12/3 The voice of the Cubs is gone
Ron Santo, the Cubs’ passionate broadcaster and former third baseman, has died. He was 70. Santo apparently lapsed into a coma Wednesday and died of complications from bladder cancer on Thursday in Arizona, according to WGN AM 720.
“He absolutely loved the Cubs,” Santo’s broadcast partner Pat Hughes told the Chicago Tribune. “The Cubs have lost their biggest fan.”
Santo, who had both legs amputated because of complications with diabetes, never complained about his health problems. To him, being at the games was the best medicine he could get.
– Carrie Muskat
mlblogsmuskat1
It is a sad day in baseball and among the wrigley faithful. My prayers go out to the Santo Family. Ron was a great baseball player, broadcaster and human being. You will be missed Ron it won’t be the same without you.
I will miss Santo, who along with Billy Williams and some of the other teammates from the ’69 squad were the first players I started following as a kid growing up in Nebraska. My Dad was a Cardinals fan and tried to get me to become one, too. But seeing that the Cubs were in first place several games into that season, I opted to root for the Cubs instead. Little did I realize there would be many heartbreaks to follow, with none other bigger than that very season!
It was great being able to watch the Cubs regularly on WGN some years later when my family moved to Kansas. There was nothing like coming home from school and tuning in to see Fergie Jenkins pitch his way to another 20-win season.
I will miss Santo, who along with Billy Williams and some of the other teammates from the ’69 squad were the first players I started following as a kid growing up in Nebraska. My Dad was a Cardinals fan and tried to get me to become one, too. But seeing that the Cubs were in first place several games into that season, I opted to root for the Cubs instead. Little did I realize there would be many heartbreaks to follow, with none other bigger than that very season!
It was great being able to watch the Cubs regularly on WGN some years later when my family moved to Kansas. There was nothing like coming home from school and tuning in to see Fergie Jenkins pitch his way to another 20-win season.