Ryno Returns To Baseball With Family’s Blessing

The romance appears to be back in Ryne Sandberg’s life.

The romance for the game of baseball that was his life for 17 professional years, and the romance for his new spouse-Margaret Koehnemann, whom he married Aug. 19.

The formal announcement of Sandberg’s return and signing of a one-year contract came Tuesday.

A 10-time All-Star second baseman, Sandberg told friends and family members at least a week ago that he was planning to return to the game he left in June 1994. He told his 11-year-old son, Justin, of his plans.

“If that makes Dad happy, that’s OK,” Justin told his mother, Cindy Sandberg, Ryne’s former wife who shares custody of their two children.

Ryne and Cindy Sandberg divorced July 5. Ryne and Margaret, who have three children from a previous marriage, are having a new house built in suburban Phoenix.

Upon hearing the news Monday that her ex-husband planned to return to baseball, Cindy Sandberg wished him well.

“If that’s what he wants to do, great,” she said. “I’m not married to him anymore. This is his profession. This is his job. I have two beautiful children because of him. And I am very thankful for that.”

Throughout his pro career, Sandberg did not perform well on the field when his personal life was unsettled. In his 1985 book “Ryno,” he revealed that he nearly quit the game as a 19-year-old minor-leaguer because he was homesick - he grew up in Spokane and attended North Central High School - and he missed Cindy.

Cindy visited Ryne at the next minor-league stop in Spartanburg, S.C., for two weeks before the couple decided to get married.

“It was just spur of the moment,” Sandberg said then.

When he retired from the Cubs last year, Sandberg talked about his lack of passion for the game and the Cubs organization, former general manager Larry Himes in particular. Sandberg walked away from some $17 million with his surprising decision.

“Money was never a priority for me anyway,” Sandberg said then.

But Sandberg’s personal life always has been a priority.

Cindy first filed for divorce in December 1993. The couple reconciled between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, but she filed again right after Sandberg announced his retirement on June 13, 1994.

Asked then if their failed marriage was the determining factor in her husband’s retirement, Cindy said: “Ryne retired because he was ready to retire.”

Sandberg signed a four-year personal-services contract with the Cubs in August, a week after his marriage to Margaret. It is believed that deal will be incorporated into Sandberg’s new playing contract.

Former Cubs vice president Ned Colletti, who now handles player contracts for the San Francisco Giants, was a sounding board for Sandberg’s growing disenchantment with Cubs management.

“I must have talked to Ryno a dozen times the last three weeks of the ‘93 season,” Colletti said Monday. “He was really getting frustrated.”

Former Cubs pitcher Rick Sutcliffe, who was the National League’s Cy Young Award winner in 1984 when Sandberg was voted league MVP, recently discussed Sandberg’s premature retirement. Sutcliffe was critical of the dismantling of the Cubs’ veteran nucleus by Himes.

“Everyone knew how important winning was to Ryno,” said Sutcliffe. “I think he just lost the edge he needed to train. Not the edge to play, but the edge to train that he always had. A lot of that was because of the supporting cast that he was given to deal with.”