Chicago White Sox Reflect On Ryne Sandberg's Legacy

CHICAGO –– The White Sox will hold a moment of silence at 6:26 in remembrance of Ryne Sandberg, who died Monday at age 65. The Hall of Fame second baseman announced in January 2024 that he had been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer.

Sandberg played one season with the Phillies before spending the rest of his career with the Chicago Cubs from 1982-97. But with tributes from several teams across MLB and many former players from a variety of teams, it's clear that Sandberg's impact touched everyone in the game.

White Sox manager Will Venable knew Sandberg from his time with the Cubs from 2017-20, when Venable was a special assistant to Theo Epstein and later the first and third base coach. He agreed that Sandberg transcended fan bases.

"Absolutely. The guy that you see in person, the humility, really funny guy, but just a guy that just feels like a baseball guy and certainly went about it in a way that did transcend Chicago and the sport in general," Venable said. "Special guy, special to be around and he's gonna be missed."

"Really sad to see that. Condolences to the Sandberg family. 
I was able to be around him a little bit in my time with the Cubs. Outstanding human being.  Obviously meant a lot to that organization, a lot to this city, a lot to baseball. Really sad day."

Steve Stone is now the television analyst for the White Sox on Chicago Sports Network, but he was the color commentator for the Cubs on WGN from 1983-2004. He overlapped with nearly Sandberg's entire career, getting an up-close look at his Hall of Fame career.

Stone marveled at Sandberg's ability both at the plate and in the field.

"You go 123 straight games without making an error? That’s pretty good," Stone said. "Plus the rest of his game was really interesting. The year he won the MVP, he had 19 triples which is really amazing playing with your home park at Wrigley Field. "

Stone revealed that former Cubs manager Jim Frey suggested to Sandberg that he could hit for more power. Sandberg went from just seven and eight home runs in his first two seasons with the Cubs to 19 in his third and 26 in his fourth in 1985. He hit 30 home runs in 1989, then led the National League with a career-high 40 home runs in 1990.

"[Frey] really reworked the stroke from Ryno. I think basically that’s what put him in the Hall of Fame," Stone said. "Jim Frey suggested a couple of different things. Ryno took it to heart and decided he wanted to hit the ball out of the ballpark and he was able to do that. So, you have a second baseman hitting one year 40 home runs. You have that and you have his defense and everything that he did and realize with a MVP and a number of All-Star Games and Gold Gloves with it, he was certainly a Hall of Famer."

Sandberg isn't just known for his ability on the field. Stone considered him a real gentleman who represented the game exceptionally well and was a shining example of how a Major League Baseball player should act off the field.

"This is a guy you look at and said, “I’m going to raise my son and I want him to be like that guy.” And Ryno was that guy," Stone said.

There was also a side to Sandberg that perhaps not everyone saw.

"A lot of people felt he was just a really quiet guy who kept to himself. They didn’t realize what a sense of humor he had, which was really good," Stone said. "He was a funny guy but he would share it to people he was comfortable with. If you were not in that inner circle, you probably weren’t going to see the personality he really had."

"I found him to be delightful and I found him to be one of those guys that was introspective. He took a lot of things very seriously he didn’t choose to share with other people. That didn’t mean he didn’t feel them. It just meant he kept a lot of things to himself. ... I know his teammates absolutely loved hm. And that’s one of the trademarks of what a human being he was. If your teammates respect you and like you as his did, the fact that he was great or not great didn’t really matter to his professionalism. He went out there every day and gave you everything he had."