- R. Nelly
I have to say it straight up: Baseball’s just not my sport.
I'm just not a fan, and I’m pretty sure I never will be. Basketball’s always been the game that I’ve enjoyed following.
But Ryno’s the man! He’s the man NOW, and he always has been!
Today Ryne Nelson (whops! I mean Sandberg) was selected into Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Three hundred and ninety-three (393) veteran members of the Baseball Writers Association of America selected Sandburg to enter the Hall, six more the necessary amount.
He’s a nine-time Gold Glove winner at second base, 1984 National League MVP, holder of the major league record for career fielding percentage (.989) by a second baseman, three-time league leader in runs, and an All-Star for 10 straight seasons.
He’s arguably the BEST player to ever play second base, and yet I never really saw the dude play ball.
Yeah, this is the man who I was named after.
Well, there was that one time in ’96 that I made the trip out the Wrigley with my summer sports camp as part of a field trip. But even then we had to leave the game early, only watching about four innings.
As a nine-year-old kid, going into the fifth grade, there’s not much that I remember about the game. My most distinct memory was pointing Ryno out to my friend Brendan from our nosebleed seats as we arrived late in the middle of the second.
He’s the BEST player to ever play second base, and yet I never really saw the dude play ball. Yeah, this is the man who I was named after.
“Who’s good on the Cubs?” he asked.
“Ryne Sandburg’s the best,” I replied, pointing my glove toward second base.
“Which one is he?”
“He’s wearing the number 23.”
“Ohhh. He wear’s Michael’s number? He’s got to be pretty good then,” Brendan replied.
There's no doubt that his best years were mostly before my time, and his impact on the city of Chicago was unfairly eclipsed by Michael Jordan’s exploits (MJ came back for the first time just before Ryno). That's why it's not entirely uncommon for people my age to not even know who Ryne Sandburg is!
But in eighteen years, he’s still the only other Ryne that I know, and that’s more than enough for me…Respect, Ryno!
This is a proud day for Sandburg — who, after two unsuccessful attempts, was finally selected to be enshrined in Cooperstown —, the Chicago Cubs organization and all of the team’s fans.
It’s only now, though, that I realize that it wasn’t just the name that somehow kept me blindly following the career of this Hall of Fame inductee. It was something much more.
It was the intrigue of following a player who, every year, persistently revolutionized the position of second base.
I didn’t know much about Sandberg as a person, and as I mentioned, baseball was never my sport, but for what he did to the game — it’s all love.
And although I never really saw the man play, I’m proud to say that there’s no one else I’d rather be named after.
Hail Employee No. 23! Ryno’s in the Hall!
