Sandberg, Ryne D.
Baseball
b. Sept. 18, 1959, Spokane, WA
A solid hitter with power, base running ability, and excellent defensive skills as a second baseman, Sandberg emerged as one of baseball's best players during the 1980s. He was named for New York Yankee pitcher Ryne Duren, but he almost chose football over baseball after graduating from high school.
Chosen as a high school All-American quarterback by Parade magazine, he signed a letter of intent at Washington State. But, after being chosen by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1978 amateur draft, he opted for baseball instead.
Originally a shortstop, Sandberg joined the Phillies briefly in 1981 and was traded to the Chicago Cubs before the following season. The Cubs used him at third base in 1982, but moved him to second the following year.
After hitting .271 and .281 in his first two full seasons, Sandberg was named the league's most valuable player in 1984, when he hit .314 with a league leading 114 runs scored and 19 triples. He also had 19 home runs, 84 RBI, and 32 stolen bases, and he was the league's best fielding second baseman with a .993 percentage.
The Cubs lost to the San Diego Padres in the NL championship series that year, but Sandberg hit .368 with 2 RBI and 3 runs scored in the five games.
Sandberg led the league in runs with 104 in 1989 and 116 in 1990, when he also hit a league-leading 40 home runs to go with a .306 average and 100 RBI. After hitting .291 in 1991 and .304 in 1992, with 26 home runs each year, Sandberg was limited to 117 games by a hand injury in 1993 and hit only 9 home runs because of continued pain in the hand.
On June 13, 1994, Sandberg abruptly announced his retirement. He was hitting only .238 at the time, and he was also going through a difficult divorce.
Sandberg returned to the Cubs in 1996 and spent two more seasons with them. In the process, he broke Joe Morgans record for most career home runs by a second baseman. Then he retired permanently.
From June 21, 1989, through May 17, 1990, Sandberg went 123 games without an error, a major league record for his position. He is tied with Tommy Herr for best career fielding percentage at the position, .989. Sandberg appeared in 10 consecutive All-Star games and was a starter for the National League in nine of them.