Ryne Sandberg, a Hall of Fame second baseman who became one of baseball’s best all-around players while starring for the Chicago Cubs, has died. He was 65.
Sandberg was surrounded by his family when he died at his home on Monday, according to the team.
Sandberg announced in January 2024 that he had been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. He had chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and then said in August 2024 that he was cancer-free.
But he posted on Instagram on Dec. 10 that his cancer had returned and spread to other organs. He announced this month that he was still fighting, while “looking forward to making the most of every day with my loving family and friends.”
Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said Sandberg “will be remembered as one of the all-time greats in nearly 150 years of this historic franchise.”
Sandberg was born and raised in Spokane, Washington. He was selected out of high school by Philadelphia in the 20th round of the 1978 amateur draft.
He made his major league debut in 1981 and went 1 for 6 in 13 games with the Phillies. In January 1982, he was traded to Chicago along with Larry Bowa for veteran infielder Ivan De Jesus.
It turned into one of the most lopsided deals in baseball history.
Sandberg hit .285 with 282 homers, 1,061 RBIs and 344 steals in 15 years with Chicago. He made 10 All-Star teams — winning the Home Run Derby in 1990 — and took home nine Gold Gloves.
He was the NL MVP in 1984, batting .314 with 19 homers, 84 RBIs, 32 steals, 19 triples and 114 runs scored. Chicago won the NL East and Sandberg hit .368 (7 for 19) in the playoffs, but the Cubs were eliminated by San Diego after winning the first two games of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field.
Chicago paid tribute to Sandberg and that game when it unveiled a statue of the infielder outside Wrigley Field on that date in 2024.
Sandberg led Chicago back to the playoffs in 1989, hitting .290 with 30 homers as the Cubs won the NL East. He batted .400 (8 for 20) in the NLCS, but Chicago lost to San Francisco in five games.
Sandberg set a career high with an NL-best 40 homers in 1990 and drove in a career-best 100 runs in 1990 and 1991, but he never made it back to the postseason. When he retired after the 1997 season, he had hit the most homers as a second baseman in major league history.
Sandberg was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005, receiving 76.2% of the vote by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in his third try on the ballot. The Cubs retired his No. 23 that same year.
Sandberg also managed in the minors with Chicago and Philadelphia before he became the third base coach for the Phillies. He was promoted to interim manager when Charlie Manuel was fired in August 2013, and he had a 119-159 record when he resigned with the Phillies in the middle of a difficult 2015 season.
