Results tagged “ronsanto”

In it's battle to obtain documents from the University of Illinois in connection with their investigation of the Clout College Controversy, the Chicago Tribune has stumbled upon a strange example of what they allege to be shenanigans: Ron Santo. While Santo has nothing at all to do with the controversy, it seems the school blacked out Santo's name in documents it handed over to the Trib which the Trib claims "violated the spirit of the law," in terms of their investigation. According to the Tribune's story:

Another year, another egregious passing-over of Cubs legend Ron Santo for the Hall of Fame by Major League Baseball's Veterans Committee. Only former Yankee and Indian player Joe Gordon was selected to be inducted in the Hall. Santo needed 48 votes to earn entrance but only got 39. While Santo only hit a career .277, he had 342 home runs in an era when hitting 30 homers in a season was actually a big deal - and he did it three times. The nine-time All Star spent 14 seasons with the Cubs and his final season with the White Sox.

While the Cubs have raced through the 2008 season atop the NL Central, often with the best record in all of the majors, Cubs fans can't help but feel some sense of dread over the past week. Or its eerie similarities to the Cubs' infamous swoon of '69...

Well, that was fast! Barely 24 hours ago, Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome announced that he would leave Japan to play in the major leagues. Fukudome and the Cubs have already reached an agreement on a four-year deal, supposedly for between $48 and $50 million. By signing the outfielder, the Cubs beat out the Padres, White Sox and a couple other clubs rumored to be interested.

It sure doesn't surprise Chicagoist that someone who's known more for his infatuation with the Cubs than anything would suffer from heart issues. The years of utter disappointment punctuated with heartbreaking collapse -- 1969, 1984, 2003 -- have to take their toll physically.

For the past six weeks, the Chicago Sun-Times has been conducting a trial against the Chicago Tribune on charges of "gross negligence and neglect in its ownership of the Chicago Cubs." Over the course of the past six weeks, the prosecution and defense have "called" countless witnesses to the stand. Jerry "The bleacher preacher" Pritikin, Marc Silverman, Milo Hamilton, Jimmy Piersall, Mike Murphy, Dallas Green, and Ron Santo. Santo was the lone witness for...

When Chicagoist went to overnight camp, there was this game the older campers used to play with the younger ones. They’d tell the youngsters that if they ran the “circuit” from a certain bench, behind cabin 1, in front of cabin 2, etc. to cabin 12 and back to the bench in under a minute they’d get their name on a plaque in Cabin 13, where the CIT’s lived. Of course, there was no plaque, and there was no stopwatch. They’d simply start counting “54 … 55 … 56” as the kids got close. They’d always come up just short. And sometimes they’d puke up lunch.

Major League Baseball's latest fan interaction gimmick is having fans vote for their favorite Hometown Hero, voting for the one player who best personifies each franshise over the course of its history. Either teams or a panel of baseball experts selected the 5 finalists, based on the "criteria of leadership, character, and on-field performance." The full list of teams' nominees can be seen here.

While the Cubs have suffered nearly a century of team futility, that doesn't mean they haven't had some of the best players of all time on the team over the years. Last year, we saw Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg elected to the Hall of Fame. This year's lone selection is Bruce Sutter, yet another former Cub. He was voted in by the BBWAA, receiving votes from 76.9% of the voters (75% req. for entry)....

Ryne Sandberg's having quite a summer. On July 31st, the former Cubs second baseman was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. On Sunday, the Cubs retired Sandberg's jersey number.

Chicagoist is a bit old school in that we still love to listen to baseball on the radio. Sure, more often than not we watch the games on TV, but there's a certain romance to having somebody describe the nuances of the game that can't be seen, that the slower pace of the sport allows for. And there also room for stories--of teams and player from years past. We were almost disappointed when play resumed following a White Sox rain delay a few weeks back because we were enjoying some great tales about managers who knew they were about to be fired.

Chicagoist has never accused Cubs fans of being of sound mind, but this clearly shows the level of delusion Cubs fans possess. Elgin-native Bill Holden is currently walking to Wrigley Field -- from Arizona! Now Chicagoist is all for a nice stroll over to Wrigley, when you live 10 blocks away like we do. But 2,100 miles?

Today, Ron Santo again awaited a phone call from the veterans' committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame. And just like in 2003, he failed to garner enough votes from the vets to get into the Hall.