Santo's Widow Delivers Powerful Speech At Hall Of Fame Induction

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 23, 2012 3:40PM

Ron Santo finally took his place among baseball's legends Sunday when he was inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame. It wasn’t the way Santo wanted to enter the Hall of Fame. The legendary Cubs third baseman and broadcaster always wanted to celebrate his Cooperstown enshrinement while he was alive and never minced words about that wish.

On Sunday, Santo’s widow Vicki gave a speech for the ages that, if he were still around, would have been a fitting tribute.

The Cubs, meanwhile, paid tribute to the club’s newest Hall of Famer with a commemorative patch on their uniforms and by clicking their heels as they took the field against the Cardinals in the first inning yesterday. (As reader BlueFairlane noted, the Cubs may have paid a more fitting tribute to Santo by losing their series at Busch Stadium by a combined score of 23-1.)

We talk about Santo’s heel click as though he did it his entire career when, in fact, he only did it during a part of that ill-fated 1969 season. Santo first clicked his heels after a win against Montreal and manager Leo Durocher liked it so much he asked Santo to do it after every Cubs home win. Santo did so until the Cubs started to fall out of first place, when he stopped.