I’d often wince at the thought of Ron Santo leaving us in the middle of a Cubs Mets game at New York, in one of the late innings when Carlos Marmol or [fill-in-the-blank] inevitably loads the basis before retiring the side and saving the game.

Obviously this would not be an ideal situation and certainly was not what I hoped for. But it came as quite a disappointment when I heard, early this morning, that Santo passed from complications from a recurrence of bladder cancer at age 70.

I really thought he’d be around to see the Cubs finally win it all. Of course I imagine a Cubs championship as a likelihood every spring, only to have my heartbroken by August and inevitably lose interest in baseball altogether by the time the Wrigley Field ivy starts turning colors. But there were definitely a few seasons over the past decade in which I had a pretty-to-really good feeling that it was going to happen.

Santo raised more than $50 million for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund through his annual Walk for the Cure and other charitable activities. Every time a Cubs player was issued a base on balls, Santo took the opportunity to advocate for JDRF, thanks to a partnership in which Walgreens donated $100 to JDRF for every Cubs walk.

So let’s show some appreciation and thanks to #10, one of the greatest Cubs of all time, and see if we can raise 10 grand for JDRF in the name of Ron Santo over the next ten days. It’s as simple as filling in the box below or you can visit: http://www.razoo.com/story/Donate-To-Jdrf-In-Memory-Of-Ron-Santo.

Ron Santo embodied the spirit of the Cubs and of Cubs fans and unfortunately he also dealt with a lifetime of bad Cubbie luck. Diagnosed with diabetes at age 19, just prior to his rookie season with the Cubs, Santo somehow hid the fact that he was taking insulin from his teammates for most of his playing career. The diabetes eventually led to the need to amputate both of his legs. But he hardly slowed down, wearing prosthetics and still reporting to the ballpark for radio duties. He was too proud and too happy to be at the ballpark to make excuses. In spite of multiple campaigns to vote Santo into the Baseball Hall of Fame he never made it. He remained optimistic 162 games a year in spite of suffering through many of the toughest seasons (along with Ernie Banks and Billy Williams no less) since the Cubs last won a championship, in 1908. Last year he wrote an emotional article about his struggle with diabetes.

So sad that the the last stroke of bad luck would be fatal… after 50 years living with diabetes, it was ultimately cancer that took Ron Santo from us. Perhaps only one season too soon. Next year is nearly here. Rest in Peace, Ronnie!

Hard to be as ambitious as I was for most of the 2008 season — that was just too draining, especially having witnessed the final nine innings first hand at Dodger Stadium.

But from the looks of Ramirez’s reaction to the question here — maybe it is? maybe it ain’t?

Either way, very excited for the regular season, beginning Monday night in Houston.

Check out the photos I took last week on my first-ever trip to HoHoKam Park in Mesa, Arizona for spring training. It was a great weekend! Great pics as well, thanks to Lisa’s awesome camera.

Today is the first spring training game for many teams. Coincidentally the Dodgers are playing the Cubs. This year MLB is touting their new MLB network as the place to see all games — even the blacked out Saturday Fox games. BUT, the MLB Network is only available to DirecTV and Time Warner Cable subscribers, leaving Dish Network and AT&T U-Verse subscribers in the dark. Worse yet, MLB.TV — the online stream, will continue to black out these games in addition to the World Baseball Classic. What’s a fan to do?

How will you follow your favorite team this year? Who will the Cubs beat in the 2009 World Series? Will MLB continue their restricting online media outlets and photographers from media access and privileges?

Photo by Seth William Page, 2/21/09, via CC-license.

UPDATE: The Brewers beat the Cubs and the Marlins beat the Mets, so for the second straight year, the Mets have been shut out of the playoffs on the last day of the season. The Brewers will play the Phillies in the NLDS beginning Wednesday and the Cubs will host the Dodgers Wednesday in that NLDS. The White Sox must beat the Tigers in a make-up game Monday to face the Twins in a playoff Tuesday for the AL Central Crown and a spot in the playoffs vs. Tampa Bay (starting Thursday).

I’m listening to WGN Radio’s broadcast of the Cubs vs Brewers, where the crowd is decidedly split, but while the Cubs are starting one-time prodigy Angel Guzman (who after all these years is still 0-7 and awaiting his first major league victory), The Brew Crew sent out CC Sabathia for the third time in 10 days. I’m watching the scores on the Mets/Florida game very closely, as well as the Sox/Indians and Twins/Royals.

Here are the possible playoff scenarios:

AL Central: If the Chicago White Sox (86-74) and Minnesota Twins (87-74) are still within a half-game of each other after play is completed Sunday, Chicago must make up a rainout against the Detroit Tigers on Monday. If the White Sox and Twins finish with the same record, they would play a tiebreaker game Tuesday in Chicago.

NL Wild Card: If the New York Mets (89-72) and Milwaukee Brewers (89-72) still have identical records after Sunday, they would play a one-game tiebreaker Monday in New York.

Personally, I’m pulling for the White Sox (yes, I’m a die-hard Cubs fan who doesn’t root against the Sox) and I’d like to see the Mets and Brewers go to a playoff on Monday. Why? Because the Cubs will face either the Mets (if they win the wild card) or the Dodgers (if the Brewers take the wild card) on Wednesday. I have tickets for the Dodgers home games in the NLDS and NLCS… not sure if I’d rather see the Cubs v. Dodgers sooner (in a best-of-five series) or later (in a best-of-seven). The Dodgers are at the top of their game going into the post-season with a resurgent pitching staff and the return of a healthy Rafael Furcal, Jeff Kent, and Nomar Garciaparra. This is the best Cubs team I’ve seen in my life, and I’m loving it. Granted, come Wednesday, I’ll be nervous as hell. Last year’s flop against the D-Backs wasn’t too surprising but this year, I want to be able to forget about 2003 once and for all.

**Some game times have been announced:

Game     Matchup     Day     Date     Time ET     TV
Gm 1    LAD @ CHC    Wed    Oct. 1    6:30 PM    TBS
Gm 2    LAD @ CHC    Thu    Oct. 2    9:30 PM    TBS
Gm 3    CHC @ LAD    Sat    Oct. 4    10:00 PM    TBS

In spite of his bad acting, Ryan Dempster will start Game 1 of the NLDS vs. the Mets, Phillies, or Dodgers.

As for “Here’s to You, Men in Blue,” listen for yourself here.

I’m in Las Vegas (the Cubs are 9-5 favorites to win the NL Pennant; 4-1 on the Series) at the Blog World Expo but — my heart was in Wrigley… and the victory cry I heard just now on Channel 9 News at Nine as bellowed by Ron Santo was something else — I’ll have to get audio. I’d like to thank Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella and the greatest Cubs team I’ve been fortunate to cheer on — the 2008 Cubs. For now, video below, and even the hat is pretty cool. Now back to regularly scheduled weekending and BWE08 activities.

LISTEN to the postgame celebration via WGN AM Radio

Amazing night at — of all places — Miller Park. Much will be said about this night, and personally, I’m elated at the moment. But in the interest of getting out of the house, I’m going to post the audio highlights c/o WGN Radio, Pat Hughes, and Ron Santo. Yes, The Chicago Cubs, on the back of Carlos Zambrano — who nearly no-hit the Astros in the past — pitched his first career no hitter, the first no hitter by a Cubs since Milt Pappas in 1972.

Listen to the call of the 27th out:

[display_podcast]
Holy Shit Carlos!

And the Magic Number is 7!

Piniella, Zambrano talk to the media:

Game Highlights (WGN Radio):

Zambrano spoke to WGN TV’s Len Kasper after the game and according to the Sun Times, said:

“I felt good,” Zambrano said. “I think the rest helped me out a lot, and I was able to command my fastball today and all my pitches were working great today. I was watching the gun in the first inning and it said 99, 98 I said let’s get it on, challenge the hitter and be aggressive.

Geovany [Soto] just told me, ‘Just come on. Let’s go you and do it.’ The pitching coach [Larry Rothschild] in the ninth inning ‘use your leg,’ and that helped.”

photos via AP/Yahoo! Sports.

Manny Ramirez became a Dodger, Ken Griffey, Jr. became a White Sox, and the Chicago Cubs completed a four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers all within a matter of a long lunch today. The sweep was the perfect punctuation to a few key acquisitions made by Jim Hendry, weeks before today’s trade deadline. Jim Edmonds had 5 RBI including a grand slam, and Rich Harden continued his mastery of the NL, with 9 K’s, allowing just one run (as a Cub, Harden has 39 strikeouts in 24 innings with a 1.11 ERA).

I love it. Hoping to see an appearance from Manny at the game tonight (Dodgers v. Diamondbacks). Tomorrow I’m off to Lollapalooza for the weekend, with an afternoon at Wrigley scheduled for Saturday (Zambrano Lilly on the mound). See you in Chicago?