COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Ron Santo once promised that if the Chicago Cubs ever won the World Series, he would go out on the grass at Wrigley Field, leap up and click his two prosthetic heels.
That was what his children said Saturday of the late third baseman, who died in December 2010, a year and three days before his long-awaited election to the Hall of Fame by the Golden Era Committee. The man loved the game, the Cubs and life, despite having played his 15-year career with Type 1 diabetes, which ultimately cost him both of his legs.
Ron Jr., Jeff and Linda Santo-Brown all said, during a news conference Saturday, that the whole family dreamed of seeing Santo walk on those artificial limbs - he had two sets, decorated in Cubs colors, one matching the home uniform,the other the road uniform - and accepting the honor personally. They wish he could be up there with former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin today. They were so embittered that his induction didn’t happen during his lifetime that they used to say they would not come if he were enshrined posthumously.
“I didn’t know how I was going to feel,” Jeff said. “But there was joy there.”
They have seen joy all over town the past few days, watching fans walking around town wearing jerseys of Santo’s beloved Cubs. His children chose to embrace it because they knew Santo would have wanted them to do so. “He would say ‘Thank you’ over and over again,” Linda said, adding that the man who became a passionate Cubs broadcaster would have been hoarse from talking to so many well wishers. “He taught us about appreciating life.”
A five-time Gold Glove winner and 11-time 20-home run hitter, Santo became the symbol of Cubs teams that fell just short, especially to the New York Mets in 1969.His heel-clicking celebrations sometimes irked opponents, but they helped make the Cubs into a major, trendy attraction in Chicago.
“We were not only teammates, we were friends,” said Hall of Famer Billy Williams, who long pushed Santo’s candidacy. “We spent so much time together in Double-A baseball, Triple-A baseball. He always hit fourth, I hit third.
“When he said in Chicago, when his number was retired, ‘This is my Hall of Fame,’ he didn’t mean it. In his heart, he didn’t mean it,” Williams said. “I know he wanted to be here where his teammates are.”
Hall of Famer Lou Brock, who played with and against Santo, said he supported the third baseman’s Hall cause. “Santo was a person with Type 1 diabetes who daily went to his locker, pulled out his insulin, gave himself a shot, went out and played with the best of them. To me, that was courage,” Brock said.
Williams said, “I know he was disappointed the last couple years. It’s too bad. Everybody wished he was here to receive this honor, but I think the family, they’re going to enjoy it. Listen, [once] when we were in Chicago, remember it was cloudy? All of a sudden he came up and the sun came out. That’s what’s going to happen when he receives the award. He’s looking down on us.”
And, his friends and family said, somewhere he will be clicking his heels.
Sports, Pages 29 on 07/22/2012