Day of cheers and tears for Santo's family
How's this for some fitting numerology?
Cubs radio announcer Pat Hughes was sitting at home Monday morning when he got word of his late broadcast partner, Ron Santo, gaining election to baseball's Hall of Fame.
The time? We'll let Pat pick up the story.
“Linda Santo calls me at 10 before 10,” Hughes said, referring to Ron's daughter, Linda Santo Brown. “I thought it was good news or else she wouldn't be calling. As soon as I answered, I knew it was good news because she was hysterical: laughing, crying, barely able to get the words out. She said, ‘He ... got ... in.' He got in. That's all I needed to hear.”
Of course, it was only fitting that Hughes got the call at 10 before 10. Ten was the number Santo wore during his — it's OK to say it now — Hall of Fame playing career.
“How about that?” Hughes said. “Isn't that funny?”
Monday was a day of laughter and tears for the Santo family and Cubs fans around the world as the third-base great finally gained election to the Hall of Fame.
Joy because he made it. Some sadness because the honor came one year after Santo's death at age 70.
The word “bittersweet” was thrown around a lot during various discussions with Santo family members, but Linda Brown was having none of it.
“I don't like to use that term because to me, ‘bitter' is like a negative word,” she said. “I know that if my dad were here today ... he would be happy having this recognition, more so than for him but for his family and his grandsons because that's what it's about. It's carrying on his legacy.”
A newly revamped Veterans Committee ensured that Santo's legacy now will carry the “Hall of Fame” stamp. Santo received 15 votes from the 16-member panel, which includes Hall of Fame players, executives and baseball writers.
To gain election, the 10 nominees on the ballot needed at least 12 votes, or 75 percent.
As happy a day as it was for Cubs fans, White Sox fans were disappointed to know that longtime fan favorite Minnie Minoso fell short, gaining 9 votes.
Jim Kaat was second in the balloting with 10 votes, Gil Hodges had 9 and Tony Oliva got 8 on the so-called Golden Era ballot, recognizing players and executives whose main contributions to the game were came between 1947 and 1972. Buzzie Bavasi, Ken Boyer, Charlie Finley, Allie Reynolds and Luis Tiant each received under 3 votes.
Santo starred for the Cubs from 1960-73 before spending the final year of his career with the White Sox.
He batted .277 with 342 home runs and 1,331 RBI. He won five Gold Gloves for fielding excellence, and he was a nine-time all-star. Santo played his entire career while suffering from diabetes, and he raised millions of dollars over the years for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.
Still, Santo's accomplishments didn't get him close to consideration for the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He then fell short in subsequent voting by various incarnations of the Veterans Committee.
The current committee had Chicago connections in Santo's former teammate Billy Williams and former White Sox general manager Roland Hemond, who traded for Santo. Longtime Chicago baseball writer Dave Van Dyck also is a member.
The panel deliberated Sunday in Dallas and announced its vote Monday on the first full day of baseball's winter meetings.
“We were friends for so long, and not only friends but teammates,” Williams told the media in Dallas. “To get this kind of news of your teammate, it's something you look forward to and all of a sudden it happened. I was so proud when the voting came out. I know he's happy, and his family is happy. The one thing is, I'm sorry he's not here to enjoy it.”
In addition to Williams, Santo joins former Cubs teammates Ernie Banks and Fergie Jenkins as Hall of Famers.
Even though many felt the honor was long overdue, Santo's widow, Vicki, sounded happy it finally happened.
“My initial emotion was like we dared to dream this because it was always so important for Ron, and it's been such a long time coming,” she said. “When the Hall of Fame called and said that he had been elected, I was not only thrilled and so grateful for him, but when Billy Williams got on the phone and said, ‘Vicki, we finally got it done,' it just made me cry.
“It was just such an emotional ... because it's been such a family with the whole Cub organization, and it's been so important to all of Chicago, Ron's fans in Chicago, that it's a thrilling, thrilling honor.”
Vicki also said she could picture what Ron's reaction would have been.
“I can see him sitting on the sofa here as we did many, many times, and he would just be pumping his fist in the air, saying, ‘Yes, yes,' just like he did with the same enthusiasm that he played when he was a player and when he was broadcasting,” she said. “Every time they'd have a home run, his hands would go up in the air. It would be the same gesture of absolute elation.
“I feel, we feel, he was meant to be there.”
One of Ron's sons, Jeff, is a filmmaker who chronicled his father's life in a movie called “This Old Cub.”
“I think the happy ending was already there,” Jeff said. “We got a statue (outside Wrigley Field). What Chicago and the Cubs did for our father was very special while he was alive. But it definitely puts an end to the chapter, with the Hall of Fame.”
The Cubs retired Santo's jersey No. 10 in 2003. At the time, he called it his Hall of Fame. Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, a lifelong Cubs fan, said he was unsure what other special ceremonies the Cubs would have to honor Santo, but that his family was thrilled.
“It just means a lot to a lot of Cubs fans,” Ricketts said. “It was always kind of a missing piece of the puzzle in Cubs history. I'm glad that the committee saw fit to get Ron into the Hall of Fame.”
Ÿ Follow Bruce Miles on Twitter @BruceMiles2112.