Chicago Cubs Legend Was 65

Ryne Sandberg has died. The baseball Corridor of Famer, who spent most of his profession with the Chicago Cubs enjoying second base, was 65. He later managed the Philadelphia Phillies.

Sandberg died on Monday, July 28, the Cubs and Main League Baseball introduced.

“Ryne Sandberg was a hero to a technology of Chicago Cubs followers and will likely be remembered as one of many all-time greats in practically 150 years of this historic franchise,” Cubs govt chairman Tom Ricketts mentioned in a assertion on behalf of the Cubs and Sandberg’s household. “His dedication to and respect for the sport, alongside along with his unrelenting integrity, grit, hustle, and aggressive hearth had been hallmarks of his profession.”

“He was immensely pleased with his teammates and his position as a world ambassador of the sport of baseball, however most of all, he was pleased with Margaret, his kids and his position as husband, father and grandfather,” Ricketts continued.

Sandberg was born in Spokane, Wash., in 1959. He was named after Yankees reduction pitcher Ryne Duren; his older brother Del was additionally named after a baseball participant. Del was additionally Sandberg’s first coach. “It was type of laborious when he obtained a girlfriend in highschool,” Sandberg instructed PEOPLE in 1984. “I at all times would get mad as a result of he would exit on a date and I wished to play ball.”

Sandberg was all-state in baseball and basketball at North Central Excessive College and was all-American as a highschool quarterback, with a number of provides from schools. He opted to not attend school and keep on with baseball after being drafted by the Phillies. “Soccer, I believed, can be a troublesome sport to make a dwelling in,” he mentioned in 1984. “There is no such thing as a minor league. You both make it to the NFL or you do not.”

He made his MLB debut in 1981, as a shortstop, however the group determined he wasn’t a great match and traded him to the Cubs (who had employed the Phillies’ earlier common supervisor who had drafted Sandberg) for the 1982 season. The Cubs initially wished him to play within the outfield however ultimately moved him to second base, the place he shined. He gained a Gold Glove (the league’s high defensive honor) in 1983. 

Sandberg broke out within the 1984 season. He batted .314 and led the Nationwide League in runs and triples. In a single recreation — dubbed the Sandberg Recreation — he hit two house runs to propel the Cubs to a 12-11 victory over the rival St. Louis Cardinals. His supervisor, Jim Frey, instructed PEOPLE that yr, “I feel he’s most likely within the high 4 or 5 in baseball proper now in all-round skill.”

Sandberg helped lead the crew to the Nationwide League’s Jap Division title, which was their first championship of any form since 1945, although they misplaced the Nationwide League Championship Sequence. He was additionally named League MVP.

However for all his talent, Sandberg was soft-spoken and didn’t love the highlight. His crew nickname was “Gabby” due to how quiet he was. He instructed PEOPLE that when he joined the crew, “I used to be a bit of scared and I did not speak in any respect.” Of the passionate Cubs followers, he mentioned, “They actually know the sport. They boo and cheer when they’re presupposed to.”

Sandberg was finally a nine-time Gold Glove winner, a 10-time All-Star and a seven-time Silver Slugger (the award for finest offensive talent ready). In 1990, he led the Nationwide League in house runs. In 1990, PEOPLE named him one of many world’s 50 most lovely folks. 

In 1994, Sandberg struggled and introduced his retirement mid-season. ”I’m not the kind of one that will be glad with something lower than my best possible effort and my very high efficiency,” he mentioned. However he returned to the Cubs for 2 extra seasons, in 1996 and 1997. He finally retired with a .285 profession batting common and 277 house runs, a file for a second baseman on the time. Sandberg’s closing house recreation on the Cubs’ Wrigley Discipline was additionally the ultimate house recreation for the crew’s legendary announcer Harry Caray, who died that winter.

Sandberg was inducted into the Baseball Corridor of Fame in 2005. Shortly after, the Cubs retired his quantity, making him the crew’s fourth participant to obtain that honor. The Cubs unveiled a statue in his honor in 2024. 

In 2007, Sandberg started working as a supervisor within the Cubs’ minor-league system. After he was not chosen to handle the major-league membership, he turned a supervisor for the Phillies’ minor-league groups. In 2012, he was promoted to the third-base coach of the major-league crew, and when their supervisor was fired through the 2013 season, he turned the supervisor. He finally resigned in the course of the 2015 season.

Sandberg was married to his first spouse, Cindy, from 1979 to July 1995, once they divorced. They shared kids Justin and Lindsey. In August 1995, he married his second spouse, Margaret, and have become step-father to her three kids, BR, Adriane and Steven.

Like many Cubs followers, Sandberg was determined for them to win the World Sequence, which they hadn’t completed since 1908. “I feel the Cubs followers are sporting skinny on the ‘Lovable Losers’ title. … I feel it’d be the largest get together ever for a successful crew, and the get together can be everywhere in the world,” he mentioned in a 2011 interview.

The Cubs lastly gained in 2016. That yr, Sandberg had rejoined the crew as an envoy, and he additionally obtained a World Sequence ring.

In January 2024, Sandberg introduced he was receiving therapy for prostate most cancers. In Could, he declared he was cancer-free. In December, he shared information that the most cancers had recurred and he was receiving therapy once more. “We are going to proceed to be optimistic, robust, and combat to beat this,” he wrote on Instagram on the time.

Sandberg is survived by his spouse and kids.