There’s an old saying, you should never meet your heroes, because you’ll be disappointed. I never met Ryne Sandberg, but I wish I would have. I was one of many fans across the nation who watched him on television and occasionally in the stands at Wrigley Field. I watched Ryne come up as a rookie. I saw “The Sandberg Game” on NBC’s Game of the Week on Saturday June 23, 1984. (The Game of the Week was a big deal back then. The internet didn’t exist, so the options for viewing sports were limited. Cable wasn’t as popular back then, so if your favorite team was on the Game of the Week, the entire country watched it). Ryne’s heroics from that game are indelibly imprinted in my brain. Bob Costas had the legendary call for both of Ryne’s home runs, which tied the game off former Cub and all-star relief pitcher, Bruce Sutter, twice! It featured Cub great of the past vs Cub great of the present, and Ryne won!

Ryne was a nine-time Gold Glove winner. He rarely made an error. He stole bases, including fifty-four in 1985!  He also hit for average and power. In fact, he won the Silver Slugger Award seven times!  Ryne set the record for most home runs hit in a career by a second baseman on April 26, 1997, surpassing Reds’ legend, Joe Morgan, before Jeff Kent eventually broke his record. And to top it off, he won the MVP in 1984. But more importantly than all those impressive feats, Ryne was a consummate professional, both on and off the field. When Ryne hit a home run, he simply gently dropped his bat and jogged around the bases. There wasn’t any trash talk or bat flip. He didn’t try to show up the pitcher. His view was the name on the front of the jersey is a hell of a lot more important than the name on the back. Ryne was a soft spoken, team first, humble person.

As great a player as Ryne Sandberg was, he was an even better human being. One story I read on Twitter (aka X) illustrates this perfectly. Ryne was in the hotel lobby. Some of the players ducked out an exit in the back to avoid fans, but not Ryne. Instead, Ryne met one fan who said that he and his dad were big fans of his. The fan also mentioned that his dad was fighting the same cancer that Ryne was. Without skipping a beat Ryne said, “Tell him that we’ll beat this thing together.”  Maybe it’s the fact that I lost my dad to cancer, but I thought that was such a cool story. Ryne was a class act, truly second to none.

This tribute isn’t just for Ryne Sandberg. It’s really meant for everyone who’s fighting cancer. It’s meant for those who lost their battle with cancer, like my dad and Ryne. It’s meant for those of us who lost their loved ones to cancer like Ryne’s family and friends. Outside of my dad, Ryne Sandberg was my childhood hero. I wasn’t the biggest, fastest, strongest, or the most athletic, but I learned how to play sports the right way from watching Ryne.  I always gave one hundred percent effort. I ran out every grounder. I practiced hard. I always hustled. And no matter what the score was, I never quit. When I made a good play or if we won, I learned how to act humble and to always put the team first. I learned how to treat my teammates, my coaches, my opponents, the umpires/referees, and whatever sport I played, with respect. I learned how to stay grounded and humble, not just in sports, but in life. Yes, Ryne Sandberg was a Hall-of Fame player, but more importantly Ryne Sandberg was a Hall-of-Fame person. And as I’ve grown older, I’ve seen just how rare those qualities are, especially when it comes to star athletes. Even though I never met Ryne, and it’s been twenty-eight years since I watched him play baseball, I know I’ll miss him. The world seems a lot colder now than it was just a few days ago.

-Mark Ringo