While checking e-mails this morning I came across an article on the Windstream home page that while not racing related, caught my eye. It deals with the induction of Ron Santo into the Baseball HOF in Cooperstown. The quotes below are just a few of the comments made and while I failed to copy the link to the rest of the story, you can find it with a little searching on the Windstream site.
I know the NASCAR HOF and the nomination and induction process has been a source of controversy from day one and the passion of many here on RR for his or her choices not being inducted is amazing. And while Santos induction came too late for him to enjoy personally, the comments by his family and friends show dignity and grace as well as the sense of pride in his induction, even if it did come too late for him to enjoy.
I sincerely hope the NASCAR HOF takes a look somewhere down the road and considers some modification to the nomination/induction process. I guess time will tell.
DALLAS (AP) Ron Santo always kept rooting for the causes dearest to him for his Chicago Cubs to win the World Series, for doctors to find a cure for diabetes and for him to reach the Hall of Fame.
On Monday, Cooperstown finally came calling.
The barrel-chested third baseman who clicked his heels in victory was elected to the Hall, overwhelmingly chosen by the Veterans Committee nearly a year to the day after he died hoping for this very honor.
"It's really exciting because so many years that we had parties over to his house in spring training saying this is the year, I'd tell him this is the year you're going in," said Hall of Fame teammate Billy Williams, a member of the voting panel.
"The one thing, of course, is he's not here to enjoy it, but his family will. He long awaited this, and we're all happy. I know I'm happy, his family is happy, the fans of Chicago are happy," he said.
"I've got tears in my eyes writing this: congrats to the Santo family on Ron's election to MLB Hall of Fame. A good day to be a Cub fan," tweeted Chicago-area rocker Billy Corgan, frontman for the Smashing Pumpkins.
Santo died Dec. 3, 2010, from complications of bladder cancer at age 70. He had diabetes, which eventually cost him both legs below the knees, and worked tirelessly to raise millions for research into the disease.
Williams was on the line when Santo's widow, Vicki, got the congratulatory phone call.
"Ron has passed, but it was always his dream, to even have this come to him after his passing. It just shows you can't give up," she said during a conference call from Arizona.
"All he said (was) I hope I get in in my lifetime, that's certainly a reasonable request for anybody who gets an honor as special as this one. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be," she said.
Said daughter Linda Brown: "I know, even if my dad were here today, he would never reflect on any of the wrongdoings, so to speak. ... There would be no bitterness, it would just be him being happy, and I believe he is."
Brooks Robinson: "He's just a terrific guy, he's baseball through and through, he's done a lot for the game of baseball in his career, and he's been though a lot of hardships physically and he was just a terrific player," he said. "He certainly belongs in the Hall of Fame. A long time coming. No one knows the reason he didn't get in when the writers were voting, but this process we have has been the fairest, I think."
"I think the happy ending was already there, though. He got his statue and this was a little icing on the cake," son Jeff Santo said. "It definitely puts an end to the chapter there, that's for sure, with the Hall of Fame."
updated by @randy-myers2: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
