Hey, whaddaya know? Two posts ago, I mentioned Ron Santo, and here he is! This is a beauty of a card, with the stadium opening up behind him (I wish I knew which one it was), and of course the great Cub-head patch on the sleeve. That's all I've got; sometimes you just want to sit back and admire a nice-looking card on its merit.
-Hailing from Seattle, Ron signed with the Cubs at age nineteen in 1959.
-Hit at least 17 home runs each year for 13 straight seasons (peaking with 33 in 1965), and became the second player ever to hit 300 HR as a third baseman (Eddie Mathews being the first). Also drove in between 94 and 123 runs each year, 1963-1970, making him the only third baseman to ever do so. Led the league in walks four times as well.
-Set a team record with a 28-game hit streak in 1966. Missed seven games in the midst of the streak with a broken cheekbone suffered when hit by a Jack Fisher pitch, and returned with a primitive version of the ear-flap helmets that would later become mandatory.
-Traded to the White Sox in 1974 after becoming the first "10 and 5" (10 years in the league, 5 with the same team) player to veto a trade (he would have gone to the Angels). He had a miserable season, batting .221 with 5 HR and 41 RBI while splitting time between designated hitter and the unfamiliar territory of second base. Retired at age 34.
-Was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as a teenager, and early in the 2000s had both legs amputated below the knees as a result of the disease.
Kevin, that's Shea Stadium.
ReplyDeleteThe original configuration had the yellow lower seating area. This page has a few pics.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing.. (sorry for the multiple posts) Santo was known for his heel click after a Cub win. He did it in 1969, it became a big deal and Met fans hated it (but got the last laugh).
ReplyDeleteBob - Thanks for the stadium ID! I read about the heel click - I can just imagine how much that would piss me off if someone did it against my favorite team!
ReplyDeleteOutside of the Vet in Philly Shea was the crummiest stadium I've ever been in. Absolutely charmless (good knishes, though). And the 'Meet the Mets' song was fun, but otherwise it was forgettable. It was the first place I know of that had a sliding scale for ticket prices. Giant, Dodger and (I think) Cardinal games cost more than the same seats for the Phils, etc. Pretty widespread policy now.
ReplyDeleteI saw a lot of the Mets in those days. I saw Bob Moose no-hit them in September of '69. I think they lost only one game at home after that all year. After all the crap I got from bandwagon Met fans following the Series I regretted rooting for them to beat out the Cubs. ;-(
You forgot the very important "should be in the god dammed hall of fame" in his bio.
ReplyDeleteBob - If you regretted rooting for the Mets as soon as they'd beat the Orioles, I can only imagine what forty years of flowery media praise for the "Amazin' Mets" has done for your attitude!
ReplyDeleteMax - Well, I said he'd been "regrettably overlooked"...but no, I didn't put it in those words. ;)
Gotta love the Cub logo that Topps used in '65. It looks quite a bit like the "Oof-Wah" Cub that was made popular around 1908 or so. Next to that Rorschach-like Cub logo, this is the best.
ReplyDeleteNice card. Mine is a PSA 7.5 The '65 Santo is his best looking card, in my opinion. Just hard to beat the picture with that classic '65 Topps set design. Love the little pennants and logos. Also have the Ernie Banks from this year. Would be nice if they made baseball cards that looked like this anymore instead of chrome this and refractor that...
ReplyDelete