Here’s A Vote For Sandberg To Hang It Up

Ryne Sandberg should have stayed retired.

Besides clogging up the Cubs’ lineup, he is damaging his chances to make the Hall of Fame.

What? You say Sandberg is a cinch Hall-of-Famer?

Probably, but only because he has been so overrated.

If there is any justice in the world of baseball, Sandberg should have to wait as long to get into the Hall of Fame as Nellie Foxx did.

This is not the bitter bias of a South Sider, but rather the opinion of a lifetime North Sider who has seen every Cubs second baseman from Kenny Hubbs to Glenn Beckert to Sandberg and every one in between - and that includes a lot of Joe Strains, Mike Tysons and Ted Sizemores.

Sandberg certainly stands out among that group. He is a great player, but not as great as his reputation. He should not be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer.

He is not and never has been a franchise player, no matter how much the Cubs tried to pay him like one. If he were a Hall-of-Fame, franchise-type player, explain why in only three of his 14 seasons did the Cubs have a winning record. This year, make it three out of 15 with an exclamation point.

There will be no Joe Carter or Kirk Gibson heroics on the Ryne Sandberg highlight video. No World Series footage at all. Basically, there is only that one glorious midseason moment against the Cardinals in 1984, a nationally televised “Game of the Week” back when that still meant something.

After that mythical game - in which, by the way, the game-winning hit came from scrub infielder Dave Owen, not Sandberg - Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog dubbed Ryno “Baby Ruth,” and the hype machine kicked into full gear. The result was that Sandberg won the cheapest Most Valuable Player award in recent memory, hitting .314 but with only 19 home runs and 84 runs batted in.

Isn’t it funny how legends are made? One Bob Costas-announced game elevated Sandberg to superstar status, while Leon Durham’s misplay of a ground ball in the ‘84 playoffs stamped the Cubs’ first baseman as an all-time goat. Yet, on that same fateful day when Durham let a ball roll through his legs, Sandberg ducked away from a hard one-hopper that, had it been stopped, might have ended a Padres rally.

In big games - and there have been precious few of them - Sandberg was, well, Sandberg: steady as the sunrise but not nearly as spectacular.

In two playoff series, he hit a healthy .385 with a home run and six runs batted in, but the homer was typically meaningless, a bases-empty shot in the third inning of Game 1 against the Giants in 1989, a game the Cubs would go on to lose 11-3. A career in a nutshell.

Second base is no place for a power hitter, which helped set Sandberg apart from the crowd. If he were an outfielder or a third baseman, the Hall of Fame would be a moot point. Sandberg’s 273 homers look a lot less impressive when you check the books and see that Gary Gaetti has 321. Think Gaetti’s a Hall-of-Famer?

Sure, Sandberg’s 92 runs batted in last year were the third-highest total of his career, but that was more a sign of the times than anything else. Who didn’t have 92 RBIs.

Sandberg is also known as a great fielder who is so savvy he never needs to get his uniform dirty. That is more propaganda.

He simply doesn’t get to as many balls as other, quicker second basemen. When he does get to a ball, however, it is virtually an automatic out. Bland dependability, more than anything else, should be his legacy.

If he gets inducted into the Hall, his speech should include special thanks to superstation television, which helped perpetuate his largely empty legend. Ron Santo should have been so lucky.

Is Sandberg the best second baseman of his era? Maybe, but the era isn’t over yet. The longer he continues to toil in vain for yet another hopeless loser like the ‘97 Cubs, the harder it will be to make that case.

Quit, Ryno, while the good memories are still fresh.