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The baseball world is in mourning following the sad news of the passing of Baseball Hall of Famer and Chicago Cubs legend Ryne Sandberg on Monday.
Tributes to the former Cubs star immediately poured in after he lost his battle with prostate cancer at the age of 65.
Cubs Executive Chairman Tom Ricketts also shared a poignant message after the loss of one of the greatest ever to play the sport.
“Ryne Sandberg was a hero to a generation of Chicago Cubs fans and will be remembered as one of the all-time greats in nearly 150 years of this historic franchise,” Ricketts said in a statement on behalf of his family and the club.
“His dedication to and respect for the game, along with his unrelenting integrity, grit, hustle, and competitive fire were hallmarks of his career. He was immensely proud of his teammates and his role as a global ambassador of the game of baseball, but most of all, he was proud of Margaret, his children and his role as husband, father, and grandfather. Margaret and their children and grandchildren will always be a part of the Cubs family. ‘Ryno' will never be forgotten by the Cubs community and baseball fans
around the world.”
Sandberg learned of his cancer in January of 2024. In August of the same year, the 1984 National League Most Valuable Player revealed that he had finally gotten rid of cancer after months of undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments. However, he shared in December that his cancer had returned. Earlier this July, Sandberg provided an update on his health via social media, saying that “it's been a challenging few months as I have been going through treatment on a regular basis,” but ensured that he was still following each Cubs game, and that “excited for the second half and to see Wrigley rocking like 1984!”
After making his MLB debut in 1981, Sandberg spent the remainder of his career in the big leagues with the Cubs. He earned all his 10 MLB All-Star nods during his tenure with Chicago, getting all of them in consecutive seasons. Sandberg retired in 1995 but returned to play two more seasons with the Cubs.
Overall in his MLB career, Sandberg, who was inducted into Cooperstown in 2005, hit .285/.344/.452 with 282 home runs and 1,061 RBIs across 2,164 total games.
