Durbin jumps to help Santo's hall bid
Cubs legend Ron Santo's efforts to enter the baseball Hall of Fame is getting a pitch from Sen. Richard Durbin.
In a letter to the Hall's Veterans Committee, Durbin says Santo was great -- and probably would have been better if he hadn't played for the Cubs.
In a letter to the Hall's Veterans Committee, Durbin says Santo was great -- and probably would have been better if he hadn't played for the Cubs.
"We can't know how much better Ron Santo's statistics might have been had he not played his entire career with a life-threatening illness, in an era that suppressed the long ball, for a team that, God bless them, never once saw post-season action," wrote Durbin.
"We can't know how much better Ron Santo's statistics might have been had he not played his entire career with a life-threatening illness, in an era that suppressed the long ball, for a team that, God bless them, never once saw post-season action," wrote Durbin.
Santo played for 15 seasons with diabetes.
Santo is among 27 players on next year's Veterans Committee ballot for the Hall of Fame. Their decision will be announced Feb. 27.
Santo, 66, played for the Cubs between 1960 and 1973, ending his career with a one-season stint with the White Sox. He finished with a .277 career average and five Gold Gloves. In 2005, he fell eight votes short of election to the Hall by the Veterans Committee vote.
Santo called the letter "wonderful" but added, "I don't know if it will help or not. I do know you can't promote yourself."