Thom Brennaman,
Steve Stone and
Bob Brenly. Santo also briefly worked with
Chicago Bears and
Green Bay Packers commentator
Wayne Larrivee. In addition to his broadcasting career, he did commercials for
Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating, which he endorsed. In Chicago, Santo was known for his unabashed broadcast enthusiasm, including groans and cheers during the game. As excitable as Santo was when a great play for the Cubs occurred, he was equally as vocal in his displeasure.
Struggle with diabetes
In the early years of his playing career, he carefully concealed the fact that he had
type 1 diabetes. He feared that if this information were to be known, he would be forced into retirement. Because the methods of regulating diabetes in the 1960s and 1970s were not as advanced as they are today, Santo gauged his
blood sugar levels based on his moods.
[37] If he felt his blood sugar was low, he would snack on a candy bar in the
clubhouse.
[37]
As part of the publicity surrounding "Ron Santo Day" at
Wrigley Field on August 28, 1971, he revealed his struggle with diabetes. He was diagnosed with this disease at the age of 18, and was given a life expectancy of 25 years. Santo had both his legs amputated below the knee as a result of his diabetes: the right in 2001 and the left in 2002. Santo shared a bond in this respect with 2008 Cub rookie
Sam Fuld, who also suffers from type 1 diabetes.
[38] In 2004 Santo and his battle against diabetes were the subject of a documentary,
This Old Cub. The film was written, co-produced and directed by Santo's son Jeff.
Charities
Santo endorsed the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's annual Ron Santo Walk to Cure Diabetes in Chicago from 1974 until his death, and raised over $60 million for the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). In 2002, Santo was named the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's "Person of the Year".
[33] Santo also inspired
Bill Holden to walk 2,100 miles from
Arizona to Chicago, to raise $250,000 for diabetes research.
Death
Santo died at 12:40 a.m. on December 3, 2010
[1] in a
Scottsdale, Arizona, hospital due to complications from
bladder cancer and diabetes. (Many media outlets reported the date as "the night of the 2nd" or "overnight".) Santo lapsed into a coma on December 1 and died the next night.
[39][40][41] [42]
To see more of who died in 2010
click here
Bass, a native of Petersburg, Virginia, was a member of the winningest football team in William & Mary history. Bass captained the 1942 Indians, which compiled a 9–1–1 record. He later was an assistant coach at his alma mater when the 1947 Indians were 9–1.
