Ron Santo’s Hall Time Is Now

Ron Santo really wanted the best free trip to Cooperstown that any person can receive, the gift of being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Just like his love for the Chicago Cubs, he wore the emotion of his desire on his sleeve. If you knew Santo at all you knew he wasn’t very good at masking his feelings.

In one veterans committee balloting a couple of years ago, Santo received 73 percent of the vote. Inductees need 75 percent approval ratings to be accepted. That was a bitter day for Santo. All of the vibes had been singing within him that it was finally his turn. We’ll see soon enough this year if 2011 is his turn since the Golden Era Veterans Committee vote is Dec. 5.

Santo should have been elected to the Hall long ago. He was one of the pre-eminent third basemen of his time and his hitting and fielding credentials are in order. It’s hard to explain these things, how someone many people believe is an obvious choice gets overlooked. My biggest worry this year is that the late Ken Boyer, the St. Louis Cardinals’ third baseman of the same Santo era is also on the ballot. I hope support for one man doesn’t cancel out support for the other when in reality they both should be chosen.

Born in 1940, Santo was a huge high school star in Seattle long before the majors came to the Pacific Northwest. Still, a scout from just about every team found him and wooed him. Whether it was karma or coincidence, Santo watched the occasional Cubs game on the Game of the Week and he was spellbound by Wrigley Field. The Cubs did not make the best offer, but they could offer Wrigley as a home park.

The nine-time All-Star, who won five Gold Gloves while batting .277, smacking 342 home runs, and knocking in 1,331 runs, never regretted his decision. Santo signed with the Cubs in 1959 and he was in the majors by 1960. He remained in the majors for 15 seasons, though his last one with the White Sox felt uncomfortable. Santo just wasn’t cut out to ride the Red Line train South. As soon as he could, Santo re-upped with the Cubs, the second time around as a broadcaster. His tell-it-like-it-is style, when it was apparent to listeners that he lived and died with every Cubs up-and-down, just as they did, made him a legend a second time over.

When I lived in Chicago I interviewed Santo several times and whether he was talking to me or I read or saw other interviews he gave, his eyes always lit up when he talked about his favorite team and his favorite ballpark. He once told me the story of his first day in the majors. Brought up in mid-season, Santo joined the Cubs in Pittsburgh, at old Forbes Field. He was informed he was starting a doubleheader. Santo could not hide his jitters.

The Pirates were on their way to a memorable world championship that year and featured such players as Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, and Dick Groat. Ernie Banks sat down next to Santo in the dugout pre-game and asked, “Are you nervous, kid?” Santo was candid. “Oh yeah, Ernie,” he said. Banks told him to look at the Pirates throwers as “AAA pitchers.”

Pittsburgh started Vernon Law and Bob Friend, but it worked out pretty well for the new guy. Santo slapped two hits and drove in three runs in his debut and in the second game he got another hit and knocked in two more runs.

It was a splashy kickoff to a special career. What almost no one knew at the time and for most of Santo’s 15 years in the bigs,  was that everything he accomplished was achieved against a backdrop of much greater odds. Santo was diagnosed with diabetes as a teenager and he was insulin dependent the rest of his life. Afraid his bosses wouldn’t understand and might cut him from the team, Santo kept his secret for years.

Anyone familiar with diabetes knows it is an insidious disease with potentially lethal side effects. As if it is not tough enough to hit the curve ball or stay healthy over the long season, the challenge of maintaining a proper diet and safe blood sugar readings can be equally as daunting.

Only later in retirement was Santo willing to go public and he devoted the last decades of his life to raising millions upon millions of dollars to aid diabetes research. Although Santo suffered bouts of cancer, diabetes was his undoing, a relentless stalker of his health resulting in partial amputation of both of his legs. You might not get  bonus points amongst Hall of Fame voters for generous off-field efforts, but they say you do in heaven.

Yet Santo fought on. He always returned to the booth. He always returned to Wrigley. Banks is known as Mr. Cub, but Santo might be the most beloved Cub. As the years passed, Banks, Ferguson Jenkins and Billy Williams, Cubs Hall of Famers all, spoke up for his inclusion in Cooperstown.

If the old Cub gets his overdue due and is selected for the Hall this year, he won’t be at the induction ceremony in person, but it’s a pretty good bet that that trio will be present to tell the world what it missed out not hearing from Ron Santo.