RYNO’S FIELD OF DREAMS: SANDBERG TALKS WRIGLEY RETURN WITH SNEED
The game face was real! Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Cubs scored their big win Monday night, was back.
Home. At Wrigley. His field of dreams.
“I remember walking up to the mound and being back home,” said the legendary second baseman. “I hadn’t been on the field at Wrigley since my jersey was retired in 2005.”
“I was back. Being in front of the home fans again. Remembering all the seasons I played there as a Cub. All those feelings wrapped into one.”
And then there was the noise. The thrum of the crowd. The blast from the bleachers signaling a second chance to become world champions in 107 years.
“I remember a similar noise from the crowd in 1984,” said Sandberg, referring to the year the Cubs clinched the National League East title against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“I had forgotten how loud it all can be,” he said.
“But what was different Tuesday night was hearing that noise roaring constantly from pitch to pitch and bat by bat for nine innings of baseball. It was something new.
“The fans are close to the players at Wrigley Field. The seats are compact. That’s the beauty of it. You feel like you are hand in hand with the fans!
“And to know my flag was flying on the right-field foul pole at Wrigley Field was something else,” said Sandberg, whose No. 23 jersey is one of only six numbers retired by the Cubs.
“It takes a lot for a player to have his number retired and hung on that pole. I am honored,” added the man called “Ryno,” who was traded to the Cubs in 1982 and retired in 1994.
“Looking at that flag. Throw- ing that first pitch wearing Ernie Banks’ No. 14 jersey was wonderful and so special. It was an honor to do that in memory of such a great guy. The Cubs management asked me to do it. How great was that?
“It all reminded me of my career and how MUCH I ENJOYED PLAYING. I was back at my home stadium. I loved playing there. Now I love going there as a fan.”
“If I had to sum up how I felt the last few days it’s this. This is what comes from playing winning games because the team is having fun. The fans are having fun and everybody is having fun, and with everybody having fun— that constitutes a party!
“And that’s what Chicago needed. And that’s what we got. A young team having fun for the love of the game. It makes for a happy city,” added Sandberg, who called Sneed from the links at Cranes Golf Club in Lincolnshire on Wednesday afternoon.
So how did Ryno, who could become the Cubs’ next ambassador, fare on the links? “Fine, just fine,” he chirped. “And that’s all I’m going to say.
Over and out, Ryno!
The Ryan Report
Hey! Hey! Sneed is told U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, who could potentially become the third most powerful man in the country if he becomes the Speaker of the House, hit town Tuesday night to cheer on the Cubs!
“He was just a regular guy decked out in jeans and a Cubs cap eating a hot dog,” said a Sneed source who claims he chatted with the former GOP veep contender.
“Ryan said he has always been a huge Cubs fan even though he is from Janesville, Wisconsin,” said the source— who along with Ryan were guests of Cubs owner Tom Ricketts at a private pre-game party for 250 guests at the Sports Corner on Tuesday night.
“He claims when he was growing up they couldn’t get the Milwaukee radio station to listen to baseball games, but they could get reception for the Chicago Cubs games broadcast by Jack Brickhouse and Harry Caray.
“So he became a lifelong Cubs fan!”
Asked by his political future, Ryan told the source all the publicity about him being drafted as the next House speaker “has created a lot of family tension and that they are his number one priority,” added the source.
“I can’t imagine Ryan not accepting the draft, but he sure didn’t sound like he was going to do it,” he said.
Also at the Ricketts’ party were former Cubs Randy Hundley, Ryne Sandberg, Ald. Tom Tunney, and former state Rep. Billy Marovitz, St. Louis Cardinals’ owner Bill Dewitt, and preeminent GOP pollster/spinmeister Frank Luntz, who conducts focus groups on the FOX network.
Sneedlings
Condolences to the family of Greg Thompson, who lost his beloved mother, Valarie, recently. No mother had a better son. ... Ditto to the family of veteran newsman Joe Tybor, 68, who died Saturday. My old friend, my colleague, a man of admirable restraint dealing from the other side of the pencil as the spokesman for the Illinois Supreme Court. ... Thursday’s birthdays: Tito Jackson, 62; Penny Marshall, 72, and Richard Carpenter, 69.
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, who could become the next House speaker, hit the town to cheer on the Cubs. . . .
@SNEEDLINGS