A hero to many and a role model to all, Ryne Sandberg embodied everything it meant to be a Chicago Cub.

“The reason I am here, they tell me, is that I played the game a certain way, that I played the game the way it was supposed to be played,” Sandberg said during his Baseball Hall of Fame induction in 2005. “I don’t know about that, but I do know this: I had too much respect for the game to play it any other way. And if there is a single reason I am here today, it is because of one word: Respect. I love to play baseball. I’m a baseball player. I’ve always been a baseball player. I’m still a baseball player. That’s who I am.”

He respected the game, and it respected him back.

Sandberg died on Monday at the age of 65 after his prostate cancer relapsed and spread in December last year. He was originally diagnosed with the disease in January 2024 before sharing that he was cancer-free last August.

Two weeks before his passing, Sandberg shared:

To all my Fans and extended baseball Family –

I wanted to share an update regarding my health. It’s been a challenging few months as I have been going through treatment on a regular basis.

While I am continuing to fight, I’m looking forward to making the most of every day with my loving family and friends.

I haven’t been to Wrigley Field as much as I hoped in the first half but I’m watching every game and am excited for the second half and to see Wrigley rocking like 1984!

Thank you for all the messages of support. Go Cubs!

Sandberg, more affectionately known by fans as “Ryno,” began his professional career with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1981, where he’d later return to serve as manager for the club 32 years later.

A shortstop by trade, he, along with shortstop Larry Bowa, was dealt to the Cubs for shortstop Iván DeJesús prior to the 1982 season. With Chicago, Sandberg became the Cubs’ primary second baseman, winning National League Most Valuable Player honors in his third season with the club.

On June 23, 1984, Sandberg became a household name after clubbing game-tying home runs off St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame closer Bruce Sutter in both the ninth and tenth innings, and broadcaster Bob Costas rhetorically shouted, “Do you believe it?”

The Cubs eventually won the contest — later dubbed “The Sandberg Game” — in the 11th inning when rookie Dave Owen singled home Leon Durham to score the winning run.

On June 23, 2024, exactly 40 years after his heroic performance, the Cubs immortalized Ryno outside of the ballpark he’d called home for many years.

Unlike the statues of other Cubs legends, Billy Williams and Ernie Banks, Sandberg’s didn’t show his closed-shouldered stance. Instead, the nine-time Gold Glove second baseman wanted his to simply depict his prepared defensive stance.

“I am so proud that this statue is a baseball player, playing defense,” Sandberg said. “Defense was always No. 1 for me. Change the game all you want, but you don’t win championships without good defense.

“This statue represents, to me, ’80s and ’90s baseball at Wrigley Field, on WGN, 162 games, in the sunshine and on my toes, prepared for every play in the game.”

Over 15 seasons with the Cubs from 1982-1997, Sandberg became an invaluable piece of the Cubs’ lineup, providing rare pop in his swing as a middle infielder. Ryno hit 40 of his 282 home runs in a Cubs uniform in 1990 alone, the same year Sandberg won the most recent Home Run Derby held at Wrigley Field.

Sandberg needed just three home runs to win the contest, despite facing San Francisco’s Matt Williams, Pittsburgh’s Bobby Bonilla, New York’s Darryl Strawberry, Detroit’s Cecil Fielder, Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr., and Oakland’s Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.

Wrigley’s whipping wind was too much for baseball’s greatest power threats of the time to overcome. But not for Ryno. After all, it was his home, and he knew the ballpark’s elements well.

“Ryne Sandberg was a hero to a generation of Chicago Cubs fans and will be remembered as one of the all-time greats in nearly 150 years of this historic franchise,” Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement released Monday. “His dedication to and respect for the game, along with his unrelenting integrity, grit, hustle, and competitive fire were hallmarks of his career. He was immensely proud of his teammates and his role as a global ambassador of the game of baseball, but most of all, he was proud of Margaret, his children and his role as husband, father, and grandfather.”

To honor Ryno’s legacy, the Cubs announced that their jerseys will feature a “23” patch for the remainder of the season.

In 2005, shortly after his Hall of Fame induction, Sandberg became the fourth Cub of all time to have his jersey number retired and flown from the foul pole, joining Ernie Banks’ No. 14, Billy Williams’ No. 26, and Ron Santo’s No. 10.

Preserved in Cubs history for all time, his No. 23 pinstriped flag resides on the right field pole along with Williams, Greg Maddux’s No. 31, and Jackie Robinson’s No. 42.

A legend of America’s pastime, Sandberg’s legacy is one that will echo through the hallowed halls of Cooperstown and throughout Wrigley Field, Ryno’s home, for eternity.