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| 2025 Topps Chrome 1990 Ryne Sandberg #T90C-27 |
Many things happened during my almost six-year hiatus. Many things that made me think, "I should get on the blog and write something about this." But something (mostly excuses) would somehow successfully talk me out of getting on here and saying something.
July 28, 2025 was one of them.
My wife and I had already celebrated his birthday over the weekend with his sister and the rest of the family over the weekend prior. He got to hang out with his friends the day before. Today, his actual birthday, we had a simple dinner at Taco Bell.
In the baseball world, the Cubs were coming out of the All-Star Break, and were somehow, after leading the NL Central for most of the first half, were now suddenly tied with the eventual division champion Brewers. Worse, the Brewers were on one of the hottest streaks in MLB history while the Cubs were treading water and on a downward trend. So for me, it was painful to watch, and if I could avoid hearing bad news, I'd do it. And my son's birthday was a welcome distraction.
Sometime in January 2024, I had heard that Ryne Sandberg was battling metastatic prostate cancer. I started thinking about my dad. My father suffered six years prior with both colon and liver cancer (not the same, I know...but still very traumatic and life-altering), managed to beat it (saw the video of the bell ringing), but the complications caused his health to get worse. He eventually succumbed to it in October. Writing about my dad's passing was one of the last things I posted on this blog. I never wanted to make his death one of the reasons why I stopped posting. But I'm sure the ensuing...not depression...but sadness played a part in why I lost my motivation to write.
Back to the story. I was sad that one of my childhood heroes was suffering with this. And was able to watch games where the Cubs honored Ryno that season. Then, in August 2024. he came out and said that the treatments had worked and he had recovered. He beat it! Yes!
During the 2024 off-season, however, I started hearing that the cancer came back. And worse, it was hitting other organs. I had a gut-wrenching feeling that this was going to be harder to recover. And all through out the first half of the 2025 MLB campaign, the Cubs would pay tribute to Ryno.
My wife, son, and I went to the aformentioned Taco Bell to have a quiet celebratory dinner. Before we turned into the restaurant, I turned on the radio, just to get an idea of how the ballgame was progressing. Of course, the Cubs, who just came off a series win against the White Sox, were now taking on the Brewers, with first place of the NL Central on the line. But when I turned on the radio, Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer were not really talking about the game, which already was a sign that the Cubs were losing. But it was WHAT they were talking about that made me pause (and fortunately not crash the car into the building).
Ryne Sandberg had passed away.
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| 1989 Topps Sticker Backs Ryne Sandberg #38 |
I turned off the radio, went into the restaurant, ordered dinner (Mexican Pizza and I think a Grilled Cheese Steak Burrito...don't judge me), and quietly shared the news with both my wife and son. We still had a good time. We've celebrated all weekend, and it was just us. Now was not the time to feel down.
Then when we got home, I started to reminisce. The Cubs were the first team I watched when I first followed baseball in 1987. They had the eventual MVP in Andre Dawson. They had a future ace in Greg Maddux, who at the time was just trying to stay in the Majors. They also had a second baseman who never made errors, or at least it was a rare as a blue moon.
The announcers said that this second baseman was one of the few holdovers from the first division winning team in 1984. It turned out that Sandberg was the MVP that year. Watching him play as I was learning the game, and subsequentially the Hobby of baseball card collecting, I knew I had found my favorite baseball player. He wasn't flashy. He didn't say anything that would cause controversy. He didn't really trash talk the other team. He was consistent. He was quiet. Most importantly, he was good. He had productive hits, not always trying for the home run, but got the right hit when it mattered. I mean, he hit for power, but his focus was just trying to get the inning moving, getting on base whether by walk, bunt, or a line drive. His defense was incredible. He had the record breaking streak of consecutive errorless games. He was just a great all-around player.
I was happy when he was inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame. His speech was legendary. It wasn't full of "me, me, me." He talked about how he "played the game a certain way...the way it was supposed to be played." And that way...was with respect.
I look back at July 28, 2025. My son turned 23-years-old. Before he was born, my wife and I had a list of names made. At 3:31 am, we tossed that list. She gave him his first name, after her favorite drummer. I said no to Roger. But Taylor was acceptable. I got to pick his middle name. Only one name came to mind.
Ryne.
Twenty-three years later from that day, the man who wore number 23 for my favorite team, and my son's namesake, passed away. In November, one of Sandberg's sons and his wife celebrated the birth of a baby girl.
They named her Ryne.
The name goes on.
My condolences go out to the Sandberg family, the Cubs and Phillies organizations, Major League Baseball, and fans everywhere.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
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