Ryne Sandberg, Chicago Cubs legend and Hall of Famer, dies at 65

Hall of Fame Chicago Cubs slugger and second baseman Ryne Sandberg has died, following a battle with prostate cancer.

Sandberg died Monday, July 28, the Cubs confirmed. He was 65 years old.

“Ryne Sandberg was a hero to a generation of Chicago Cubs fans and will be remembered as one of the all-time greats in nearly 150 years of this historic franchise,” Cubs executive chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement. “His dedication to and respect for the game, along with his unrelenting integrity, grit, hustle, and competitive fire were hallmarks of his career. He was immensely proud of his teammates and his role as a global ambassador of the game of baseball, but most of all, he was proud of Margaret, his children and his role as husband, father, and grandfather.”

Sandberg played in parts of 16 big-league seasons, almost entirely with the Cubs.

Sandberg was born Sept. 18, 1959, in Spokane, Washington. He was the youngest of four children of Derwent “Sandy” Sandberg, a mortician, and Elizabeth “Libby” Sandberg, a nurse, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.

Sandberg’s parents named him for New York Yankees pitcher Ryne Duren, the society reported.

At North Central High School in Spokane, Sandberg was a standout in baseball, as well as football and basketball, the society noted, citing local newspaper reports. He received All-America Team honors from Parade Magazine as a quarterback and punter on the school’s football team, and received second-team Greater Spokane League basketball honors his junior and senior years, the society reported.

On the basketball court, John Stockton, later of the Utah Jazz, was a rival of Sandberg’s from Gonzaga Prep High School, the society reported.

But of course, it was the baseball diamond that turned out to be Sandberg’s calling. In high school, Sandberg made the All-City team twice, hitting .417 with four home runs and helped lead his high school team to a 25-3 record and a second-place finish in the state tournament championship.

Major League Baseball scouts already had their eyes on Sandberg when he signed a letter of intent to go to Washington State University on a football scholarship, the society noted. While this was enough to make most scouts lose interest, scouts for the Philadelphia Phillies kept wooing Sandberg, and he ended up choosing baseball over football.

The Phillies drafted Sandberg in 1978. He played in the minor leagues first with the Pioneer League in Helena, Montana, and then with Class A Spartanburg in the Western Carolinas League in 1979, the society noted.

Sandberg advanced to Double-A reading in 1980 and made the Eastern League All-Star Team. He played in Triple-A Oklahoma City in 1981, before the Phillies called him up to the majors late that season.

Following the 1981 season, the Phillies and Cubs exchanged shortstops — Larry Bowa came to the Cubs in exchange for Iván DeJesus — but Cubs general manager Dallas Green wanted Sandberg too, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In his first season with the Cubs in 1982, Sandberg played third base and hit .271 with 33 doubles and 32 stolen bases. According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, he finished sixth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting.

Sandberg was switched to second base for the 1983 season — which the Cubs finished with a record of 71-91, and which is best remembered today for a tirade by manager Lee Elia directed at disrespectful fans. But Sandberg won the first of nine straight Gold Glove Awards that year, the Baseball Hall of Fame noted.

In 1984, Jim Frey replaced Elia as the Cubs’ manager. Sandberg was a starter for the Cubs alongside other legends such as Jody Davis, Leon Durham, and Keith Moreland.

When the Cubs took on the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field on June 23, 1984, Sandberg kept driving in runs to overcome an early 7-1 Cubs deficit. But the Cubs were still down 9-8 as the bottom of the ninth began — only for Sandberg to hit a homer and tie it up.

The Cubs did not score again in the bottom of the ninth, and the game went into extra innings. St. Louis scored two more runs in the top of the 10th and took an 11-9 lead, but with two out and no one on base, Bob Dernier worked a walk from ex-Cub Bruce Sutter — and Sandberg hit another homer to tie the game at 11, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Cubs scored one more time on an RBI single by Dave Owen — and won 12-11. The game became known as the “Ryne Sandberg Game” and propelled the 1984 Cubs toward success that season.

“This is something that might be a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” Sandberg said at the time. “Besides being in shock right now, it was a lot of fun.”

The Cubs won the National League Eastern Division championship in ’84 – for their first appearance in the postseason since the 1945 World Series.

While the Cubs lost the 1984 National League Championship Series 3-2, Sandberg won the National League Most Valuable Player award and made the All-Star roster for the first of 10 times. According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Sandberg hit .314 in 1984 and led the NL in runs scored with 114 and triples with 19.

In 1989, a season in which the Cubs also won the National League Eastern Division championship, Sandberg reached the 30-homer mark, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame. According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, he led the National League with 40 home runs, 116 runs, 344 bases, 100 RBI, and 25 steals in 1990.

That year, Sandberg was the first second baseman to lead the National League in home runs since Rogers Hornsby in 1925 and the first second baseman to hit 30 or more home runs in consecutive baseball seasons, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Sandberg announced his first retirement suddenly in the middle of a season on June 13, 1994, saying he had “lost the edge it takes to play — the drive, the motivation, the killer instinct.” But he returned in 1996 for a one-year deal, and retired as a player for good at the end of the 1997 season.

“I truly lived my field of dreams right here at Wrigley Field,” Sandberg told the crowd at Wrigley on Sept. 20, 1997, as recalled by the Society for American Baseball Research.

Sandberg finished his career as a .285 hitter with 282 home runs and a fielding percentage of .989. He notched roughly 68 Wins Above Replacement, per Baseball Reference. 

Sandberg was a 10-time All-Star and a winner of nine Gold Glove Awards and seven Silver Slugger Awards. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005, earning more than 76% of the vote in his third year on the ballot.

“I didn’t play the game right because I saw a reward at the end of the tunnel,” Sandberg said at the time. “I played it right, because that’s what you’re supposed to do.”

After his retirement, Sandberg served as a spring training instructor with the Cubs in Mesa, Arizona. From 2007 until 2010, Sandberg was a manager in the Cubs’ minor-league system — first with the Single-A with the Triple-A Iowa Peoria Chiefs, then the Double-A Tennessee Smokies, and finally the Triple-A Lehigh Valley Cubs.

When Lou Piniella retired as Cubs manager after the 2010 season, Sandberg was a favorite to take his place. However, Cubs general manager Jim Hendry passed on Sandberg and went with Mike Quade instead.

Sandberg then left the Cubs organization and became a minor league manager for the Phillies. He served as Philadelphia’s bench coach and then as manager of the Phillies for three seasons from 2013 to 2015.

Sandberg won 42.8% of his 278 contests as manager of the Phillies before being removed from the post partway through the 2015 season.

For the past decade, Sandberg served as a popular Cubs ambassador. On the 40th anniversary of the 1984 “Sandberg game” last year, the Cubs unveiled his statue just outside Wrigley Field near his fellow franchise Hall of Famers.

Sandberg was diagnosed with prostate cancer in January 2024. He underwent treatment and shared he was declared cancer-free in August of that year, but four months later, he let fans know the cancer had come back and spread to other organs.

Sandberg did make an appearance at Cubs spring training in Mesa, Arizona, for Cubs Spring Training in February 2025, along with his former teammates Shawon Dunston, Mark Grace, Rick Sutcliffe, and Fergie Jenkins. Cubs Manager Craig Counsell looked like a youngster in awe at Sandberg at the other veterans — and Counsell talked about the icons’ stories as what meant so much to him.

“People like Ryno, and Hall of Famers, they make an impact like when they step in the room — and that’s what Ryno has done for us already,” Counsell said. “He’s made an impact already.”

But Sandberg and the group were also imparting their wisdom on young players like Matt Shaw.

“That’s why we’re here. We’re here for the players,” Sandberg said. With Matt, you know, I had a conversation — I could reflect right back to 1982, and being in camp, and having some minor league seasons under my belt with some success, and, ‘OK, now it’s the Major Leagues’ — just to let him know what I went through, and what it basically was for me to just feel comfortable with what I was doing and feel comfortable with my talents, because that’s what got me to that point.”

In July 2025, Sandberg said he had not been able to be at Wrigley Field as much as he had wanted for the baseball season, but he had been cheering the team on and watching from home.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. issued a statement honoring Sandberg Monday night.

“Ryne Sandberg was a legend of the Chicago Cubs franchise and a beloved figure throughout Major League Baseball.  He was a five-tool player who excelled in every facet of the game thanks to his power, speed and work ethic.  Ryne earned 10 consecutive All-Star selections, nine straight Gold Gloves, seven Silver Sluggers and 1984 National League MVP honors.  

“Ryne remained active in the game he loved as an ambassador for the Cubs, a manager for the Phillies and in the Minor Leagues, and a frequent participant at the Hall of Fame.  His many friends across the game were in his corner as he courageously fought cancer in recent years.  We will continue to support the important work of Stand Up To Cancer in Ryne’s memory.

“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to Ryne’s family, Cubs fans everywhere and his admirers throughout our National Pastime.”