MILWAUKEE — The baseball world mourned Monday, when Cubs Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg died at the age of 65 after a battle with cancer, the team announced. He was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer in 2024.
Over 16 MLB seasons, 15 of them with the Cubs, Sandberg hit .285 with 282 homers and 1,061 RBI. He won seven Silver Slugger Awards, nine Gold Glove Awards and the 1984 MVP award to go with 10 All-Star appearances. In 2005, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. There is a statue of him outside Wrigley Field, his No. 23 is one of only four numbers retired by the Cubs, and the man known as “Ryno” is an unquestioned franchise icon.
“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,” Cubs chairman Tom Rickets said in a statement.
Sandberg actually began his career with the Philadelphia Phillies. He played 13 games at shortstop for the Phillies in 1981 before he was traded to the Cubs in the offseason, along with then-shortstop and future manager and executive Larry Bowa.
Sandberg, who moved to second base once he arrived in Chicago, then spent the 1982 through 1997 seasons on the North Side (he retired in 1994 but rejoined the Cubs in ’96).
The first two seasons of his Cubs career were solid, but the legend of Sandberg really took shape in 1984. His unique combination of size, speed and power separated him from other second basemen and made him one of the most impactful hitters in baseball.
And on June 23, 1984, Sandberg became a household name. In what is now referred to as “The Sandberg Game,” the Cubs’ second baseman hit game-tying homers in the ninth and 10th innings off Cardinals closer Bruce Sutter in a game in which the Cubs came back from three different deficits.
From that day on, there was no mistaking the best player in baseball. Sandberg finished the 1984 season batting .314 with 200 hits, 36 doubles, 19 triples, 19 home runs and 32 stolen bases. He won the Gold Glove at second base and took home the NL MVP Award that fall. Beginning that season, he made 10 consecutive All-Star appearances.
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While Sandberg’s career was defined by his excellence at the plate, he was also one of the game’s best defenders. His career .989 fielding percentage was a major-league record at second when he retired. The nine Gold Glove Awards he won over the course of his career are second all time for a second baseman, behind only Roberto Alomar’s 10, and his seven Silver Slugger Awards are tied with Jose Altuve for the most by a second baseman.
Following his playing career, Sandberg coached in the minor leagues for the Cubs and Phillies, managed the Phillies for parts of three seasons and then rejoined the Cubs as a goodwill ambassador and occasional color commentator.
