WRIGLEY FIELD — Several hundred somber Cubs fans came to Wrigley Field on Friday to pay their final respects to the man remembered most for his respect of the game.
Cubs Hall of Fame second basemen Ryne Sandberg was laid to rest Friday in a service at Old St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 700 W. Adams St. It was broadcast at Wrigley Field’s Gallagher Way plaza.
Sandberg, who mixed power hitting with fundamental fielding for the Cubs from 1982 to 1994, and again from 1996 to 1997, was Chicago’s No. 23 before Michael Jordan. He died last month at 65 years old from metastatic prostate cancer.
“He made history without histrionics,” said famed broadcaster Bob Costas, who spoke at the service. “The Cubs were still beloved, sure; but after him, they were cool.”
A line stretched from the plaza toward the marquee as fans waited to view memorabilia from Sandberg’s home donated to the team upon his death, including two of his nine Gold Gloves and one of his seven Silver Sluggers. Sandberg was named league MVP in 1984 and inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.
Most fans stayed for the entirety of the two-hour service despite the heat and the team being out of town. One fan wept after he laid his jersey on Sandberg’s statue.
For some, the loss was like that of a family member. For others, the grief was for a ballplayer whose hustle and heart provided an almost spiritual life force.
“His drive and work ethic — my dad always used him as an example for me,” Cubs fan Stacey Matson said. “I talk about that now with my boys.”
Diane Leone took the day off work to be at Wrigley Field in her Sandberg jersey. She wasn’t the only one.
“I came here because Ryne was my hero,” said Leone, who was 15 years old and having the “best summer of my life” the season Sandberg got MVP and the Cubs broke a 40-year playoff drought by winning the pennant. She keeps an oversized pin of Sandberg bought that year in a “box of treasures.”
“I’m going to try to get through this without crying,” Leone said. “He was humble, wasn’t flashy, spoke through his bat and defense. He embodied the spirit of Chicago: not always successful, but done with a lot of heart.”
Attendees at Sandberg’s service included baseball legends Andre Dawson, Joe Torre, Jim Thome, Ozzie Smith, Fergie Jenkins and “Sweet Swinging” Billy Williams, Costas said.
Sandberg’s 11 grandchildren, who knew the Cubs legend only as “Pappy,” gave blessings. The Rev. Tom Hurley said at the service that Sandberg had converted to Catholicism later in life to be closer with his wife, Margaret.
“He held the light toward others,” said Hurley, wearing a stole stitched with Cubs logos. “I may not have grown up a Cubs fan, but I sure am a Sandberg fan.”
Matson, whose childhood room and middle school locker were plastered with Sandberg posters, brought her 19-year-old son, Aidan Matson, with her to Wrigley Friday.
“I grew up more on Rizzo and Bryant,” Aidan Matson said. “But pretty much whenever the Cubs are on TV, my mom will say, ‘Sandberg would have made that play.’”
Speaking at the service, Sandberg’s daughter, Lindsey Newton, said they played a competitive game of pickleball just three months ago, even as her father was in the midst of cancer treatment.
“It was a good day. And of course he had to win,” Newton said. “These last two years were precious. … Thank you for making sure you had nothing left unsaid.”
Back outside Wrigley, 91-year-old Cubs fan Ken Gebhardt remembered when he was on a jog and listening to the fabled “Sandberg game” in 1984 on his Sony Walkman. The burgeoning star hit two home runs off dominant Cardinals reliever Bruce Sutter to win the game in extra innings.
“It was so exciting, I forgot I was running,” Gebhardt said. “Sandberg is such a part of Chicago history, of my time as a baseball fan.”
Among Sandberg’s mementos on display was a three-page letter legendary Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray wrote him after his second retirement in 1997.
“Just count someday how many young parents have named their first born Ryne or Ryno,” Caray wrote.
Ryne is Gerbhardt’s nephew’s middle name.
“It’s a shame Sandberg is gone so soon,” Gerbhardt said. “During his time, you don’t realize it’s a big deal.”
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