Chicago Cubs: The Heroes of Wrigley Series: Ron Santo

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Throughout more than three decades with the Chicago Cubs organization, Ron Santo epitomized what it means to truly, deeply love a team and a city.

While Ernie Banks is known as being “Mr. Cub,” Ron Santo is what I think about when I think about the Chicago Cubs. I grew up listening to him call countless Cubs games on the radio along with play-by-play broadcaster, Pat Hughes. He became a constant in my childhood and into my adult life.

He was not just a former player, beloved by the masses, but an enthusiastic Cubs fan just like us. He was elated when things went right, deflated when the Cubs were, well, the Cubs. He shared the same emotional connection to the game as us, so a personal connection was built and shared with Santo. To me, Ron Santo is the greatest Chicago Cub to ever play. When the Cubs won it all in 2016, after 108 years, the first person I thought of after the win was my father. The second was Ron Santo. I knew, out of all the ecstatically happy Cub fans, he would’ve been the most elated.

He was one of us.

Chicago Cubs: He lived the highs and the lows equally

While in the booth, he shared the same experience we did while listening. He joined us on the roller coaster that is Cubs fandom. We’ve been treated to our fair share of “oh sh*ts” when the Cubs were in danger of relinquishing their lead, to which Pat would correct him after a brief pause, retorting, “Ronnie… I think you mean, “oh shoot.” It was like he was right there, watching the game beside us, sharing the same emotion and affinity with every play.

An example of this comes during the 1998 pennant race. The Cubs had a two-run lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers. However, Milwaukee was threating the W, having the bases loaded. A routine fly ball was hit to left fielder Brant Brown. Brown would commit an error, dropping the ball, allowing three unearned runs to score in an odd walk-off fashion. The Cubs would lose the ballgame.

Listeners of WGN Radio, let out a simultaneous whimper that was similar to Santo’s famous on-air groan which was reminiscent in channeling Brad Pitt during the final scene of Se7en.

Pat Hughes: “Brant Brown drops the ball!”

Ron Santo: “OHHHH NOOOOOO!!! NOOOO!!!”

After the game, Hughes describes going down into the clubhouse after the game and Santo being with then Cubs manager, Jim Riggleman. He saw something that he’s never seen before. He saw the manager of a big league ball club trying to cheer up the broadcaster after the game.

THAT was Ron Santo.

He was the most colorful color guy in the booth but he was also the most colorful player on the field, as well.

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Chicago Cubs: ‘There is something about Chicago’

Once completing high school, he had all 16 major league teams interested and after him. The highest offers came from the New York Yankees and the Cincinnati Reds. The lowest offer, coming from the Chicago Cubs. When trying to decide where to sign, he confided in his father, tell him, “There is something about Chicago. I don’t know what it is, but there is something about Chicago.”

After choosing to sign with the Cubs, he fondly remembers walking out of the clubhouse and entering Wrigley Field for the first time. “It was like walking on air. There was a feeling of electricity that I’ve never had.”

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Throughout the 1960s, Santo became known as a smooth fielder with outstanding right-handed power. He proved to be extremely durable, playing in 390 consecutive games. From April 19, 1964, through May 31, 1966, he appeared in every game at third base, establishing a league record of 364 consecutive games played at the position. His 164 games played at third base in 1965, remains a Major League record to this day.

In 1965, at the age of 25, he became the youngest player in team history to be named the team captain. It was an honor that Santo took with the highest regard.

During his career, hit 342 home runs (fourth-most all-time for a third baseman at the time of his retirement), drove in 1,331 RBIs (fifth-most all-time for a third baseman at the time of his retirement), and was a nine-time National League All-Star. From 1961-70, he averaged 27 home runs and 101 runs batted in.

He was stellar in the field as well. He led the league in chances for a third baseman for nine straight seasons, establishing a Major League record, led the league in assists, seven straight seasons, a National League record and led the league in double plays six different seasons. His defense didn’t go unnoticed as he was awarded the Gold Glove five times, every season from 1964-68. Ron Santo played 2,102 games at third base, the most ever by a Chicago Cub.

While Ticker to Evers to Chance is the most famous infield in Cubs history, Santo was a part of the tremendous Cubs infield that was compiled of Santo at third, Don Kessinger at short, Glenn Beckert at second and Hall of Famer Ernie Banks at first. The foursome made the All-Star team in 1969.

Chicago Cubs: Jumping for joy – literally

During the 1969 season, Santo became known for performing his famous “heel click” after a game on June 22 against the Montreal Expos.

Going into the bottom of the ninth, the Expos were leading 6-3. With one out, Paul Popovich hit a single. Billy Williams followed, hitting another single. Santo grounded out for the second out but moved both runners up to second and third. Ernie Banks singled, driving home both Popovich and Williams, bringing the Cubs within one. The next batter, Jim Hickman, ended the game with a walk-off two-run home run to win the game 7-6.

When Hickman reached home plate, Santo was so excited that he ran down the third base line and hopped three times, clicking his heels with each leap in the air.

The next day, manager Leo Durocher called Santo into his office and asked him to click his heels after each Cubs victory at Wrigley Field in order to motivate the team that was on their way to the National League pennant.

The routine antagonized opposing teams and, by some accounts, put a target on the team’s back. During the September losing streak that collapsed the Cubs’ magical 1969 season, Santo discontinued the heel click routine as critics called it “arrogant” and “overconfidence.”

The Cubs slumped to 8-17 during the final month of the season and The Amazin’ Mets overtook Chicago to win the pennant. They eventually went on to defeat the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. Despite the disappointing end to the season, Santo regards the 1969 season as the greatest time in his playing career.

Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Daniel /Allsport /

Chicago Cubs: Standing up for a team he loved

Santo was notable for being the first player to do several things that are standard in today’s game.

In 1966, he was the first player in Major League history to wear protective earflaps on his batting helmet.

In the midst of trying to break the Cubs’ modern-day consecutive games hit streak record (27 by Hack Wilson in 1929), Santo was sidelined two weeks after a beanball, thrown by Mets pitcher Jack Fisher, fractured his cheekbone, which ended his consecutive games streak. When he returned, he broke the hitting streak record and the helmet flaps have since become a league standard.

In 1973, Santo became the first player to invoke the 10-and-5 rights rule under the new collective bargaining agreement signed after the 1972 strike. The rule allowed players with ten year’s service, the last five with the same team, to decline any trade.

The Cubs tried to trade Santo to the California Angels for two young pitchers. However, Santo didn’t want to play on the West Coast and became the first player to exercise the new rule and vetoing the trade.

With the Cubs still trying to trade Santo, and since his preference was to stay in Chicago, the two sides worked out a deal with the White Sox in December of 1973. The Cubs acquired four players in exchange for Santo, one of which was one of Santo’s future co-broadcasters with the Cubs, Steve Stone.

The trade ended Santo’s tenure with the Cubs but was able to remain in Chicago, the adopted city he loved so much.

The White Sox already had a third baseman in Bill Melton so Santo was delegated as the team’s designated hitter, a role which he hated because he wanted to be in the field. He finished the season with career lows, hitting five home runs and batting for only a .221 average.

After the season, he hung up his cleats, retiring after 15 seasons at the age of 34.

Chicago Cubs: Fighting the fight for himself and others

Santo suffered from Type 1 Diabetes since the age of 18, though he did not publically reveal his disease until the 1971 season.

The disease develops in the pancreas when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells, which produce insulin. Without insulin, a diabetic will accumulate excess amounts of sugar in the bloodstream, causing circulatory problems, which can lead to blindness, kidney failure, hardening of the arteries, gangrene and potential limb amputation.

When he was diagnosed with the disease, he was given a life expectancy of 25 years. Santo eventually had both legs amputated below the knee as a result of his diabetes, his right in 2001 and his left a year later in 2002. Despite being beset by the disease, he didn’t let it stop him and remained cheerful. In 2008, he developed and shared a close bond with Cubs rookie Sam Fuld, who also suffers from the same disease.

Since 1979, the Santo family has been heavily involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Since 1976, his annual Ron Santo Walk to Cure Diabetes in Chicago has raised over $65M for the organization. In 2002, he was named “Person of the Year” by the foundation.

Santo died on December 3, 2010, due to complications from bladder cancer and diabetes. At his funeral on December 10, former teammates Ernie Banks, Fergie Jenkins, Randy Hundley, Glenn Beckert and Billy Williams served as pallbearers. His casket was draped with the No. 10 flag that flew over Wrigley the day his number was retired.

He was cremated and his ashes were scattered on the place he loved the most, Wrigley Field.

Chicago Cubs: An honor greater than Cooperstown

When Santo first became eligible for election in 1980, he received less than four percent of the ballots cast by the BBWAA (Baseball Writers’ Association of America), which resulted in his removal from the ballot.

Following widespread complaints regarding overlooked candidates, Santo was one of the names added back on the ballot in 1985. Over the course of the next 13 years, his vote total increased during 10 of them until he received 43 percent on his final year on the ballot in 1998.

Santo’s next Hall opportunity came in the form of the Veteran’s Committee, which elected players to the Hall of Fame retired for over 20 years. Santo finished third in 2003, tied for first in 2005, and first in 2007 and 2009. However, each of those years, Santo still fell short of the required number of votes and nobody was elected for induction.

Disappointed by being bypassed by the Hall of Fame again, the Cubs retired Santo’s No. 10 jersey on September 28, 2003, the day after the Cubs won the National League Central Division title. He became only the third player in franchise history to be honored behind former teammates Ernie Banks (No. 14) and Billy Williams (No. 26).

During the ceremony, while addressing the cheering Wrigley faithful, the ever-optimistic and emotional Santo told the fans, “This is MY Hall of Fame!” When watching his number fly on the flagpole, below Ernie Banks’ number, he stated, “There is nothing more important to me in my life than this happening to me. I’m a Cubbie. I’ll always be a Cubbie.”

Chicago Cubs: Headed to the Hall – at long last

A change in voting structure in 2010, gave Santo a new, final opportunity to reach the Hall of Fame. The Golden Era Committee, a 16-member group which, every three years, considers ten candidates identified by the Historical Overview Committee from the 1947 to the 1972 era.

Santo’s best years occurred in the 1960s, an era when offensive statistics were relatively lower than other eras due to enlarged strike zones and raised pitcher’s mounds. His statistics were largely overlooked, as voters did not initially focus on his high walk totals and defense, factors that are now valued more by the methods of sabermetrics.

Even though Santo didn’t reach the traditional achievements such as 500 home runs or 3,000 hits, Bill James, the pioneer of sabermetrics, ranked Santo among the 100 greatest players of all-time and sixth among all third baseman. Baseball enthusiasts and sabermetricians continued their ply to get Santo inducted into the Hall of Fame.

In 2012, the Golden Era Committee, that included the likes of Hank Aaron, Al Kaline, Ralph Kiner, Tommy Lasorda, Juan Marichal, Brooks Robinson and former teammate Billy Williams, elected Santo posthumously into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2012, two years after his death.

After his passing, on the day Santo was finally enshrined into the Hall of Fame, the Cubs starting lineup all did the “heel click” as they took their positions in the field at the start of the game to pay tribute.

The self-proclaimed “single biggest Cubs fan of all-time,” finally got well-deserved, long overdue Hall of Fame nod.

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Ron Santo spent a total of 34 years in the Cubs organization, 14 years as a player and 20 years in the broadcast booth. Whatever obstacle Santo was dealt, he always showed resilience in the face of adversity. He still remains one of the most beloved Cubs in the history of the franchise.

If you wish to donate to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, please visit their website.

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Chicago Cubs: The Heroes of Wrigley Series presents Ron Santo