Ron Santo died.

[mucifer]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-ron-santo-chicago-cubs-obit,0,1699814.story

Sniff sniff.

[dembotoz]

1. as much as i hate the cubs-i respect Mr santo

Really too bad

[abq e streeter]

2. Sad news....RIP to "this old Cub"

[pscot]

11. Amen

[ChoralScholar]

3. Is that the guy that people used to argue should be in the hall of fame? EOM

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. Yes

[OmahaBlueDog]

5. Ron was a great Cub

He had fought a long fight against diabetes going back to his playing days.

He was so bad he was good as a color announcer. Listening to Pat & Ron was like listening to an announcer who had invited a knoweledgeable fan out of the stands to the booth. "Ohboyohboyohboy..." coming out of Ron's mouth every time the Cubs did something bad or the opposition did something really good.

[GoCubsGo]

7. WGN radio will be re-broadcasting some of his games this weekend.

Today, they will, among others, replay Kerry Wood's big "strike out" game. Tomorrow, it's Zambonehead's no-hitter. They live-stream on wgnradio.com, so I am assuming they will do so here for those of us who live outside of their range.

[murielm99]

6. Aww Geeze.

That's what he always said.

I remember when Brickhouse would say, "The heart of the order is coming up, Williams, Santo and Banks."

Ronnie was the heart of the heart of the order.

He signed a Cubs baseball cap for me. I still have it.

About five years ago, I went to a game with my twenty-something children. They know all about Ron's playing days, as well as his announcing. They loved Ronnie. While they were getting autographs, I stood back a bit. Ron looked at me, smiled and said, "Hi." The way he said it let me know that he realized that the faraway look on my face was there because I was remembering his great days as a player.

Ron was accessible to the fans, always. He was just a big fan himself. He should have been in the Hall of Fame, and the Cubs should have given him a World Series.

[GoCubsGo]

9. Still crying over it...

He was my all-time favorite Cub. I found out this summer that he had been living only a few blocks from my parents' house all these years. Never got the chance to wander by to say hello. That makes me almost as sad as I feel about the HOF snub.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

8. Best comment I've heard so far: "It's like someone tore the ivy off the walls."

I hope they find someone halfway decent to team up with Pat this coming season but WGN's screwed up just about everything the last couple years.

[GoCubsGo]

10. I hope they bring back Steve Stone.

Maybe with the new ownership, the management will welcome him back. They never should have let him go.

[DeadEyeDyck]

12. R.I.P. old boy