Hardnosed Player

Ron Santo made his mark in Chicago -- as the Cubs gritty, gutty and exuberant 3rd baseman. A five-time gold glover winner and eight-time all star in 14 Wrigley seasons, he established himself as one of the best ever at his position. His hardnosed style of play so endeared himself to Cubs fans that he smoothly moved into a second chapter of his baseball life as the analyst on the team's radio broadcasts for more than 20 year. Santo's story is also one of courage -- he played his entire career while living with Type I Diabetes, which led to complications late in life, but never cooled his passion for the game or his adopted city.
If you saw him, you know how good he was. Now, with the wider attention paid to analytics, the numbers reveal even more: he led the NL in walks four times, and career-wise, walked nearly as often as he struck out.
Posthumously named to the Hall of Fame, the Cubs remembered Ron Santo with this statue outside of Wrigley Field. Today (February 25th) would have been his 76th birthday.

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