Baseball lost one of its all-time greats today.
Hall of Fame Second Baseman, Ryne Sandberg, passed away today after a long battle with cancer.
He was 65.
Ryne Sandberg arrived in Chicago via one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history as the future Hall of Fame arrived with Larry Bowa for Ivan DeJesus. Sandberg was converted to an infielder, and after playing only six games in the Majors with Philadelphia, he would be converted from Outfield to Third Base (he would then move to Second a year after)
As a rookie, Sandberg collected 172 Hits, and in 1983 he maintained that solid hitting and would win the first of his nine straight Gold Gloves at Second. "Ryno” would win the National League MVP in 1984 when he batted .314 (his first of what would be five .300 seasons), and he would lead the NL in Runs Scored (114) and Triples (19) and was a Home Run away from 20. He was also an All-Star for the first time, which began a streak of ten straight.
Sandberg was the heart of the Cubs for over a decade, and while he had moderate power numbers in the first half of his career but he went yard at least 26 times in four straight years (1989-1992), including a National League leading 40 in 1990. He would retire early in 1994 and came back to play two more seasons before retiring permanently after 1997.
He would accumulate 2,385 Hits with 282 Home Runs and 1,061 Runs Batted In as a Chicago Cub, and he would enter the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.
We here at notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the fans, friends, and family of Ryne Sandberg.
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