RIP Ryne Sandberg.

[Jakedog]

This was not on my bingo card of “things to get emotional about” today.

I had a Sandberg glove as a kid. It replaced my worn out George Brett model. I don’t even know why I’m upset. I haven’t thought about the guy or the glove in decades. I think maybe it’s more about the bigger picture of more and more of my youth disappearing on a daily basis. Especially lately. Sheesh.

The guy definitely earned his spot in baseball history.

I think my brother might still have his rookie card…

 

[getbent]

He was the Ernie Banks of his era.
So sorry he passed so young.

 

[xStonr]

After Dallas Green left the Phillies to go to the Cubs, he stole Ryne Sandberg from the Phillies. Obviously Ryne turned out to be a All Star player. When Ryne came back to manage the Phillies in 2013 he was a terrible manager. The team wasn't that good then but he quit in the middle of the 2015 season. RIP Ryne

 

[Bellacaster]

I feel the same way. At about 6:02 this morning I noticed a bunch of Ryno highlights playing on the TV in the gym and knew he must have died. It's been a bad time for luminaries of my childhood.

 

[RoscoeElegante]

Ryne Sandburg still seems like a 22-year-old kid in my mind. I can't even imagine him old, much less gone.

Gotta forever love the ones who truly loved the greatest game, and appreciated their fans' support....

 

[stxrus]

Another part of my youth gone.
RIP

 

[dblues]

He was the Ernie Banks of his era.
So sorry he passed so young.

Never thought of it that way, but it makes sense. Rynes era with the Cubs was kind of beginning of the end of my interest in baseball. I really couldn’t name one player on the team that finally won the pennant although I watched most of the playoffs of course. Ernie banks was the beginning. If you grew up in the Chicago area in the 50s the sound of a summer afternoon inside was Jack Brickhouse and Floyd Kalber getting you through a Cubs game. They convinced me that Ernie Banks was the greatest. My grandparents bought me a real Cubs uniform and my Mom sewed the number 14 on it. In second grade, I was Ernie Banks for Halloween. I still have a publicity picture of him from that era. Somewhere I’ve kept all the newspaper articles my Mom sent me about him when he passed.

 

[buster poser]

Well this sucks. Got to see him play a couple of times, I always really liked him and that great middle pair of him and Shawon Dunston, Mark Grace over at first.

RIP Ryno

 

[raysachs]

Great player. Terrible manager. I lived in Philly during his manager days, so I'm obligated to mention it.

RIP.

-Ray

 

[FendrGuitPlayr]

Sad news.

"Sandberg died due to complications with cancer, with which he was diagnosed twice in 2024. He revealed in January 2024 that he had been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer."

 

[trandy9850]

A very under the radar superstar.

R.I.P.

 

[Preacher]

65,
Way too Young to RIP...

 

[Lockback]

Man, this one really hit hard. I loved watching him play. And it really does seem just like yesterday ...

 

[Chester P Squier]

There was a nice article on nola.com (The Times-Picayune online) that is unfortunately behind a paywall. The author, Mike Smith, writes that "New Orleans has never been much of a baseball town, though we’ve had our moments. One was in the 1980s, when baseball fandom for lots of kids here fit like a glove."

He goes on to explain that everyone had cable, and basic cable carried WGN, and WGN carried Cubs games. Kids became Cubs fans, and their favorite Cub was Ryne Sandberg. This was before Wrigley Field had lights, so the home games were played in the daytime.

My own kids were more Atlanta Braves fans, since basic cable also TBS, and TBS carried Braves games, and their favorite Brave was Dale Murphy. But they still liked the Cubs, too. And Ryne Sandberg.

God Bless Sandberg's family.

 

[Bruxist]

Damn. I was thirteen in 1986. After school, I would help my friend Matt with his paper route (for part of the profits) and then we would watch the Cubs until my dad picked me up on his way home from work.

The '86 Cubs were my fav.

Rest in peace.

 

[deytookerjaabs]

There was a nice article on nola.com (The Times-Picayune online) that is unfortunately behind a paywall. The author, Mike Smith, writes that "New Orleans has never been much of a baseball town, though we’ve had our moments. One was in the 1980s, when baseball fandom for lots of kids here fit like a glove."

He goes on to explain that everyone had cable, and basic cable carried WGN, and WGN carried Cubs games. Kids became Cubs fans, and their favorite Cub was Ryne Sandberg. This was before Wrigley Field had lights, so the home games were played in the daytime.

My own kids were more Atlanta Braves fans, since basic cable also TBS, and TBS carried Braves games, and their favorite Brave was Dale Murphy. But they still liked the Cubs, too. And Ryne Sandberg.

God Bless Sandberg's family.

I grew up in Chicago and the Cubs games were always on if we were at home in the afternoon. I can remember being little and visiting family in California (who moved there from Chicago) only to find that they still had the Cubs games on every afternoon!

Those old broadcasts are imprinted on my psyche. Like, I watch them and whatever the weather at Wrigley was my mind still thinks that's the weather right this moment. Awe crap, rain delay? I'm not going to be able to play outside! Steve Stone & Harry Caray's voices are almost like that of a family member. And I'm not even a big baseball guy but ye olde tyme Wrigley feels like home.


RIP

 

[Telegator]

I sometimes wonder why I get so down after certain celebrities that I never met pass on. I think we sympathize with their families but mourn because it reminds us that our time here grows ever shorter.

 

[Chester P Squier]

Steve Stone & Harry Caray's voices are almost like that of a family member.

When there was a very long fly ball, Harry would exclaim"It might be! It could be!" And if it went for a homer, "It is! Home run!"

I think he only did this for the Cubs.

I sometimes wonder why I get so down after certain celebrities that I never met pass on. I think we sympathize with their families but mourn because it reminds us that our time here grows ever shorter.

I may have mentioned in another thread that my wife was born on the same day as Ozzie Osborne.

 

[tery]

Rest In Peace.

 

[raysachs]

Ryne was about four months younger than me, so if celebrity deaths remind us of our own mortality, consider me reminded…

-Ray