Career of Ryne Sandberg

If you were to ask any Chicago Cubs fan who was the best second baseman to ever play, there would be only one answer. Ryne Sandberg.

Ryne Sandberg was born Sept. 18, 1959 in the city of Spokane Washington. He was named for another baseball player, Ryne Duren. The majority of his illustrious career was spent with the Chicago Cubs. He was the star player in the All-Star games 9 of the 10 times he played.

He came up through the Phillies farm system but they traded him to he Cubs. He was first picked to play center field but then was moved to third base. But when the Cubs traded for Ron Cey he was moved to second base and that his where he found a home.

In his first full season at second base "Ryno" won his first of 9 consecutive Gold Glove Awards. But it was 1984 that Ryno began to show everyone that he would be a Hall of Fame inductee. He batted .314 with 200 hits, 19 homers and 19 triples, 114 runs, 84 RBI and 36 doubles.

1984 was also the year Ryno and company brought the first title to the Chicago Cubs since 1945. It was also the year of the "Sandberg Game", June 23, 1984 at Wrigley. It was an NBC game of the week when the Cubs were trailing by one run, Sandberg hit a homer off of Bruce Sutter the Cardinals star closer and tied the game. The Cardinals scored 2 runs in the 10th. Bruce Sutter stayed in the game and Sandberg came up in the 10th, he repeated the hit with one man on base and the game was again tied. The Cubs won the game in the 11th and Sandberg became a known name in the baseball world.

Ryne Sandberg
1984 MVP

Even though the Cubs lost to the Padres in the League Championship series after winning the first 2 in Chicago, Ryne Sandberg would earn the MVP awardHe would go on from there earning gold gloves from 1983-1991. He was named to the All Star team 1984-1993. He won the Silver Slugger award 7 times. In 1990 he lead the league in home runs with 40, a rare feat for a second baseman.

Sandberg's celebrated career ended with his retirement in 1994. He had just lost the desire that got him to the top in his career. He stayed out one year but returned for the '96 '97 seasons and retired once again. His record batting average for a second baseman remained untouched until Jeff Kent surpassed it in 2004.

In 2005, after 2 other Hall of Fame attempts, Sandberg was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. During that same year, the Chicago Cubs retired his number 23 in a ceremony at Wrigley Field on August 28, 2005.

Since his retirement, he has remained active in baseball as a training instructor for the Chicago Cubs in Mesa, Arizona and later as manager of the Peoria Chiefs, a Class-A team. Two seasons after that position Sandberg became manager of a double-A team in Tennessee, the Smokies and the following year he moved up to a AAA team, the Iowa Cubs.

His dream position, manager of the Cubs is yet to be achieved. However, he is in the mix for Lou Piniella's replacement upon Piniella's retirement.

He and his wife are active as founders and directors of Ryno Kid Care. They assist children with serious illnesses with meals and at times a big brother. Ryno Kid Care will provide clowns as nurses and doctors and provide some massage therapists as needed.

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