Hall to celebrate Golden Era selection Santo all weekend

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July 21, 2012

Hall to celebrate Golden Era selection Santo all weekend

By Michelle Miller Cooperstown Crier The Daily Star Sat Jul 21, 2012, 03:30 AM EDT

Fans of former Chicago Cubs third baseman Ron Santo can bask in the glory of his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend.

The Cubs and the Hall will host a celebration of Santo's career at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday _ the day before he is posthumously inducted into the shrine as a selection by the Golden Era Committee. Members of Santo's family, former teammates and Cubs representatives will participate in the event.

A suggested donation of $10 will be accepted at the door. Proceeds will benefit charities linked to the Hall and the Cubs.

A nine-time All-Star who had 342 home runs and five Gold Glove awards, Santo earned election into the Hall via the Golden Era Committee in December. All but one of the 16 committee members voted for Santo, who emerged from a ballot of eight former players and two executives whose contributions to baseball were most significant from 1947-72.

To be elected, a candidate needed at least 12 votes (75 percent). Jim Kaat finished second with 10 votes, followed by Gil Hodges and Minnie Minoso at nine votes and Tony Oliva at eight. Buzzie Bavasi, Ken Boyer, Charlie Finley, Allie Reynolds and Luis Tiant each received fewer than three votes

A diabetic, Santo died at age 70 from complications associated with bladder cancer a year before his election.

Santo started his big-league career in 1960 with the Cubs. He spent 14 seasons with the Cubs and another with the Chicago White Sox. The 12th third baseman elected to the Hall, Santo finished with a career batting average of .277 and 1,331 RBIs.

Santo's best season arguably came in 1969, when he hit .289 with 29 home runs and a career-high 123 RBIs. The Cubs led the National League's East Division for most of the 1969 season but ended up with a 92-70 record _ eight games behind the New York Mets (100-62). The Mets went on to win the World Series, beating the Baltimore Orioles in five games.

Santo followed his major-league career with 21 seasons as a Cubs analyst on radio broadcasts for WGN (1990-2010).

"Ron Santo embodied what it meant to be a Chicago Cub," Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said in a media release. "This franchise couldn't be prouder as he is enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and we're honored he will forever represent the Chicago Cubs in Cooperstown."

Santo will be inducted into the Hall with Baseball Writers' Association of America selection and former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown.

Santo appeared on 43.1 percent of the BBWAA ballots in 1998, which marked his last year of eligibility for Hall consideration via the BBWAA.

He and former teammates Billy Williams, Ferguson Jenkins and Ernie Banks never played a postseason game for the Cubs, but all four will be Hall of Famers come Sunday.

Santo's widow, Vicki, is expected to speak on his behalf during Sunday's ceremony.

"I do find it ironic that the vote happened just a year after his death and that he was the only one selected (via the Golden Era Committee)," Vicki Santo said in December. "I'm a believer in what is meant to be. This is going to continue his legacy of who he was, what he meant to baseball and his friends."