Daily Herald opinion: Respect. One word summed up how Ryne Sandberg approached the game of baseball

Respect.

Almost 20 years to the day that Ryne Sandberg delivered one of the most memorable Baseball Hall of Fame induction speeches, we’re left with nothing but respect for the way the Cubs legend played the game and lived his life.

Sandberg, better known as Ryno to Cubs nation, died Monday. He was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer in January of 2024. After chemotherapy and radiation treatments, he announced he was cancer free in August of 2024, but the cancer returned later that year and spread to other organs.

“The Sandberg Game” against the rival St. Cardinals in 1984 put Ryno on the national map, but it was his consistency in the field and at the plate that made him a star in Chicago on par with the Bulls’ Michael Jordan and the Bears’ Walter Payton.

“If I had ever allowed myself to think this was possible, if I had ever taken one day in pro ball for granted, I’m sure I would not be here today,” Sandberg said during his July 31, 2005, Cooperstown induction speech. “The reason I am here, they tell me, is that I played the game a certain way, that I played the game the way it was supposed to be played. I don’t know about that, but I do know this: I had too much respect for the game to play it any other way.

“I was taught you never, ever disrespect your opponent or your teammates or your organization or your manager — and never, ever your uniform. Make a great play, act like you’ve done it before. Get a big hit, look for the third base coach and get ready to run the bases. Hit a home run, put your head down, drop the bat, run around the bases. Because the name on the front is a lot more important than the name on the back.”

Those weren’t just empty words. That’s how he played the game and by all accounts lived his life.

After retiring for good following the 1997 season and being inducted into Cooperstown in 2005, Sandberg did something that is unheard-of today: He went to the minor leagues to manage. Throwing batting practice, riding buses around the Midwest and mentoring the next generation of players.

That’s respect for the game.

Sadly, he never got a shot to manage the Cubs. Passed over for the top job after working his way up to Triple-A Iowa, Sandberg joined the Philadelphia Phillies.

In 2013, Sandberg finally got his chance to manage in the big leagues with the Phillies.

Sadly, things didn’t work out for him there. After a little more than a season, Sandberg resigned and returned home to the Chicago suburbs to be with his family.

Thankfully, Sandberg was able to return to the Cubs as ambassador and got to experience the 2016 World Series.

In a career full of highlights, it’s his respect for the game and the way he lived his life that we’ll remember the most.

Respect. It’s a word he used 19 times during that 23-minute Hall of Fame speech.

Respect. It’s a word we’ll always associate with Ryno.

Thanks for the memories, Ryno.