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It's great to see one of the best third baseman in baseball history finally get recognized for his accomplishments, but did it really need to take his death to get there? It sure makes you wonder. Congrats to Ron Santo, a true Mr. Cub who will forever live now in Cooperstown, New York.

The story:

Longtime Cubs third baseman Ron Santo was elected to the Hall of Fame today, announced the Baseball Writers Association of America. Santo was elected by the Golden Era Committee, a newly-formed part of the Veterans Committee, which exists for players not elected during their initial 15 years of eligibility. Unfortunately Santo was not around to witness his election, having passed away a year ago due to complications from diabetes. His induction will take place July 22nd in Cooperstown.

Santo hit .277/.362/.464 with 342 home runs in his 15-year career, mostly for the Cubs. He was known as as a strong defender. In a sabermetric sense, Santo tallied 79.3 wins above replacement according to FanGraphs. Santo later served as the Cubs' radio color commentator.

WOW! When I just heard saw this I got chills! Finally Ron Santo got Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame! He was a great player, Cub, but even better guy! Really Wish Ron would have lived to see it, but he knows!

When it comes to baseball, I usually only have positive things to say.
Not when it comes to the Hall of Fame voters.
I am convinced that the only thing that kept Ron Santo living during his last few years was that call from the Hall of Fame. A call telling him that he had joined his friends Billy Williams, Ernie Banks, and Fergie Jenkins into the Hall of Fame.

Literally, millions of folks wanted to see Santo's dream fulfilled.
It wasn't.
They knew he was worthy. Yet these so called 'baseball minds' did not.
Until now.
Santo died knowing that he had not gained entry into the Hall of Fame.
We can't unring a bell. In effect, the Hall voters are trying now.

We can be happy that Santo is voted in posthumously.
We can take heart that the right thing has finally happened.
Santo's statistics haven't changed over the last few years.
Only now, are those statistics good enough to get Santo in the Hall.
The only thing that did change was Santo's passing.

The Hall of Fame voters robbed us.
They robbed us of seeing the joy and pride on Ron Santo's face when he got the news.
They robbed us of him exclaiming his customary, excitable, "YES!", when something went well for the Cubs.
They robbed us of the joy we would of had in sharing his joy.

DOUGHBOYS wrote:When it comes to baseball, I usually only have positive things to say.
Not when it comes to the Hall of Fame voters.
I am convinced that the only thing that kept Ron Santo living during his last few years was that call from the Hall of Fame. A call telling him that he had joined his friends Billy Williams, Ernie Banks, and Fergie Jenkins into the Hall of Fame.

Literally, millions of folks wanted to see Santo's dream fulfilled.
It wasn't.
They knew he was worthy. Yet these so called 'baseball minds' did not.
Until now.
Santo died knowing that he had not gained entry into the Hall of Fame.
We can't unring a bell. In effect, the Hall voters are trying now.

We can be happy that Santo is voted in posthumously.
We can take heart that the right thing has finally happened.
Santo's statistics haven't changed over the last few years.
Only now, are those statistics good enough to get Santo in the Hall.
The only thing that did change was Santo's passing.

The Hall of Fame voters robbed us.
They robbed us of seeing the joy and pride on Ron Santo's face when he got the news.
They robbed us of him exclaiming his customary, excitable, "YES!", when something went well for the Cubs.
They robbed us of the joy we would of had in sharing his joy.

I am glad you chimed in Dan. You said it how it is for a lot of baseball fans, not just Cubs fans.
Not giving Ron Santo the chance to see this in his lifetime was a great error in baseball history.

When we switched to the new boards last week one of the new options given is a chance to put up a personalized photo or avatar. I decided that I would use photos of different Chicago Cubs baseball cards. I’ll probably switch every couple of weeks. When I was thinking about what card to use first, there were a lot of great options, but I really thought that only one card should go first, 1961 Topps Ron Santo rookie card.

Congrats Ron!!!

Navel Lint wrote:When we switched to the new boards last week one of the new options given is a chance to put up a personalized photo or avatar. I decided that I would use photos of different Chicago Cubs baseball cards. I’ll probably switch every couple of weeks. When I was thinking about what card to use first, there were a lot of great options, but I really thought that only one card should go first, 1961 Topps Ron Santo rookie card.

Congrats Ron!!!

I LIKE IT!

I read Keith Olbermann's blog called "Baseball Nerd". I know he is a polarizing figure in politics, but no one can deny the man knows baseball. His column today taught me alot about Ron Santo. I read more and learned Santo had diabetes, having both legs amputated below the knee. He was a popular broadcaster for the Cubs and seemed to embody the word positivity.

I'm glad he's now in the HOF. He was absolutely deserving and the thought that those HOF voters deprived him of the experience of going to Cooperstown, of FINALLY being recognized as one of the best ever is sickening & sad. At least his family/friends/fans can be happy for him, but those HOF voters should be tarred & feathered for not putting him in while he was still w/ us.

*speaking of tarring & feathering someone, I nominate whomever it is that has already begun spamming our new MB

rockitsauce wrote:I read Keith Olbermann's blog called "Baseball Nerd". I know he is a polarizing figure in politics, but no one can deny the man knows baseball. His column today taught me alot about Ron Santo. I read more and learned Santo had diabetes, having both legs amputated below the knee. He was a popular broadcaster for the Cubs and seemed to embody the word positivity.

I'm glad he's now in the HOF. He was absolutely deserving and the thought that those HOF voters deprived him of the experience of going to Cooperstown, of FINALLY being recognized as one of the best ever is sickening & sad. At least his family/friends/fans can be happy for him, but those HOF voters should be tarred & feathered for not putting him in while he was still w/ us.

*speaking of tarring & feathering someone, I nominate whomever it is that has already begun spamming our new MB

That is a good column by Olbermann: http://keitholbermann.mlblogs.com/2010/ ... lls-shame/

Santo didn't hold back when talking about all the things he disliked about NY (which was always funny). No doubt the population of NY-area writers and their contempt for all things Cubs kept him out while he was still alive. Had he played for the Yankees its hard to imagine that he would not have been voted in the moment he became eligible or very soon after. Definitely one of the top guys of all-time you'd want representing the game of baseball.