Ryne Sandberg's HOF speech

[BleedCubbieBlue81]

Mentioning players by name would've been completely over the line. Ryno knew that, so he left their names out. But he pretty much said who he was talking about when he mentioned the camera in the dugout. No one ran for that camera faster than Sammy. He had to do his little fist to the chest and lips things every time.

 

I'm only 23, so I didn't get a chance to see baseball in it's purest form. But I think back when Ryno played, it was more of a game and less of a business than it is now. I think it was better back then. Now it's more about money.

[Scott G. F.]

Mentioning players by name would've been completely over the line. Ryno knew that, so he left their names out. But he pretty much said who he was talking about when he mentioned the camera in the dugout. No one ran for that camera faster than Sammy. He had to do his little fist to the chest and lips things every time.

 

I'm only 23, so I didn't get a chance to see baseball in it's purest form. But I think back when Ryno played, it was more of a game and less of a business than it is now. I think it was better back then. Now it's more about money.

 

The game evolves and always will but very slowly. The one thing I hate and I mean HATE is the full discloser of the contracts signed by players. I don't want to know what Manny Ramirez is making or A-Rod or Jody Gerut for that matter. I just wanna see a good baseball game.

 

That full discloser of the business side of baseball has ruined it a little for me. It makes you angry seeing a player loafing out their when you know how much they make. IT really pisses you off. I have no idea how much Sandberg's contract were year after year. Didn't care. I just wanted him to play baseball as best as he could.

 

How many times have you read a teams dumping salary? or picking up a contract? These are players on my team you're talking about. A team I've been living and dying with for year and years. The owners don't respect the game either. IMO.

[Viral al Maximo]

No kidding. I get so tired of guys going 0/3, then in thier last AB hitting a 325-foot homerun over a short porch and admiring the ball before trotting the bases. I'm not saying guys have to be Mickey Hatcher and sprint around the bases, but the fact that so many guys hit so many HRs makes it less of an accomplishment to me.

 

Your signature was said on my 18th birthday!

[ToupeeOnFire]

Sorry, Sandberg sounded like a bitter old man. "IN MY DAY THINGS WERE BETTER BLAHBLAHBLAH"

 

so what? Things were better in his day.

 

Better? In what way? Sorry, but as much as I love Ryno, I think his comments do come off as a bit bitter and smack of old fogeyism. Back in Ryno's day, it was the players of the 60s complaining about these modern overpaid, underappreciative primadonnas taking the game for granted. You can find that sort of carping from just about any era of baseball.

 

Let's take a look at baseball in Sandberg's day...

 

One dimensional sluggers? In Sandberg's day you had Steve Balboni, Pete Incaviglia, Rob Deer, Cory Snyder, and Ron Kittle to name a few. Home runs weren't as plentiful back then (the parks were bigger for one thing), but these guys didn't do much else but hit home runs.

 

Steroids and other drugs? How about Steve Howe, Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden and Darrel Porter. These guys were ritual drug abusers. While in this era you have the congressional steroid hearings involving some of the biggest stars of the game like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, in Ryno's day (1985 to be exact), you had the Pittsburgh drug trial involving some of the biggest stars of the game like Keith Hernandez and Tim Raines. Cocaine was the drug of choice amongst players in the 80s.

 

Greed? Labor strife? Yep, it exsisted back then too. There was a strike in '81 that stole a chunk of the season (a year in which Ryno got his first cup of coffee at the big level) and one in '94 when Ryno was still active. Ask anyone from 1994 after the season was cancelled if baseball was better back in those days.

 

Then, as now, you'll find players that couldn't bunt, couldn't move the runner over, that failed to plate a runner from third with less than two outs. You'll find players making baserunning gaffes and bone-headed plays. You'll even find players who always looked for the little red light on the nearest camera.

 

I'm not saying baseball back then was worse, just different. The same stuff that Ryno complains about today's game, existed back then. There were some things I liked better about baseball in the 80s. For one, I kind of miss the speed aspect of the 80s' game that doesn't exist now. Also, I think there was a little more competitive balance back then vis-à-vis the smaller markets. On other hand, there are things better about today's game. Is anyone going to miss artificial turf or cookie cutter stadiums?

 

Sorry, but Ryno is barking up the wrong tree here. We all like players who respect the game and give it there all, but there has never been a time in baseball history when the game was truly "pure"...and, given human nature, there never will be. In fact, the one guy who hustled on every play and seemingly played the game the right way, disgraced the game by his later actions and got banned from baseball for life.

[mopapa]

Here is the transcript of Sandberg's speech, posted on the Hall of Fame's web site. It's a Microsoft Word document, so you probably need to have either Word or Word Viewer (a free program downloadable from Microsoft's web site) to open it.

 

Thanks so much. I checked out every site *but* the HOF. Duh! :roll:

[CuseCubFan69]

Here is the transcript of Sandberg's speech, posted on the Hall of Fame's web site. It's a Microsoft Word document, so you probably need to have either Word or Word Viewer (a free program downloadable from Microsoft's web site) to open it.

 

I don't have word but I do have a Vanilla Ice CD...is that good enough?

[EricG]

Ronnie Woo Woo was there

[danonwaveland]

No kidding. I get so tired of guys going 0/3, then in thier last AB hitting a 325-foot homerun over a short porch and admiring the ball before trotting the bases.

 

That's exactly why I stopped watching football. I can't stand someone thumping his chest or pumping his fist after making a tackle or styling after scoring a touchdown, even though his team may be down by a couple touchdowns. Because I love the game, I hate the showboating even more in baseball.

 

Best regards,

DanOnWaveland

 

[Tracer Bullet]

No kidding. I get so tired of guys going 0/3, then in thier last AB hitting a 325-foot homerun over a short porch and admiring the ball before trotting the bases. I'm not saying guys have to be Mickey Hatcher and sprint around the bases, but the fact that so many guys hit so many HRs makes it less of an accomplishment to me.

 

Your signature was said on my 18th birthday!

 

Happy Belated Birthday.

[J.R.]

Better? In what way? Sorry, but as much as I love Ryno, I think his comments do come off as a bit bitter and smack of old fogeyism. Back in Ryno's day, it was the players of the 60s complaining about these modern overpaid, underappreciative primadonnas taking the game for granted. You can find that sort of carping from just about any era of baseball.

 

Let's take a look at baseball in Sandberg's day...

 

One dimensional sluggers? In Sandberg's day you had Steve Balboni, Pete Incaviglia, Rob Deer, Cory Snyder, and Ron Kittle to name a few. Home runs weren't as plentiful back then (the parks were bigger for one thing), but these guys didn't do much else but hit home runs.

 

Steroids and other drugs? How about Steve Howe, Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden and Darrel Porter. These guys were ritual drug abusers. While in this era you have the congressional steroid hearings involving some of the biggest stars of the game like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, in Ryno's day (1985 to be exact), you had the Pittsburgh drug trial involving some of the biggest stars of the game like Keith Hernandez and Tim Raines. Cocaine was the drug of choice amongst players in the 80s.

 

Greed? Labor strife? Yep, it exsisted back then too. There was a strike in '81 that stole a chunk of the season (a year in which Ryno got his first cup of coffee at the big level) and one in '94 when Ryno was still active. Ask anyone from 1994 after the season was cancelled if baseball was better back in those days.

 

Then, as now, you'll find players that couldn't bunt, couldn't move the runner over, that failed to plate a runner from third with less than two outs. You'll find players making baserunning gaffes and bone-headed plays. You'll even find players who always looked for the little red light on the nearest camera.

 

I'm not saying baseball back then was worse, just different. The same stuff that Ryno complains about today's game, existed back then. There were some things I liked better about baseball in the 80s. For one, I kind of miss the speed aspect of the 80s' game that doesn't exist now. Also, I think there was a little more competitive balance back then vis-à-vis the smaller markets. On other hand, there are things better about today's game. Is anyone going to miss artificial turf or cookie cutter stadiums?

 

Sorry, but Ryno is barking up the wrong tree here. We all like players who respect the game and give it there all, but there has never been a time in baseball history when the game was truly "pure"...and, given human nature, there never will be. In fact, the one guy who hustled on every play and seemingly played the game the right way, disgraced the game by his later actions and got banned from baseball for life.

 

Good post. Plenty of today's players could stand to hear Ryno's speech, but then, so could many of his contemporaries. He's talking about the "Phillie Way," the principles drilled into him as a youngster in the Philadelphia system.

[GaryWoods]

 

One dimensional sluggers? In Sandberg's day you had Steve Balboni, Pete Incaviglia, Rob Deer, Cory Snyder, and Ron Kittle to name a few. Home runs weren't as plentiful back then (the parks were bigger for one thing), but these guys didn't do much else but hit home runs.

 

This is exactly what went through my mind when I first read OleMissCubs current sig:

 

"When did it become okay for someone to hit home runs and forget how to play the rest of the game?" - Ryno's HOF speech

 

The answer could very well be, "Back in your day, Ryno."

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm sentimental for the "Good Old Days" myself. But there were at least as many and probably more one-dimensional sluggers in Sandberg's day than there are now. Add Dave Kingman, Darrren Daulton, Oxxie Virgil, and Cliff Johnson to your list.

 

Good point about the Pittsburgh drug trials, too. I remember when that was going on wondering if there was anybody in baseball who didn't do coke.

 

Now it's steroids. Difference is, players take steroids in an effort to make themselves better; those doing recreational drus like cocaine back in the '80s were doing it in spite of the fact that it could likely make them perform worse.

[samhainn77]

 

One dimensional sluggers? In Sandberg's day you had Steve Balboni, Pete Incaviglia, Rob Deer, Cory Snyder, and Ron Kittle to name a few. Home runs weren't as plentiful back then (the parks were bigger for one thing), but these guys didn't do much else but hit home runs.

 

This is exactly what went through my mind when I first read OleMissCubs current sig:

 

"When did it become okay for someone to hit home runs and forget how to play the rest of the game?" - Ryno's HOF speech

 

The answer could very well be, "Back in your day, Ryno."

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm sentimental for the "Good Old Days" myself. But there were at least as many and probably more one-dimensional sluggers in Sandberg's day than there are now. Add Dave Kingman, Darrren Daulton, Oxxie Virgil, and Cliff Johnson to your list.

 

Good point about the Pittsburgh drug trials, too. I remember when that was going on wondering if there was anybody in baseball who didn't do coke.

 

Now it's steroids. Difference is, players take steroids in an effort to make themselves better; those doing recreational drus like cocaine back in the '80s were doing it in spite of the fact that it could likely make them perform worse.

 

 

Maybe I'm dense, but I don't see anything about Ryno's speech that said in essense "Things were better in my day". The whole thing was about respecting the game, your team, and the fans. The comments he made about hot dogging it in front of the cameras may have been from more recent events, but he doesn't suggest that hot dogging only happens now. He comments about Green and Zim saying that players like him made their jobs easier. That suggests that there were a shortage of players who played with respect when he played. Just because he asked when did it become ok to hit home runs and forget the rest of the game doesn't mean that it didn't occur in his day, it only means that it's become more acceptable as the years go by...which IMO is true.

 

Sure guys like Rob Deer and Cecil Fielder hung around the league a while and may have gotten some fanfare, but the real superstars were people with all around games. I grew up rooting for Sandberg, Dawson, a young Griffey Jr., Tony Gwynn, Mark Grace, Kirby Puckett, etc. because they could beat you in many different ways. As the years have gone by, the game's focus has shifted to HRs.

 

In '98 the two biggest superstars in the league had one dimensional games. Sure they were doing something unimaginable, but that's all they did. Sosa, at one time could play some D, throw out runners, and steal some bags. He seemed to give them up to hit more home runs. In some people's minds the extra hrs made up for the loss of the other areas...IMO what Ryno is saying is if you have the ability to have an all around game and you forsake D and fundamentals and only focus on HRs you aren't respecting the game, the team, and the fans.

[samhainn77]

From the Speech:

But Harry, who was a huge supporter of mine, used to say

how nice it is that a guy who can hit 40 homers or steal 50

bases drive in a hundred runs is the best bunter on the team.

Nice? That was my job. When did it become okay for someone to

hit home runs and forget how to play the rest of the game?

 

That's the context of his statement. It hints that people (Harry who certainly speaks for the people) in Sandberg's day were not content with just HRs, not that nobody in his day only tried to hit HRs. In retrospect, Ryno seems less targeted at the present day player than I originally thought. He's pretty much targeted on anyone who forsakes fundamentals and defense.

[c3ci1]

Oxxie Virgil

 

Good 'ol Oxxie...

 

Just hanging out on the fence here about then/now, but on the Pittsburgh coke bit, I have to agree that athletes & recreational drug use seems to be a quite diff issue in terms of tainting a game (than steroids). I don't think Ricky Williams taints football by having been identified as a recreational smoker. I distinguish b/w the types in assigning levels of taint.

 

...did that have anything to do with Tim Raines getting the nickname 'Rock' though?

[samhainn77]

Oxxie Virgil

 

 

...did that have anything to do with Tim Raines getting the nickname 'Rock' though?

 

Lol, I hope not.

[GaryWoods]

In '98 the two biggest superstars in the league had one dimensional games. Sure they were doing something unimaginable, but that's all they did. Sosa, at one time could play some D, throw out runners, and steal some bags. He seemed to give them up to hit more home runs.

 

Neither Sosa nor McGwire gave up anything to hit more homers in 1998. And I wouldn't describe either one as one-dimensional.

 

McGwire was always a good OBP guy, and he posted his second-best OBP total that year; so it's not like he became an all-or-nothing guy like Deer, Kingman, or many others previously mentioned. And his defense remained at his typical slightly-above-average level.

 

And Sosa didn't just start hitting home runs in 1998; he actually became an overall better hitter. Sure, he stopped stealing bases. Big deal. I'll take a 1.000+ OPS with 10 steals over .840 with 34 steals any day of the week.

 

And Sammy's defense, especially his arm, didn't start to decline until about 2002-2003.

[GaryWoods]

From the Speech:

But Harry, who was a huge supporter of mine, used to say

how nice it is that a guy who can hit 40 homers or steal 50

bases drive in a hundred runs is the best bunter on the team.

Nice? That was my job. When did it become okay for someone to

hit home runs and forget how to play the rest of the game?

 

That's the context of his statement. It hints that people (Harry who certainly speaks for the people) in Sandberg's day were not content with just HRs, not that nobody in his day only tried to hit HRs. In retrospect, Ryno seems less targeted at the present day player than I originally thought. He's pretty much targeted on anyone who forsakes fundamentals and defense.

 

I just read the transcript in full for the first time, and I agree. In the intended context, I don't think he was pointing the finger at anybody; he was just quoting himself responding honestly to Harry's question and expressing surprise that anyone would expect him to ignore one facet of the game to focus on another.

[SAMMYWHO]

I'm just curious but is Margaret Sandberg's first wife or second? The only thing in his speech that I can only relate to Sosa is looking at the camera after a homerun. He is the only one every time the camera would go to him and he would do his routine in the dugout.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I absolutely loved Sandberg's speech, though Gammons' speech was great too.

 

My first thought when hearing him mention the "red light" on the camera was to turn to the guy in the seat next to me and say, "Does anyone think Grace was the speech writer?"

 

All in all, though, it was a fantastic speech about playing baseball as a team. Hal Bodley in Monday's USA Today wrote an excellent commentary on it.

 

I don't think Sandberg was trying to say the game was better in his day, only that there is a right way to play the game and that some of today's players do not play the game the right way.

 

During the Legends Event, he was asked a question about players today who played the game with respect. He mentioned Jeter by name, but also said there were many players who did play the game with respect and try to be complete ballplayers.

[GaryWoods]

I'm just curious but is Margaret Sandberg's first wife or second?

 

Second. His first wife, Cindy, was famous for her extramarital affairs; problems with his first marriage led to his short-lived first retirement.

[wolf stansson]

Second. His first wife, Cindy, was famous for her extramarital affairs; problems with his first marriage led to his short-lived first retirement.

I'm convinced that baseball leaked the Palmeiro steroid test immediately after Sandberg's induction/speech in a conspiracy. Ryno agreed to publicly condemn juicers as long as MLB fingered his ex's ex-lover as a user. Ryno is a master. He could've exacted his revenge for Raffy doing his wife a long time ago. But no, that would be too easy; too amateur. He bided his time. He let RP pile up the stats and accolades; the fame and the fortune. As soon as Palmeiro finally started to get the respect his numbers commanded and got the 3000/500, Ryno pulled the rug right out from under him and smiled as he landed disgraced on his pathetic, needle-pricked butt.

 

Revenge isn't something you can rush. A proper revenge takes patience and planning.

[samhainn77]

In '98 the two biggest superstars in the league had one dimensional games. Sure they were doing something unimaginable, but that's all they did. Sosa, at one time could play some D, throw out runners, and steal some bags. He seemed to give them up to hit more home runs.

 

Neither Sosa nor McGwire gave up anything to hit more homers in 1998. And I wouldn't describe either one as one-dimensional.

 

McGwire was always a good OBP guy, and he posted his second-best OBP total that year; so it's not like he became an all-or-nothing guy like Deer, Kingman, or many others previously mentioned. And his defense remained at his typical slightly-above-average level.

 

And Sosa didn't just start hitting home runs in 1998; he actually became an overall better hitter. Sure, he stopped stealing bases. Big deal. I'll take a 1.000+ OPS with 10 steals over .840 with 34 steals any day of the week.

 

And Sammy's defense, especially his arm, didn't start to decline until about 2002-2003.

 

I agree, both were offensive giants...I wasn't trying to say that offensively they couldn't do anything but hit HRs. What I meant by one dimensional was their only contributions came at the plate. McGwire had zero mobility and though he wasn't really a liability at first...he certainly didn't shine. Same with Sosa and every year since it seems he's gotten sloppier on defense.

[lloydo]

I'm convinced that baseball leaked the Palmeiro steroid test immediately after Sandberg's induction/speech in a conspiracy. Ryno agreed to publicly condemn juicers as long as MLB fingered his ex's ex-lover as a user. Ryno is a master. He could've exacted his revenge for Raffy doing his wife a long time ago. But no, that would be too easy; too amateur. He bided his time. He let RP pile up the stats and accolades; the fame and the fortune. As soon as Palmeiro finally started to get the respect his numbers commanded and got the 3000/500, Ryno pulled the rug right out from under him and smiled as he landed disgraced on his pathetic, needle-pricked butt.

 

Revenge isn't something you can rush. A proper revenge takes patience and planning.

 

Excellent analysis. It reminds me of the time Eric Cartman made Scott Tenerman eat his parents.

[GaryWoods]

McGwire had zero mobility and though he wasn't really a liability at first...he certainly didn't shine. Same with Sosa and every year since it seems he's gotten sloppier on defense.

 

McGwire didn't have much range; I do believe he was better defensively than you give him credit for, but I'm going to let it go at that. It's too hard to quantify defensive play, and I don't have the time to get together and watch old tapes with you. At any rate, he certainly didn't suffer a defensive decline during or after the 1998 season beyond what you would expect from any 34-year-old ballplayer with bad feet.

 

And I haven't seen this gradual decline in Sammy's defense. He was always a guy who could occasionally make the spectacular catch, and also miss a routine fly ball. I don't think anything's changed there.

 

Yes, his arm isn't what it once was. In his prime he had an arm like Clemente. He still throws like a former Pirate outfielder; unfortunately the former Pirate outfielder he now throws like is Omar Moreno. But as I said before, that didn't happen until his offensive skills were also in decline in 2002 or 2003. So it can hardly be said that it was the result of too much focus on hitting.

[The Voice of Reason]

Sorry, Sandberg sounded like a bitter old man. "IN MY DAY THINGS WERE BETTER BLAHBLAHBLAH"

 

I bet you had decendants at Gettysburg in 1983 who wined that Lincoln sounded like a bitter old man.

 

As HOF speeches go, Sandberg's was one of the best.