Cubs Issue Emotional Statement on Beloved Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg

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The Chicago Cubs shared an emotional message honoring Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg on Thursday, September 18, marking what would have been the franchise legend’s 67th birthday.

The Chicago Cubs are in the midst of an intense race for the postseason, with only a one-game lead over the San Diego Padres in the third and final National League wild-card spot.

But before they opened a crucial three-game series in Cincinnati against the Reds Friday, the Cubs took a moment to issue an emotional statement on one of the most beloved, and best, players ever to call Wrigley Field home.

The Cubs honored Ryne Sandberg on what would have been his 67th birthday Friday, posting a tribute nearly 14 months after the Hall of Fame second baseman’s death.

“Happy birthday, Ryno. We miss you every day,” the team wrote in a social media post Friday.

Sandberg died July 28, 2025, at 65 following a lengthy fight with prostate cancer, according to the Society for American Baseball Research. He had announced the diagnosis in January 2024, appeared to beat the disease by August of that year, then revealed four months later that the cancer had returned and spread.

Ryne Sandberg’s Rise to Chicago Cubs Stardom

Born Ryne Dee Sandberg on Sept. 18, 1959, in Spokane, Washington, he was named after former Yankees pitcher Ryne Duren and earned football honors as a Parade magazine All-American quarterback, and also starred in basketball before choosing baseball. But he was seen as a long-shot prospect. The Philadelphia Phillies drafted him out of Spokane’s North Central High School in the 20th round in 1978. They called him up in September 1981.

The Phillies, still not seeing a future in Sandberg, traded the then-22-year-old utility infielder, along with Larry Bowa, to the Cubs that offseason for Iván DeJesús, in a deal that reshaped both franchises’ fortunes.

Moved to second base in 1983, Sandberg won a Gold Glove in his first full season there and broke out in 1984, hitting two game-tying home runs off Cardinals closer Bruce Sutter in a nationally televised game that became known as the “Sandberg Game.”

That win helped Chicago capture its first postseason berth since 1945, and he closed the year with the NL MVP award, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

He went on to make 10 straight All-Star teams, collect nine Gold Gloves and seven Silver Sluggers, and led the National League with 40 home runs in 1990, the first second baseman since Rogers Hornsby in 1925 to top the league in homers, according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Over 16 seasons, mostly with the Cubs, he finished with a .285 average, 2,386 hits, 282 home runs and 1,061 RBI, numbers that sent him to Cooperstown in 2005.

Why Chicago Cubs Fans Still Cherish Ryne Sandberg

The Cubs retired Sandberg’s No. 23 later that year, making him the fourth player in franchise history to receive that honor. He returned to the organization afterward as an ambassador, greeting fans and representing the club at events, and in June 2024 the team unveiled a statue of him outside Wrigley Field.

At that ceremony, Sandberg joked that he had more gloves than bats stashed in his locker when he first arrived in Chicago.

“Ryne Sandberg was a hero to a generation of Chicago Cubs fans,” Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said following his death, a tribute that still resonates on his birthday, as quoted by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Sandberg’s quiet intensity, defensive excellence and refusal to chase the spotlight made him a rare crossover star for a franchise that endured decades without a championship. Fans who grew up watching him anchor second base during the day-game era at Wrigley Field still gather at his statue and mark anniversaries of the Sandberg Game.

Friday’s tribute keeps that connection alive, reminding a fan base still chasing October baseball that Sandberg remains central to what it means to wear a Cubs uniform.