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Floor Speech
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Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I rise today to talk about the loss of a man who had a great impact on the city of Chicago, the Chicago Cubs, and my family.
Ryne Sandberg was the greatest second baseman to ever play for the Cubs. He came to the Cubs in 1981 as part of a trade where the Phillies sent Larry Bowa to the Cubs, and Dallas Green insisted on Ryne Sandberg being a part of that trade because he had seen him play.
From the get-go, Ryne Sandberg made an impact on the Chicago Cubs. Just a couple of short years later, in 1984, Ryne Sandberg led the Cubs to their first playoff appearance since the 1945 series. It was an MVP season for him. He had 19 home runs, and that was just the beginning of a fantastic career.
I was just getting to Chicago around that time, and that season is what made me a Cubs fan. I recall going to many games and watching Ryne Sandberg play. He was one of the best second basemen in the game. He set records for home runs by a second baseman, for fielding percentage--96 consecutive games without an error. The man could do it all.
Throughout his tenure at the Cubs, he did a fantastic job. In fact, in 1984, who can forget the game--with all due respect to my colleagues from Missouri--in 1984, he hit a home run in the 9th inning to make sure that we had extra innings in that game against the St. Louis Cardinals and then again in the 10th to beat them. That was the kind of competitor that Ryne Sandberg was.
Throughout his career, he got a lot of hardware. He went to the All- Star game 10 times, 9 Golden Gloves, 7 Silver Slugger Awards. All of these accolades reflected the kind of person he was and are one of the reasons why Ryne Sandberg is a Hall of Famer. There was a statue of him in Wrigley Field for his contributions to the Cubs and to the game of baseball. Ryne was just synonymous with the Cubs while he was playing, and he was the kind of baseball player you were proud of. He didn't say much, but when he did, people listened.
But as great a baseball player as he was, the man was even better. Ryne Sandberg was the type of player you were proud to have on your team. He was a man of integrity. He did what he said he was going to do, worked hard, was tenacious, was great in the clubhouse. He was a player, a coach, an ambassador for us. He gave back to the community, whether it was through Cubs charities or his own Ryno kids foundation, where he helped sick kids stand up to cancer. All of those things he did to give back to the community.
He was one of those people that was just a pleasure to be around.
Somebody who understood the importance of the game but also knew the people were more important.
So, now, Ryne Sandberg is playing that eternal baseball game up in the sky, but his legacy will live on here. Countless fans will go to Cooperstown, read about his baseball exploits.
But his family--his wife Margaret, 5 kids, 11 grandkids--and all the folks in the Cubs organization know how Ryne Sandberg was a man that was more than just a baseball player. He was the kind of man that was an example for all of us in this country, who played America's pastime but knew the values of America meant taking care of our fellow citizens.
Ryne will be missed, and I hope we can all reflect upon what he meant to the game, to the Cubs, and this country as an example of how we should all be.
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