Ron Santo Charity Autograph page

Note: A letter has been sent on April 25, 2008 to this athlete to provide their contact and charity information. Once we receive their response, their information will be entered below. This has been done to ensure that the information is correct and to protect the athlete's privacy in case they do not want their information to be posted on the Internet.

Contact Information (where autograph requests should be mailed to):

Contact Person and/or Name of Organization _____________________________________________

Address: __________________________________________________________________________

Charity Information:

Name of charity or charities the donations go to __________________________________________

Signing Habits:

1) If you sign items for free, what are the maximum number of items you will sign for free? ___________

4) What can fans do to make it easier for you to sign their items? __________________________________________________________________

Donation Charges:

Item	Price	Item	Price
Cards		Flats up to 8x10
Flats up to 16x20		Baseballs/small footballs
Magazines		Flats larger than 16x20
Mini Helmets		Football/Basketball
Large Helmet		Bats
Jerseys		Inscriptions
Other _________		Other _________

Who should the check/money order be made out to: __________________________________________

Ron Santo's Message to the Fans

Biography

Ronald Edward Santo (born February 25, 1940 in Seattle, Washington) is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball who played almost his entire career with the Chicago Cubs. He was named a National League All-Star 9 times during his 15 seasons of play (1960 - 1974), and won five consecutive Gold Glove awards for fielding excellence (1964-1968).

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Third Baseman

Born: February 25, 1940 (1940-02-25) (age 68)
Seattle, Washington
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 26, 1960
for the Chicago Cubs
Final game
September 29, 1974
for the Chicago White Sox
Career statistics
Batting average .277
Home runs 342
RBI 1331
Teams
Chicago Cubs (1960-1973)
Chicago White Sox (1974)

Career highlights and awards
9x All-Star selection (1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973)
5x Gold Glove Award winner (1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968)
1973 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
Led NL in on-base % in 1964 with .398 and 1966 with .412
Led NL in triples in 1964 with 13

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Baseball career
Santo made his debut with the Cubs on June 26, 1960. He played with the team until 1973, then finished his career with the cross-town Chicago White Sox in 1974 which he called the worst year of his life.[citation needed] During his 14-season run with the Cubs, Santo hit 337 home runs; he was the first third baseman to hit over 300 home runs and win five Gold Gloves, a feat since matched by only Mike Schmidt, a Hall of Fame player.

In 1966, in the midst of trying to break the Cubs' team consecutive-game hitting streak, Santo was sidelined for nearly two weeks following a beaning that fractured his cheekbone. When Santo returned (and broke the record) he was wearing an improvised ear-flap on his batting helmet in order to protect the injury. Earflaps have since become standard equipment on batting helmets.

Struggle with diabetes
In the early years of his playing career, he carefully concealed the fact that he had Type 1 diabetes. He feared that had this information come out, he would be forced into retirement.

Because the methods of regulating dibates in the 70s were not as advanced as they are today, Santo would gauge his blood sugar levels based on his moods.[1] If he felt his blood sugar was low, he would snack on a candy bar in the clubhouse.[1]

As part of the publicity surrounding "Ron Santo Day" at Wrigley Field on August 28, 1971, he revealed his struggle with diabetes. He was diagnosed with this disease at the age of 18, and was given a life expectancy of 25 years. Santo has had both his legs amputated below the knee as a result of his diabetes: the right in 2001 and the left in 2002.

Santo shares a bond in this respect with Cub rookie Sam Fuld, who also suffers from diabetes.[1]

In 2004, Santo and his battle against diabetes was the subject of a documentary, This Old Cub. The film was written, co-produced, and directed by Santo's son, Jeff.

Present day
Today, he is a Cubs broadcaster on WGN radio with play-by-play announcer Pat Hughes. He has also worked with Harry Caray, Thom Brennaman, Steve Stone, and Bob Brenly. Santo also briefly worked with Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers commentator Wayne Larrivee.

Work with diabetes
Santo has been endorsing the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's annual Ron Santo Walk to Cure Diabetes in Chicago since 1974, and has raised over $50 million for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). In 2002, Santo was named the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's "Person of the Year." Santo also inspired Bill Holden to walk 2,100 miles, from Arizona to Chicago, to raise $250,000 for diabetes research.

Hall of fame aspirations
On September 28, 2003, Santo's #10 was retired by the Cubs organization, making him the third player so honored behind his teammates Ernie Banks (#14) and Billy Williams (#26). Other prominent Cubs had worn number 10 after Santo's retirement, notably Dave Kingman and Leon Durham. The most recent wearer had been interim manager Bruce Kimm, just the previous year.

In 2005, he came within eight votes of election to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee, and in 2007 he came within five votes. Bill James, arguably baseball's most respected statistical guru, feels Santo's elevation to the Hall of Fame is long overdue. Santo's next opportunity for admission will come in 2009.

Although disappointed at being bypassed, on the day his number was retired in 2003, the ever-optimistic "old Cub" told the cheering Wrigley crowd, "This is my Hall of Fame!"

In April, 2004 Santo was inducted into the inaugural class of the Washington Interscholasic Activities Association (Washington High School) Hall of Fame as a graduate of Seattle's Franklin High School. [2]

Broadcast career
Ron Santo joined the Cubs' broadcast booth in 1990 as the WGN color commentator.[3]

In Chicago, Santo is well-loved for his unabashed broadcast enthusiasm, which he reveals with groans and cheers during the game. He also possesses a charming sense of humor. During one game, in which Angel Echevarria was batting, Santo casually asked play-by-play broadcaster Pat Hughes, "Pat, do you believe in angels?" As excitable as Santo is when a great play for the Cubs occurs, he is equally as vocal in his displeasure, as is evidenced by his meltdown in 1998 when Brant Brown, who was playing left field, dropped a fly ball against Milwaukee during the team's successful run for the Wild Card. You can hear the call here. Ron also has been known to engage in discussions about his variety of toupees.

Stats
Career Hitting[4]

G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2,243	8,143	2,254	365	67	342	1,138	1,331	35	1,108	1,343	.277	.362	.464	.826

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References
1^ a b Santo, Jeff. 'This Old Cub' [DVD]. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
2^ Hall of Fame - at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association
3^ Chicago Cubs Broadcasters
4^ Ron Santo page - at Baseball-Reference.com

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Source: Wikipedia.org at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Santo

Ron Santo

Contact Information (where autograph requests should be mailed to):

Charity Information:

Signing Habits:

Donation Charges:

Ron Santo's Message to the Fans

Biography

Send mail to thedigitalauthor@aol.com with questions or comments about this web site. Last modified: 05/09/08

Send mail to thedigitalauthor@aol.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 05/09/08