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!

Catching Up Quick Hits: Call-ups, Injuries, Benchings, & More

• The Cubs activated Carlos Silva from the disabled list and he returned to the rotation on Tuesday. Silva was decent in his first game back but the Cubs fell to the Astros.
• Tuesday was a special day for Hall of Fame slugger Billy Williams. A statue was unveiled outside of Wrigley in his honor. He became the second Cubs player to be honored with a statue.
• The Cubs are 9-6 under Mike Quade so far.
• The Triple-A Iowa Cubs lost back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday to Memphis to miss the playoffs. They finished with the same record as the Redbirds but Memphis took the tie-breaker (record within division).
• Reports earlier this week said that Iowa manager Ryne Sandberg would receive an interview from Jim Hendry for the open big league job within the next ten days, but Carrie Muskat reports that team officials denied these reports.
• Tyler Colvin was presented with the "Heart and Hustle" award for the Cubs this week. The final MLB winner will be announced on November 5.
• Starlin Castro was bench for a couple of days to think about some of the mental errors he has made at shortstop. Castro returned to the lineup on Wednesday, his swing as sharp as ever.
• The Cubs made a slew of September call-ups as soon as the Triple-A team's season ended. Veteran infielder Bobby Scales, Notre Dame grad Jeff Samardzija, right handed pitcher Justin Berg, slugging outfielder Brad Snyder, and spark-plug Sam Fuld have all been added to the 25-man roster.
• John Grabow and Esmalin Caridad were moved to the 60-day DL to make room for Snyder and Scales on the 40-man roster.
• Tom Gorzelanny, out with a thumb injury, threw on the side but is not ready to return to the rotation.
• Aramis Ramirez is still listed as day-to-day with a sore right quad.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted!

Catching Up Quick Hits

Sorry there hasn't been too much posting going on this week! It's been a very crazy and busy one. Let's get right into catching you up on all the latest Cubs news and notes:

• Chad Tracy won the final spot on the roster to start the season. He will back up Lee and Ramirez at the corner infield positions and be used as a right handed pinch hit bat with pop.
• Since Chad made the squad, there was no room for Kevin Millar. The Cubs released Millar earlier this week.
• Sam Fuld, Micah Hoffpauir, and Chris Robinson were the final three roster cuts. They will all join AAA-Iowa to start the season. Fuld and Hoff could contribute at the big league level at some point this season.
• The Cubs will honor Hall of Famer Billy Williams with a statue outside of Wrigley Field. It will be unveiled before the game on September 7. This will be the third statue outside of Wrigley, the first two were for Harry Caray and Ernie Banks.
• Angel Guzman plans to be ready to go next season.
• Carlos Silva was a nice surprise this spring. We'll see if his performance carries over in to the regular season.
• Ted Lilly is expected to toss 60 pitches in his minor league rehab start on Easter Sunday.
• Jon Greifenkamp has been added to the front office.
• There are only 3 days left until the day we've been waiting for since last September... Opening Day in Atlanta!

We'll have several posts up this weekend including:

• Season Preview
• "30 Clubs in 30 Days" Recaps
• Getting to Know the Cubs post
• And all news!

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted!