A very good hitter with a fine glove, his star dimmed after retirement, partly due to the arrival of Schmidt, which made a lot of people forget what had come before. This probably cost him a deserved spot in the Hall of Fame, although he is now on the Veterans committee ballot.

Admirable Cubs legend, should be in the Hall already. The best third baseman in the N.L. for over a decade before Schmidt arrived. Fine hitter, great fielder.

I agree with every word word written in the previous entry. Why this guy is not in the hall=of-fame is one the world's great mysteries. His quickness of reflexes and ability to bare-hand and throw a bunt hit down the third baseline are still unparalled. This guy was an all-star in the same caliber with teammates Ernie Banks and Billy Williams (two members of the Hall.) A better than average fielder? Would thet award five consecutive gold gloves to a better than average fielder? Santo ranks behind only Mike Schmidt, Eddie Mathews, George Brett, and Brooks Robinson for all-time third sackers. He was a much better hitter than Brooks and a far better fielder than either Brett or Mathews. Get with veterens committee. Ronnie needs to be honored while he's still with us.

Ron Santo, the best player not in the hall of fame. Really only played 13 seasons. Career .277 hitter, 342 homers, 2,250 hits 1,331 rbis. If he played as many years as Brooks Robinson he'd have destroyed him in all of those stats (in some he still did). He wasn't quite the fielders as Brooks, but at his time, was probably considered one of the best 4 third sackers to ever play the game. 4 time gold glover and 9 time all star. He did all of this while playing for a loser for most of his career. The Cubs never made it to the playoffs, and many of his years, they finished well in back of the pack. Ron played in one of the greatest pitchers eras in baseball history. Contending against guys like Sandy koufax, Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale, and others, Ron still put up numbers that ARE hall of fame worthy. Ron contended with another opponent for his entire career. Diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at the age of 18, nobody had ever heard of the disease at that time. His life exptantcy was 25 years of age. Despite the animosity, Ron battled through his illness, never letting it affect his play on the field. He kept the disease a secret from the Cubs and the rest of the league so as not to have a crutch to lean on. No crutch was needed, for in my book Ron Santo is a Hall of Famer, diabetes or not. His numbers are better or similar to any other third baseman in the Hall of Fame. The only thing keeping him out is the EXTREME ignorance of the BBWAA and now the Veterans Committee voters. - Joe

I grew up in chicago watching Ron Santo I played third My self as a kid because of Santo, Like Brickhouse used to say Thata Boy Ronnie Thanks for all the Memories!! Chef Michael at Chef Michael Catering chefmrc2002@yahoo.com