Ron Santo Finally Enters Cooperstown This Weekend

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 20, 2012 5:40PM

This weekend is a momentous occasion for Cubs fans as Ron Santo finally takes his place among the greats in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

It will also be bittersweet for family members of the late Cubs third baseman and broadcaster. Santo never minced words about his desire to be enshrined in Cooperstown, preferably while he was still alive to enjoy the experience. Santo certainly had the numbers for induction: a.277 batting average; 342 home runs; 1,331 RBIs; nine All-Star appearances; and five consecutive Gold Gloves. Santo’s numbers were comparable to the other great third baseman of his era: Baltimore Orioles Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson.

Santo’s numbers even hold up in the SABRmetrics era. Sports Illustrated’s Cliff Corcoran compared Santo’s bWAR (Baseball-Reference’s Wins Above Replacement) against those of current and future Hall of Famers.

Based on that chart, Santo is at least the seventh-best third baseman to play Major League Baseball. So why did he never earn more than 43.1 percent of the vote from baseball writers? Corcoran suggests that Santo’s raw numbers were held back in a pitching dominant era. The peak of Santo’s career happened between the enlarging of the strike zone in 1963 and the American League bringing in the designated hitter a decade later.

There are still some—this writer included—who believed Santo was his own worst enemy in his persistent campaigning for enshrinement. Santo even admitted as much to the Daily Herald’s Barry Rozner in 2001.

“I can't explain that feeling,” Santo told me in August 2001. “It's something that fills you up and completes your career. I've always said I wouldn't want it to happen if I was dead, so I hope I live that long.”

Santo was ultra-competitive and didn’t take losses well. Some opponents on the field who made it to Cooperstown and had a vote on the Veterans Committee may have had vivid memories of Santo clicking his heels after Cubs victories and held it against him.

Regardless, Santo’s family should celebrate on Sunday and click their own heels in tribute.