Ron Santo Day: August 10, 2011

We'll I've been posting about this day since January. With the poor play seen by the team on the field this season, one of my main goals here on Everything Cubs Blog has been to honor Cubs legend Ron Santo.

I think it is evident based on all of my posts, but Ronnie meant so much to me and so many other people. He was such a unique, caring, funny and tough person. To go through everything he went through with diabetes, be a nine time All-Star thirdbaseman, be an entertaining broadcaster, do charitable work for JDRF and be so kind, it takes an incredible man.

Visit the posts labeled Ron Santo section on my blog to read all my memories of Ronnie. I miss him every time I turn on the radio during the Cubs game.

Today, the Ron Santo statue unveiling will take place at 5:30pm Central Time at the corner of Addison and Sheffield. Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, Ernie Banks, Randy Hundly, Glen Beckert, Milt Pappas, Pat Hughes, Ron's family, the Ricketts family and more will be involved in the dedication. It should be interesting to see what the statue looks like. Hughes has narrowed it down to three possibilities: a) Ron fielding b) Ron hitting c) Ron's hairpiece catching on fire!

The statue unveiling will be broadcast live in its entirety on CLTV with clips shown on the WGN-TV News. Live coverage will also air on WGN Radio at 5:30.

Don't forget that Cubs Corner, a Ron Santo special, will air on WGN Radio today at noon. Hosts Dave Eanet, Brian Noonan and Andrea Darlas will be joined by Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins and Pat Hughes. From 1-3 on WGN-720, Nick Digillio will have Santo memories and broadcasting highlights!

Ron Santo Junior joined Greg Jarrett and Dave Eanet this morning on WGN Radio, while Len Kasper stopped by to talk about Ronnie yesterday. Click here for the page that includes both uncut podcasts.

Everything Cubs blog will forever honor Ronnie with his picture on the right sidebar. Our posts about Ron will not end today. Tomorrow I'll recap all the events and then we will return with Remembering Ronnie Roundups once a month for the rest of 2011.

Counting Down to Ron Santo Day

While the Cubs continue their best stretch of play this season, we continue our week long preview of Ron Santo Day, which is coming up on Wednesday at Wrigley. Ronnie would have loved this Cubs winning streak, by the way.

WGN Radio Sports Director Dave Eanet was on the Cubs broadcast today, sitting in for Pat Hughes. He had some addition information about next Wednesday. The statue will be unveiled at the corner of Addison and Sheffield. The ceremony will be carried live on WGN 720. The time has been in question and we are still waiting for an official confirmation, but Eanet said, "I believe it starts at 5:30, if I'm not mistaken."

WGN Radio will also have Cubs Corner to talk about Ronnie on Wednesday afternoon starting at noon. Ernie Banks has been added to the panel, which will also include Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins and Pat Hughes.

I will update with any additional information on Wednesday's slate as we approach the day!

Remembering Ronnie Roundup: 7-27-11

Here on Everything Cubs Blog we continue to honor the late Ron Santo for his great career with the Cubs as both a player and a broadcaster. Here are the latest news and notes regarding #10.

Ron Santo Golf Outing
The Ron Santo golf outing to benefit JDRF took place Kemper Lakes Golf Club in Kildeer, IL on Monday. Many members of the Cubs organization spent their off day golfing for Ronnie. Sean Marshall, Darwin Barney, Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood were among the players who attended. Click here for video from last year's event, or click here for John Williams' interview with Pat Hughes and Vicki Santo on WGN Radio from Monday.

Ron Santo: A Perfect Ten
Remember, there is a great book out about Ron Santo! You can order your copy on ronsantobook.com. Click here for my book review from VFTB.

Countdown to August 10: 14 Days
Two weeks from today the Ron Santo statue will be unveiled at Wrigley Field. That night the Cubs will take on the Nationals at 7:05. Expect lots of Santo coverage the day of the statue unveiling. So far, we know that WGN Radio will honor Ronnie with a special edition of Cubs Corner from Noon to 1:00 Central Time. Tickets for the luncheon are $50 for adults and $25 for children and include a lunch at Wildfire Chicago, the restaurant hosting the event. Dave Eanet and Brian Noonan will chat with Santo's partner Pat Hughes and former teammates Fergie Jenkins and Ernie Banks during the live broadcast.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted as we draw closer to August 10!

Recap of Meet Cubs Management

WGN Radio did the Meet Cubs Management session at the 2009 Cubs Convention featuring Jim Hendry, Crane Kenney, and Randy Bush. The session was hosted by Dave Eanet and John Williams. Here's my recap:

• Hendry is frustrated that the Cubs have lost 6 post season games in a row.
• Jim says that we are "very close to a championship situation."
• He said that when you lose you all ways try to analyze it. "I don't think we lost our focus," "They want to win so much that the guys got worried and stressed after they lost the first game.
• Crane was asked for an update about the ownership situation. Kenney think we'll have an owner by opening day.
• The Cubs have played 2 full seasons being "for sale" but they have won the division both years.
• Everyone wants to see the ownership situation concluded, including the club.
• Kenney says that the economy is effecting all 30 clubs in baseball.
• The Cubs are one of the unique clubs that has a fan base that will support them even when it is a tougher time.
• John asked how difficult it was to let DeRosa go. Jim said that Mark was a good player and a terrific guy. Hendry's explanation was that the Cubs are trying to get more left handed.
• The 3 places on the field the Cubs can play a left handed hitter at is right field, center field, and second base. They traded DeRosa to create that 3rd position.
• The Cubs are going to keep doing what they can until they have a parade.
• Randy said that the Cubs are really thrilled with their system. He said that Lou has done a nice job of getting the young guy in their when they are brought up. Mitch Atkins, Darwin Barney, and Wellington Castillo are 3 guys that could help the team in the near future.
• Jeff Samadzija has been told to be prepared to start in Spring Training.
• They took questions from the crowd. The first question was about Peavy. Jim said that he cannot comment on Peavy because he is a member of another club.
• Hendry said the Cubs will continue to keep their eye out for starting pitching.
• "Hopefully we will continue to go out and get big name players," Hendry said.
• The Cubs are going to be in the top 5 payroll in the big leagues again this year, however the Cubs still do have a payroll.
• Hendry says that the Cubs really got 3 good players from the Indians.
• John asked if anyone has asked Bradley to behave a certain way. Hendry said that Bradley is allready a good teamate, and is a good guy to have in the clubhouse.
• Jim thinks Bradley "has reached a point in his life where he has matured".
• Hendry said he's never seen a player want to go to a certain team like Bradley wanted to come to the Cubs.
• The Cubs anticipate that Milton is going to be the everyday right fielder. Jim would be happy with 100-135 games.
• The Cubs got a positive response from all the players when they signed Bradley.
• Jim says he never gets caught up in what the other Cubs have done. He mentioned that there are a lot of good players still out there that could end up in our division.
• Hendry said that the 2004 team was the best team in the NL on paper, but 7 guys were on the DL by the end of May.
• The Cubs are not going about their bussiness thinking that winning the division is a lot.
• Crane says that having a priest bless dugout was one of the dumbest 3 things he's done with the Cubs. He says that if he could do it again he wouldn't have.
• The Cubs 2 goals in the off season were 1.resign Dempster, but 2.Try to get the lineup more flexible. They think that Milton Bradley brings a lot of good things to the ball club.
• Jim met with Bradley originally in November.
• Hendry described Dempster as a "gamer", "the real deal", and a "10 human being". Jim says he took less money to sign early with the Cubs.
• They guys think the team has real good balance. Jim says Lou likes versatile players, and speed game type players.
• Jim says that the Cubs bullpen has gotten very deep.
• He doesn't know were things are going in the next 7 weeks, but the Cubs are always open for business. He hopes that by opening day the ball club will be much better than last year.
• Hendry describe the Rich Hill situation as "very unfortunate". Hill has lost total command of the strike zone. Hill is out of options, and Jim says that he doesn't know whether Hill will get his stuff back in time to make a difference, and mentioned a change of scenery.
• Jim says that Jose Ceda was still a ways away from coming up to the big leagues and pitching in the 8th and 9th inning like Kevin Gregg can.
• He described that Marlins organization as "very good baseball people."
• Carlos Zambrano has the ability to be the postseason ace that the Cubs need. Big Z is still very young for all the experience he has.
• Crane Kenney says that Sam Zell has been a great owner. Crane has went to Sam and asked to do a lot of things and everything has been approved. Kenney compares Sam to Lou Pinellia, he expects results.
• Kenney and Zell had one argument.
• The guys don't seem to think that you can build a team for the postseason.
• Hendry said that you can't explain what happens in the postseason. He said that if you win the division every year eventually you break the door down.
• It is a collective decision if someone goes on the DL or is just day-to-day. He says that if someone has to sit out longer than 4-5 days, sometimes it is better to put the guy on the 15 day DL, and then call someone up so that you don't have to play with less than 25 guys.
• Jim says he's never had a relationship with a player like he has with Kerry Wood.
• Hendry says that he felt that a 3 year deal was not in the Cubs best interest. He says that a one year deal was never discussed.