Cubs Hall Of Fame Second Baseman Ryne Sandberg Dies At 65

Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg, whose combination of power and scintillating defense led the Chicago Cubs to their first-post-season appearance in 38 years in 1984, died Monday at the age of 65.

With great sadness, we share that Ryne Sandberg has passed away today. pic.twitter.com/LJJ0jGqSy5

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 29, 2025

Ryne Sandberg. Second to None. pic.twitter.com/jR0FCCiXwD

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 29, 2025

"The last couple of days, he wanted to speak to me, Andre [Dawson] and Mark Grace. He told us that he loved us and he loved all you @Cubs fans too. Go Cubs."

An emotional Shawon Dunston speaks on the impact his legendary double play partner, Ryne Sandberg, made on him. pic.twitter.com/OiHCJpAEcD

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) July 29, 2025

Sandberg, the father of five children and eleven grandchildren, had been fighting metastatic prostate cancer, which he announced in January 2024 before he went into remission in August, then revealed the cancer had spread and returned last December.

“The support has been tremendously overwhelming right from the first week, and it’s continued throughout,” he told the Chicago Tribune last year. “It’s just been incredible and I think that’s been as much medicine to me as anything really.”

“While I am continuing to fight, I’m looking forward to making the most of every day with my loving family and friends,” he wrote on July 16. “I haven’t been to Wrigley Field as much as I hoped in the first half but I’m watching every game and am excited to see Wrigley rocking like 1984!”

Sandberg, who won nine Gold Gloves, and made the All-Star team in ten consecutive seasons, won the national League’s MVP award in 1984, when he batted .314 with 19 home runs, 36 doubles, 19 triples, 84 RBIs, 114 runs and 32 stolen bases. On June 23, 2024, the Cubs unveiled a statue of Sandberg to mark the 40th anniversary of “The Sandberg Game,” when he slugged game-tying home runs in the ninth and 10th innings off St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame reliever Bruce Sutter in an 11-inning Cubs win at Wrigley Field.

“Some of the things I wanted on the statue was being on the balls of the feet, being ready for every single pitch,” Sandberg told reporters when the statue was unveiled. “My defense was very important for me. For me, it was ‘Bring your glove every single day.’ You might go into some hitting slumps, but as far as defense goes, as long as I did my pregame work, I wanted to play defense every day for the pitcher, for everybody on the field.”

“In 16 seasons, Sandberg hit .285 with 282 home runs and 1,061 RBIs in 2,164 games. His 68.1 wins above replacement rank third in Cubs history behind Cap Anson (84.8) and Ron Santo (72.2),” the Chicago Tribune noted. “Sandberg hit 25 home runs or more six times, including a career-high 40 in 1990, and had back-to-back 100-RBI seasons in ’90 and ’91. His 344 steals rank fourth on the Cubs’ all-time list.”

Growing up in Spokane, Washington, Sandberg was All-State in basketball and named to Parade Magazine’s Prep All-America Football Team, receiving scholarship offers from Nebraska and Oklahoma.

“I never thought it was a mistake to decide on baseball instead of football and college,” he recalled. “But I thought it was going to be a long, hard road. They say the odds are that only one or two guys in A-ball will ever make it to the big leagues.”

In mid-season 1994, hitting only .238 and in the middle of a terrible slump, he temporarily retired. “I am not the type of person who leaves my game at the ballpark feeling comfortable that my future is set regardless of my performance,” he admitted. “And I’m certainly not the type of person who can ask the Cubs organization and Chicago Cubs fans to pay my salary when I am not happy with my mental approach and performance.” He returned for the 1996 and 1997 seasons.