Santo became the Cub third baseman when I was 10 years old and was still there when I was 23. I recall reading a Sport magazine story on him sometime in the early 60s. The theme of the story was that Santo "fought himself" and this was his biggest weakness. Despite everything, including the Cub's futility, Santo played day after day, year after year.
In my mind's eye, I recall Ron Santo hitting a home run in the 10th inning to beat the Atlanta Braves on a Sunday afternoon. I saw it on a Nashville TV station which carried the Brave's TV network. I distinctly remember it as being in 1966.
I checked baseball reference for Santo's HR log and found it was on May 29, 1966. Ironically, Santo hit a walk-off home run the day before. Another oddity is the Cubs spent the whole 1966 season in last place.
I saw somewhere that the MLB Network is going to re-air a documentary on Santo's life, "This Old Cub," at 1pm ET on Sunday.Edited by: sport historian
