Cubbie blues

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A mound of memorabilia -- Cubs caps and No. 10 T-shirts, photos and flowers and Old Style beer cans -- grew outside Wrigley Field Friday, as fans came to pay their respects to Ron Santo, the Cubs third base great and broadcaster who died early Friday at his home in Arizona from complications relating to cancer.

"He meant so much to me," said Patrick Hozjon, 26, who drove in from his home in La Grange to place blue-dyed carnations at the impromptu memorial to Santo at Wrigley's Clark Street entrance, between and beneath two flags bearing Santo's name and famous No. 10 that were lowered to half-staff to mark his death at age 70.

"I go to a lot of games," said Hozjon, garbed in a Santo jersey and Cubs cap. "I always see him and his driver Ken coming up the same ramp, to the right of the press box. I'd say hi, and he'd always talk to me. He was good to the fans. He took time for everybody."

Mike Krueger, 55, drove to Wrigley from his home in Whiting, Ind., his cheeks streaked with tears as he searched for the right spot to leave a note he'd written. It read: "This ole Cub, I miss you already."

"I'm a child of '69," said Krueger, who grew up on the city's North Side and used to take two buses to Wrigley with his buddies, lugging a bag of sandwiches. He said he still bears the heartbreak of so many fans from that oh-so-close season.

"Ron represented my Cubs childhood. Now he's gone. I'm going to miss him," said Krueger, dissolving into tears as he recalled sending a vanity license plate to Santo that said "THINK POS" after Santo lost his second leg to diabetes, along with an old newspaper clipping showing Santo digging out a groundball at third base. Santo signed the clipping and sent it back to him, Krueger said.

Beginning early Friday morning, mournful fans came bearing baseballs and mini-bats, cigars, roses and tulips. A Spanish novena candle was left burning. And by early afternoon, a second makeshift memorial had sprung up, down Addison near Sheffield, atop the gray marble slab that bore his name.

Bridget Cullen, 23, of Uptown, stood staring, in tears, at the neon words under the red marquee at the Clark Street entrance. It read: "Ronald Edward Santo, 1940-2010."

"I came for my grandfather," she said. "He passed away three years ago and was a huge Cub fan. We watched the games together. I miss him. He loved Ron Santo. And now Granddad's got a friend up there."

Oren Arsers, 26, of Rogers Park, took the afternoon off from work to bring a bouquet.

"I've been crying all day and getting phone calls all day where we're all talking to each other about our favorite Ronny moments," Arsers said. "Ronny was my voice on the radio. He always said what I was thinking. Pat Hughes makes you feel like you're at the game. Ronny made you feel you were in the bleachers."

Visiting Chicago from Guthrie Center, Iowa, Cindy Breton-Miller, 55, and her fiance, Max Christiansen, 59, stopped to pay their respects before heading downtown to do some Christmas shopping.

"My 15-year-old grandson is a diehard Cubs fan," said Breton-Miller, visiting family who live in Wrigleyville. "He treasures a jersey with Santo's name and number on the back. I brought him here last summer to take a picture in front of the stadium. It's a very sad day. Ron Santo was a great man. He did a lot for the team, and he'll never be forgotten."

Dominique Awad, 28, a Cubs fan in town from Las Vegas, came in the morning to take a picture in front of the stadium, unaware of the passing. She remembered being a kid and watching Cubs games on TV with her dad, who would even listen to the games on the radio when he was in the shower.

"Look at this memorial. To see how it's growing and all these people coming down here to put down flowers, I know it must be a very devastating day for Cubs fans," Awad said.