Schuckman: Sandberg earned respect from all baseball fans — even Cardinals fans — for how he played the game

QUINCY — The disdain for the Chicago Cubs never felt contrived or forced.

Born to be a St. Louis Cardinals fan and raised to root for the Redbirds, my dislike for the Cubs came natural. They were the archenemy. The nemesis. The rival.

All of them except Ryne Sandberg.

He was too gifted, too consistent, too respectful of the game to root against. Still, there were moments where he made it difficult to appreciate him, and June 23, 1984, was one of those days.

In baseball lore, it’s known as “the Sandberg game.” For a young Cardinals fan whose favorite Redbird was Willie McGee, it was disheartening because it should have been known as “the McGee game.”

For the first time since 1975, a Cardinals player hit for the cycle as McGee went 4 for 6 with three runs scored and six RBIs. He tripled in the second inning, singled in the fourth, homered in the sixth and doubled in the 10th.

The only reason McGee had a chance for the cycle in extra innings was because Sandberg homered off Bruce Sutter — a former Cubs reliever who pitched for the Single-A Quincy Cubs during the 1973 season — leading off the ninth inning to tie the game at 9.

McGee’s double in the 10th scored Ozzie Smith with the go-ahead run, and McGee scored an insurance run when Steve Braun delivered an RBI groundout with one out. That insurance run wasn’t enough as Sandberg belted a game-tying two-run homer off Sutter in the bottom of the 10th.

The Cubs won 12-11 in 11 innings on Dave Owen’s walk-off RBI single, a disastrous and disappointing ending for a 10-year-old who loved the Cardinals and loved baseball even more.

The appreciation for the game itself made it difficult to hate Sandberg in that moment. Baseball is such a beautiful game, and what he did that Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field could have been ripped from the pages of a baseball novel. How could you hate that?

Now, 41 years later, his effort and that game come immediately to mind at the mere mention of his name.

As the news spread Monday night of Sandberg’s passing — the Hall of Fame second baseman died at the age of 65 — social media lit up with condolences, tributes and memories. Clips from “the Sandberg game” were shared, and it was the most talked about moment of his career.

Yet, one game shouldn’t define what he meant to the Cubs.

Sandberg was the 1984 National League MVP as the Cubs won the NL East pennant. He was a 10-time All-Star, a nine-time Golf Glove recipient and a seven-time Silver Slugger. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.

He was an ambassador for the game and a gentleman in the sport.

And how he handled himself in the midst of a chaotic moment and a chaotic crowd should be emulated. No bat flip. No staring down the pitcher. No slow trot around the bases. He ran the bases the same way he did on the other 281 home runs of his career. 

He didn’t celebrate at home plate. The high fives came when he reached the dugout, and the celebration waited until the Cubs had won.

Sandberg respected the game, and those who love the game respected him.

Even a diehard Cardinals fan.