Two words> Ron Santo! I had tickets to the Sat game, which turned out to be a double header, which was pretty cool, 'cause it was mighty historic.
Also had tics for todays game in which Ron got his number 10 retired.
Now that is ultra cool, and Cooperstown better wake the f*ck up...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/printedition/chi-0309280221sep28,1,1587811.story
Cubs, Santo simply clicked from the beginning
Ex-third baseman, who has given his heart to the team on and off the field, will be rewarded
By Ed Sherman
Tribune sports media reporter
September 28, 2003
Ron Santo never is at a loss for words.
But he has no idea what he is going to say during Sunday's ceremony when the Cubs officially retire his No. 10. Given his emotions, he might not be able to say a thing.
"With all the excitement of what's happening with the Cubs, it could be too much," Santo said. "Whatever I come up with, it'll have a lot of love in it."
The Cubs and Santo have been a love affair since 1960. Last week the team's greatest third baseman talked about the events in his life that led to this moment.
On almost quitting: "In spring training in 1960, [manager Charlie Grimm] told me I would break camp with the team if I had a good weekend against the Dodgers. I went 2-for-4 against Don Drysdale and 2-for-4 against Stan Williams. Charlie calls me and says, `Move your stuff, you're going to break camp with us.'
"[Cubs general manager] John Holland then calls and says he wants to see me. I think I'm going to sign a major-league contract. Instead, they tell me they made a trade for Don Zimmer and they were sending me to Triple A. I said, `No, you're not. Charlie told me I made the team. I'm not going to Triple A. I quit.'
"I called my wife and said, `I'm coming home. They lied to me.' Holland came down to my room and I was packing my bags. He said, `Son, you're going to be in the big leagues.' Eventually he calmed me down. But I knew I belonged."
On his first hit: "It was against Bob Friend of Pittsburgh (on June 26, 1960) at Forbes Field. Not only was it my first game, it was the first time I ever set foot in a big-league park. I was so nervous, I didn't get the ball out of the cage in batting practice.
"The first time up, Friend threw me a big curve for a strike. It surprised me. [Pirates catcher] Smokey Burgess said, `That's a big-league curve, kid.' My knees and hands started shaking. The next pitch, Friend threw me a fastball and I lined a single up the middle. A hit in my first at-bat. I drove in five runs during the doubleheader and we won both games. I had a lot of great games, but that was my greatest memory in the big leagues."
On the toughest pitchers he faced: "Drysdale and Bob Gibson. They were tough on any right-handed hitters. Sandy Koufax was terrific, but I did well against him. I'm not bragging, but as your career goes on, those pitchers know you're good. They don't expect to get you out every time."
His favorite pitcher to hit: "Ron Herbel of the Giants. Let's just say I was very comfortable against him."
Favorite teammate: "I loved all of them, but Glenn Beckert was my closest friend. We still get together. When my parents were killed in a car wreck [driving to spring training in 1973], I was at the airport going back to Seattle. Who shows up but my roomie, Glenn. He said, `I want to go with you.' Burying two parents was hard, but Beck was just wonderful."
On Leo Durocher: "Leo and I clashed a lot. You had nothing but respect for him, but you really didn't like him. We had an incident. Nobody knew the real reason for what happened. But I had him against the wall, and they had to pull me off of him. Leo was a tough guy. He didn't back down.
"After that I lost respect for him. When he left, we didn't talk. Then a few years later Randy Hundley had one of his fantasy camps and he invited Leo. At the banquet, Leo got up and the first thing he did was apologize to me. There were a lot of tears. It wasn't easy for him to do, but it meant a lot to me."
The most crushing defeat: "We had an eight-game lead [in August 1969], but we went 2-7 on the West Coast. When we came back, we were only up by 3 1/2 games over the Mets. There was a feeling of, `Where did those games go?' We started waiting for things to happen.
"We're leading the Pirates 1-0 in the top of the ninth. With two outs, Phil Regan has a 1-2 count on Willie Stargell. The wind is blowing in 30 m.p.h., but Stargell golfs a low fastball out of the park. I hung my head thinking, `Now what's going to happen?' We eventually lost 2-1. When we went back to the clubhouse, we just sat there. Nobody said a word."
On the 1969 Cubs: "I look at 1969 as being a great season. It wasn't a disappointing season. It was all about Chicago. We were like rock stars. One time I had the shirt ripped off me. We related to the fans and they related to us. It was my most memorable year in 15 years in baseball."
On his first day as a broadcaster in 1990: (He lets out a big laugh.) "I was nervous like my first big-league game, but this time I messed up. I had my scorebook all ready to go. Thom Brennaman's opening the game and the wind comes up and blows my coffee all over my book. I said [expletive deleted] and it got on the air. Thom was just staring at me. I thought, `There goes my career in broadcasting.'"
On his style in the booth: "I learned early on I have to be me. I'm not worried about making mistakes or being so articulate. When Pat Hughes and I first got together, I told him, `I like to have fun. I played this game and I know it can be boring at times. You've got to be you, and I've got to be me.' From that first day, there was a chemistry.
"I'm a fan. When I do the moans or the `Oh, no!' I don't remember doing it. When I hear some of the promos [of his calls] I think, `That was me?' I'm just reacting to what's happening on the field."
On Wrigley Field: "When I first came up, teammates didn't talk to you. You were taking a job from somebody else. You had to prove yourself.
"But Ernie Banks talked to me. When I first went to Wrigley, I walked into the clubhouse, put my uniform on and started to walk out. Ernie was behind me. He said, `Wait until you see this ballpark.'
"I walked out, and I swear I was walking on air.
"The atmosphere is so electric. The feeling I had is unlike any other feeling. I couldn't wait to play baseball. It's never left me."
On how he played the game: "I have respect for the players. They are prone to more pressure today because of the money aspect. I just wish . . . the concentration is not the same as when we played. We had to give it 100 percent.
"Drysdale showed me something. We became good friends. When `Big D' came to town, we'd get a couple of beers. One time, I remember he was pitching the next day. He turned to me and said, `When I walk onto that field, nobody is my friend.' I said, `That's the way I like it.' That's the way the game should be played."
On having his number retired: "I never expected it until I made the Hall of Fame. I was upset when I didn't get in [last February]. Now I have to wait two more years.
"But when they told me about this, I was overwhelmed.
This is my Hall of Fame." |
