Ron Santo is finally in the Hall of Fame. I would have been absolutely elated if this had happened a few years ago. Today it feels bittersweet. Ron so much wanted to be included with his teammates Ernie, Billy and Fergie. You know he could just taste it. As it is we can be happy for his family and friends and for ourselves and hope that there's a heaven where he's celebrating with his Mom Vivian , Step-Dad John and legions of fans .
When his number was retired Santo said, "This is my Hall of Fame".
Since our recent move I've had this flag packed. Made out of nylon, it's 24" x "36 and the signature is about 8" long. I can't think of a better time to pull it out and find it a new place of honor.
Congrats are in order!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to you, Wrigley Wax, the Santo family, the Cubs, and Cubs fans everywhere. It was long overdue.
ReplyDeleteThe system for voting in players (not only the recently-retired, but the "veterans committee" (whose list of nominees is apparently compiled by the writers anyway) is a joke. Too many personal agendas come into play. A few days ago, I was watching a show on the NFL Network about the "Top 10 Players Not in the Hall of Fame". One writer/voter said early in the show that the pettiness and "not voting for a player because of [this and that]" was disgraceful, then later in the show, the same guy said about a player "He will never get in as long as I'm alive!". What a clown.
Santo was one of my client's favorite players. I believe Santo passed away earlier this years if I recall correctly. Too bad he couldn't live to see this.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I was watching that new mlb show "clubhouse confidential" and they were talking about players like Minnie Minoso - I never thoguht of him as a HOFer, but after hearing their side of the story, it made me re-think the criteria it took to get there.
Not to stir up trouble on a Chicago-based blog, but it seems that with Minnie Minoso's career stats (less than 2000 hits, less than 200 HR, less than .300 average), his claim to fame is that he "played" in 5 decades. This is entirely bogus, as his 70s and 80s appearances were token publicity stunts by the team, while he was a coach for the Sox.
ReplyDeleteUnlike an earlier token farce (Eddie Gaedel), Minoso was a legitimate ballplayer at one time, and should have had more respect for the game (and for the players that achieved a record by legitimately playing in 3 decades, such as Ted Williams and Jim Kaat) than to have gone along with with that nonsense.
(For the record, I put Tim McCarver's 1980 stint with the Phillies (where he came out of the Phillies' broadcasting booth in September to gain 3-decade status) in the same boat as Minoso.)