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LRB093 14371 HSS 19986 r
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, Ronald Edward Santo was born on February 25,
3 1940 in Seattle, Washington; he and his wife Vicki have four
4 children, Ron Jr., Jeff, Linda, and Kelly, as well as one
5 grandson, Samuel; and
6 WHEREAS, At the age of 18, and just prior to signing with
7 the Chicago Cubs, Ron Santo was diagnosed with Type 1
8 diabetes; nevertheless, he became one of the best third
9 basemen in all of Major League Baseball, playing for the
10 Chicago Cubs from 1960 through 1973 and for the Chicago White
11 Sox in 1974; and
12 WHEREAS, During his career, Ron Santo won five Rawlings
13 Gold Glove awards, was a nine-time National League All-Star
14 selection, batted .277 during his career with 342 home runs
15 and 1,331 RBI; he also led the National League in walks four
16 times and in triples once; he hit 337 home runs with the
17 Cubs, the third highest total in Cubs history, and ranks
18 among the Cubs' all time top 10 in games played, at-bats,
19 runs scored, hits, total bases, doubles, RBI, and extra-base
20 hits; and
21 WHEREAS, After retiring from baseball, Ron Santo was a
22 member of the inaugural Cubs Walk of Fame Class of 1992 and
23 was selected to the Cubs' All-Century team in 1999; Ron Santo
24 has also been inducted into the Seattle Hall of Fame, the
25 Italian Hall of Fame, and the Chicago Sports Hall of Fame; in
26 addition, Ron Santo has been a WGN Radio color commentator
27 for the Cubs since 1990, just completing his 14th season; and
28 WHEREAS, Ron Santo's extraordinary accomplishments extend
29 far beyond baseball; in addition to his duties as a Chicago
30 Cubs commentator, Ron Santo has been involved with the
31 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation since 1974, and is
32 currently a member of the Foundation's Board of Directors; he
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1 has personally known the hardships that diabetes can have on
2 an individual, having both of his legs amputated due to
3 complications with diabetes; through Ron Santo's involvement
4 with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, together they
5 have raised over $54 million for diabetes research; he was
6 also instrumental in helping the Juvenile Diabetes Research
7 Foundation form a partnership with charitable organizations
8 Cubs Care and WGN Radio 720 Neediest Kids Fund in order to
9 raise more money for those organizations, as well as more
10 money for the Foundation for additional diabetes research; in
11 2002, he was the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's
12 Person of the Year; and
13 WHEREAS, In recognition of his greatness and
14 accomplishments, both on and off the field, on September 28,
15 2003, the Chicago Cubs organization retired Ron Santo's
16 number, #10, in honor of all that Ron Santo has achieved in
17 his life; Ron Santo became only the third player in Cubs
18 history to have his number retired by the Chicago Cubs,
19 joining Ernie Banks (#14) and Billy Williams (#26);
20 therefore, be it
21 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
22 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
23 because of all Ron Santo has accomplished throughout his
24 life, and because Ron Santo's name will be eligible for
25 election by the new Veterans Committee of the Baseball Hall
26 of Fame, we, along with the entire State of Illinois,
27 strongly urge the Veterans Committee to consider electing Ron
28 Santo to the Baseball Hall of Fame; and be it further
29 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
30 presented to the Veterans Committee of the Baseball Hall of
31 Fame; and that a suitable copy of this resolution be
32 presented to Mr. Santo as an expression of our sincere
33 respect and esteem.