The Original Number 23 in Chicago

I realize this is a week late but I wanted to send a shout out to one of my favorite ball players, Ryne Sandberg and his election to the baseball Hall of Fame. It is much deserved. Now, I am Cub fan who is obviously biased, but when it comes to the Hall of Fame I don’t usually let my Cub fan bias blind my belief that the Hall should be reserved for only the truly great, and Ryne Sandberg was one of the truly great.

June 23, 1984 is a day that will live in my memory until the day I die. First off, it was my fifteenth birthday. I was in Ohio spending the summer at my Dad’s. The Cubs and Cardinals was NBC’s game of the week. The Cubs were in the thick of the pennant race and it was shaping up to be a memorable summer on the north side. The Cardinals jumped out to a commanding lead that day and it was like 9-2 in the seventh inning. The Cubs started to make up come back but were still two runs down going into the ninth.

Up to the plate came Sandberg representing the tying run. On the mound was ex-Cub Bruce Sutter. Sutter was the best reliever in baseball at the time and rarely blew a save. It didn’t faze Sandberg though as he launched a pitch into the left field bleachers to tie the game. My Dad and I went bonkers. Of course this is the Cubs and in the top of the 10^th the Cards scored two runs to take an 11-9 lead. It looked as if Ryno’s heroics would be wasted.

Sutter was still in the game and easily retired the first two batters the Cubs sent up there. Bobby Dernier was our last hope and somehow he coaxed a walk out of Sutter to bring up Sandberg once again representing the tying run. At this point my Dad, my brother and myself had all changed seats since the previous inning. My Dad instructed us to sit down in the exact spots we were last time he came up, believing those were the lucky seats. Well, I guess they were because wouldn’t you know it Sandberg did it again launching another Sutter pitch out of the park to tie the game one more time.

Being a Cub fan it is a rare occasion were you get to celebrate so when the time comes we tend to go a little crazy. My Dad and I went absolutely ape shit after that blast. The Cubs would go on to win the game and I am convinced that was the game that propelled the Cubs to their first post season appearance since 1945.

Seeing Sandberg on a daily basis was a privilege. He wasn’t flashy, he didn’t wear bling -bling, and he didn’t do a home run trot. He simply played the game with class and a steadiness that is rarely seen today. He re-defined second base in the 80’s and won an MVP award for his stellar 84 season. For all those reasons and much more he was always a hall of famer in my book.