'Great moment for a great Cub': Sandberg's statue unveiled

On June 23 this season -- as part of the 40th anniversary celebration of The Ryne Sandberg Game -- the Cubs unveiled a statue outside Wrigley Field of the Hall-of-Fame second baseman. Here is the story from that afternoon.

CHICAGO -- Ryne Sandberg stood behind the podium outside Wrigley Field and saw the sea of Cubs fans who flocked to the unveiling ceremony for his statue on Sunday afternoon. The Hall of Famer admitted that he was stunned by the amount of people who packed into Gallagher Way, lined up along Clark St. and looked down from the old ballpark behind him.

“Then I guess I shouldn't be surprised,” Sandberg said. “They've always been there. And they've always been there for me.”

Sandberg found that to be true again over the past six months, while he publicly shared his battle with cancer and was overwhelmed by the messages from fans both across social media and in person. Standing in front of family, friends, former teammates and fans on Sunday, Sandberg spoke of the perspective shift he has undergone.

Sandberg’s list of accolades is lengthy: 10 All-Star appearances, nine Gold Glove Awards, seven Silver Sluggers and the 1984 National League MVP. It was all worthy of the statue that now stands alongside those for Cubs greats Ernie Banks, Fergie Jenkins, Billy Williams and Ron Santo.

His recent experience has offered new insight into all he has achieved, and how important the people around him are and have been all along.

“My life changed a lot in 1984, but that's nothing compared to what had happened six months ago,” Sandberg told the crowd. “So, my thoughts today are instead about love, life, family and friends. My teammates fall into all those categories. But until my cancer diagnosis, I guess I never fully understood that.”

Sandberg was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer in January and has been undergoing treatment in the months since, while providing updates for fans. He wanted to be upfront about his situation, removing speculation when he would not be able to attend Cubs Convention or Spring Training.

As of May 20, testing showed no detection of cancer right now, but he has to continue to have checkups and tests.

“The number of people in baseball that have reached out to me this year is astonishing,” Sandberg said in his speech. “I feel that love now. It was always there. But I was too busy grinding out an extra 60 ground balls every morning to know that it was happening.”

Sandberg was speaking not only to the thousands of fans on hand, but to his wife, Margaret, and all the family in attendance. He was speaking to the teammates in the crowd from both the 1984 and ‘89 Cubs teams. Also in attendance were fellow Cubs Hall of Famers Jenkins, Williams and Andre Dawson, as well as Hall of Famer Jim Thome.

Bill Murray -- comedian, actor and one of the Cubs’ most famous fans -- was in the crowd, while legendary broadcaster Bob Costas was on stage to help emcee the event. Sandberg also had two of the shortstops he played with, Larry Bowa and Shawon Dunston, join him on stage.

“You don’t get a statue by yourself,” Sandberg said. “Every one of my teammates and coaches stands right there with me.”

“His humility is kind of inspiring and amazing,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “I know he's very humbled by this weekend and proud of it and he absolutely should be. It's a great moment for a great Cub.”

The statue unveiling was held on Sunday due to it being the 40th anniversary of “The Sandberg Game” against the Cardinals. In a nationally televised game that put the ‘84 Cubs and Sandberg on the map, he had seven RBIs and five hits, including a pair of late home runs off Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter.

“How many baseball games have a title?” Costas said. “Think of what really is the biggest game in club history. None of us were around in 1908. Game 7 in 2016 isn't The Ben Zobrist Game. It's not The Kyle Hendricks Game. It's not The Kris Bryant Game. It's not The David Ross Game. It doesn't have a title. But ‘The Sandberg Game’ has a title.”

A massive banner that read “Ryne Sandberg Second to None” hung from Wrigley Field, where the entire 2024 Cubs looked on from an upper ramp.

“Talk about a player that did everything on the baseball field,” said Nico Hoerner, the current Cubs second baseman. “I think all of us want to be able to impact a game in every way. I know I’ve always set out to do that. He’s someone who did that for his entire career, which is incredible.”

Sandberg changed the way people viewed second basemen, developing into both a power and speed threat. He topped out at 40 homers in 1990 and ended his career as the then-Major League record holder for home runs as a second baseman (277). Sandberg stole 344 bases in his 16 seasons, including 54 in ‘85.

Above everything else, Sandberg prioritized his defense. He had an MLB record streak without an error (123 games) for a second baseman and took home his nine Gold Gloves consecutively from 1983-91. He was thrilled that his statue depicted him in a defensive ready position in an ‘80s-inspired Cubs uniform, including his signature flip-up sunglasses.

And Sandberg was grateful to share his day with so many people.

“To be here for all this, this was a guarantee for me,” he said. “I kind of reverted back to my baseball days of having goals and my attitude was, ‘Work every day towards something.’ That’s what I’ve done. It’s worked and, like I told the Cub fans, I’m feeling fine and everything’s going in the right direction. I feel good.”