\u00c2\u00a0 Cuando este viernes 03 de diciembre de 2010 escuch\u00c3\u00a9 en la radio que Ron Santo hab\u00c3\u00ada fallecido fue inevitable la imagen de aquella noche siguiendo el juego de estrellas de 1968. Aunque el juego termin\u00c3\u00b3 1-0 y ninguno de los dos antesalistas tuvo injerencia determinante en el resultado, Felipe y Jes\u00c3\u00bas Mario siguieron su disputa particular sobre los atributos de cada tercera base. Tambi\u00c3\u00a9n record\u00c3\u00a9 todo el material hemerogr\u00c3\u00a1fico que hab\u00c3\u00ada coleccionado para escribir una biograf\u00c3\u00ada de Ron Santo.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Ronald Edward Santo, naci\u00c3\u00b3 en Seattle, Washington, USA, un 25 de febrero de 1940. Fue diagnosticado con diabetes a los 18 a\u00c3\u00b1os. En 1959 la esperanza de vida para un diab\u00c3\u00a9tico era 25 a\u00c3\u00b1os. Se enter\u00c3\u00b3 de las consecuencias de esa enfermedad, ley\u00c3\u00b3 que los diab\u00c3\u00a9ticos pod\u00c3\u00adan quedar ciegos, desarrollar endurecimiento de las arterias, fallas en los ri\u00c3\u00b1ones, gangrena. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tambi\u00c3\u00a9n supe que mediante el ejercicio y la regulaci\u00c3\u00b3n de la insulina pod\u00c3\u00ada controlar la diabetes\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Santo fue el \u00c3\u00banico pelotero de posici\u00c3\u00b3n que jug\u00c3\u00b3 una carrera completa de 15 a\u00c3\u00b1os en Grandes Ligas y adem\u00c3\u00a1s dej\u00c3\u00b3 n\u00c3\u00bameros sobresalientes. La gente le preguntaba como hizo para lograr eso. La respuesta. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Siempre fui un tipo positivo. Mi madre signific\u00c3\u00b3 una gran parte de mi actitud positiva. Ten\u00c3\u00ada dos trabajos. Trabajaba desde las 8 de la ma\u00c3\u00b1ana hasta las 9 de la noche. Siempre regresaba a casa con la mejor de sus sonrisas para mi hermana y para m\u00c3\u00ad. Siempre nos dec\u00c3\u00ada que las cosas iban a salir bien. Mi pap\u00c3\u00a1 nos abandon\u00c3\u00b3 cuando ten\u00c3\u00ada 6 a\u00c3\u00b1os. Mi mam\u00c3\u00a1 y mi padrastro murieron en un accidente de tr\u00c3\u00a1nsito mientras viajaban para ir a verme jugar en los entrenamientos primaverales. Perd\u00c3\u00ad un hermano a los 38 a\u00c3\u00b1os. Pero hay que tener la fortaleza de asimilar los golpes y sobrevivir.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Don Kessinger qui\u00c3\u00a9n jugara short stop para los Cachorros de Chicago entre 1964 y 1975, y quiz\u00c3\u00a1s quien haya visto mas que nadie a Santo jugar en tercera base dijo que lo que m\u00c3\u00a1s recuerda de \u00c3\u00a9l es la intensidad con que sal\u00c3\u00ada\u00c2\u00a0 a jugar cada d\u00c3\u00ada. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Haber sido elegido al Sal\u00c3\u00b3n de la Fama, habr\u00c3\u00ada sido muy significativo para Ron Santo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Para Santo el b\u00c3\u00a9isbol y la familia eran la terapia que lo manten\u00c3\u00ada vivo. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Entre mis nietos y los aficionados al beisbol me hicieron olvidar el hecho de que iba a perder las piernas. Mi pasi\u00c3\u00b3n por ellos me ha hecho vivir todos estos a\u00c3\u00b1os\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Santo qui\u00c3\u00a9n hab\u00c3\u00ada terminado en septiembre de 2010 una carrera de 21 a\u00c3\u00b1os como narrador de los juegos de los Cachorros de Chicago, falleci\u00c3\u00b3 este jueves 02 de diciembre de 2010 en Arizona por complicaciones de c\u00c3\u00a1ncer de pr\u00c3\u00b3stata.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Alguna vez trataron de compararlo con Brooks Robinson para justificar sus m\u00c3\u00a9ritos para ser electo al Sal\u00c3\u00b3n de la Fama. Santo respondi\u00c3\u00b3: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tienen raz\u00c3\u00b3n en algunas cosas, pero la comparaci\u00c3\u00b3n con Robinson es innecesaria, \u00c3\u00a9l fue el mejor. Nunca vi alguien mejor en esa posici\u00c3\u00b3n. Fui bueno. Pero \u00c3\u00a9l fue el mejor. El merec\u00c3\u00ada estar en el Sal\u00c3\u00b3n de la Fama en su primera oportunidad\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Mike Krueger de 55 a\u00c3\u00b1os, manej\u00c3\u00b3 desde su casa en Whiting , Ind. , para dejar una nota a la entrada de Wrigley Field donde los aficionados armaron una monta\u00c3\u00b1a de memorabilia en homenaje a Ron Santo. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Viv\u00c3\u00ad d\u00c3\u00ada a d\u00c3\u00ada la temporada de 1969. Viv\u00c3\u00ada al norte de la ciudad y tomaba dos buses para ir a ver a los Cachorros con sus amigos. Todav\u00c3\u00ada siente el dolor de la debacle de aquella temporada.<\/p>\n
En una ocasi\u00c3\u00b3n le preguntaron a Santo si tuviera la oportunidad de cambiar\u00c2\u00a0 algo en su carrera como pelotero que ser\u00c3\u00ada. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cambiar\u00c3\u00ada el mes de septiembre de 1969\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Ron Santo termin\u00c3\u00b3 su carrera con .277 de promedio al bate, 2254 hits, 342 jonrones, y 1331 carreras empujadas. Tambi\u00c3\u00a9n gan\u00c3\u00b3 el guante de oro 5 veces.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Al final de aquella temporada de 1968, un a\u00c3\u00b1o antes que los milagrosos Mets dejaran en la cuneta a los Cachorros, Jes\u00c3\u00bas Mario hoje\u00c3\u00b3 un Sport Gr\u00c3\u00a1fico y le ley\u00c3\u00b3 a Felipe: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ron Santo a la defensiva en 1968: 162 juegos, 1444.1 innings, 130 outs, 378 asistencias (lider), 15 errores, 33 dobleplays (lider), .971 promedio defensivo (lider).<\/p>\n
Alfonso L. Tusa C.<\/p>\n
English translation<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0That night of July of 1968, my brother mixed their baseball fever with the high school math lessons written on their notebooks. They talked about an All Star game. The hardest discussion was about two guys who played a position they called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the hot corner\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Felipe talked about Brooks Robinson as if he knew the ballplayer from long time ago. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Brooks Robinson is capable of fielding a bunt with his eyes closed and still put the fastest runner out\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Jesus Mario put his hands in the inside of the pockets of his pants. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ron Santo can make all the plays in third base. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen him even fielding balls behind Don Kessinger and making the outs\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0When this Friday, December 3rd<\/sup>, 2010 I listened in the radio that Ron Santo had passed away, it was inevitable the image of that night with my brothers while listening to the All Star game of 1968. Although the game ended with a 1-0 win for the National League and none of the two third basemen had\u00c2\u00a0 anything to do with the score, Felipe and Jesus Mario kept their particular\u00c2\u00a0 discussion about each third baseman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attributes. I also recalled all of the bibliography I had collected to write a Ron Santo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s biography.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0Ronald Edward Santo was born in Seattle, Washington, USA, on February 25th<\/sup>,1940. He was diagnosed with diabetes at 18 years old. In 1959 life expectancy for diabetics was 25. He read about the consequences of that illness, blindness, hardening of the arteries, kidney failure, gangrene. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I figured out right away that exercise and regulating your insulin are the real keys to managing diabetes, and that’s why I was able to play baseball.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0Santo was the only position player who had a complete career of 15 years in MLB and besides posted remarkable stats. People asked him how did he accomplished that. The answer. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was always a positive guy. My mother was a big part of my positive attitude. She had two jobs; she worked from eight o’clock in the morning until nine o’clock at night, and she’d come home to my sister and me always positive, smiling, and saying everything’s going to be all right. My mother and stepfather were killed in an automobile accident coming to see me at spring training. I lost a stepbrother at age 38. My dad left us when I was six years old. You think celebrities don’t have these kinds of problems, but they do. But you know, you’re able to survive.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0Don Kessinger who played short stop for the Chicago Cubs between 1964 and 1975, and maybe who most had seen Santo playing at third base than anybody else ???d wh?t h? remembers m??t ?? h?w hard h?? teammate played ???r? single day. Kessinger ???d Santo deserved t? b? ?n th? Hall ?f Fame, ?nd ??nn?t know wh? h? w?? never elected. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It w??ld h??? meant ?? much t? Ron Santo t? b? elected ?nt? th?t awesome hall.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0For Santo, it was baseball and family the therapy that kept him alive. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Baseball has been the best therapy for me, there’s no doubt about it\u00e2\u20ac\u201dalong with my family, of course. Family is number one. When these complications happened to me, my life couldn’t have been any better. I didn’t have to worry about making a baseball team. All I had to worry about was walking, staying alive, being with my grandchildren, and doing the games. And the fans\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI can’t tell you how many boxes of mail I got, and the love that these fans have for me. When I was going through what I was going through, I’d come to the ballpark and I wouldn’t even think about the fact that I was going to be losing a leg\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0Santo, who had finished a long career of 21 years as a broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs in September 2010, passed away this Thursday, December 2nd<\/sup>, 2010, in Arizona due to bladder cancer complications.<\/p>\n Once a baseball writer tried of comparing Santo with Brooks Robinson, and said that maybe the fact that he never went to the World Series with the Cubs hurt his chances of being in the Hall of Fame. Santo answered: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re right about a couple of things, but when it comes to Brooks Robinson, he really was the best. At that position, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never seen anybody better. I was good, but he was the best. He deserved to be in the Hall of Fame and on the first ballot, because I would have voted for him. I played in a lot of All Star games against him and he robbed me of so many hits. There is no doubt I feel if we would have won, yes. I think \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc69 had a lot to do with it\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0Mike Krueger, 55, drove from his home in Whiting, Ind, to leave a note at Wrigley Field\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entrance as a tribute to Santo. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153”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.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0Sometime ago another writer asked Santo what would he change in his career as a ballplayer. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I would change the month of September in \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc69.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0Ron Santo had this lifetime stats: .277 batting average, 2254 hits, 342 home runs and 1331 RBI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s. He also won the gold glove five times.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0 At the end of that season of 1968, a year before the Miracle Mets beat the Cubs, Jesus Mario read an issue of the Sport Gr\u00c3\u00a1fico magazine to Felipe: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ron Santo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s defensive stats in 1968: 162 games, 1444.1 innings, 130 outs, 378 assists (leader), 15 errors, 33 double plays (leader), .971 defensive average (leader).<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0Alfonso L. Tusa C.<\/p>\n Alfonso\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work has been featured in Venezuela\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s daily newspaper, El Nacional and in the magazine Gente en Ambiente, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s collaborated on several articles for newspapers, including the daily paper Tal Cual. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also written three books and biographies for SABR\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s BioProject.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Aquella noche de julio de 1968, mis hermanos mezclaban el b\u00c3\u00a9isbol con las p\u00c3\u00a1ginas de sus cuadernos de matem\u00c3\u00a1ticas de bachillerato. Hablaban de un juego de estrellas. Su discusi\u00c3\u00b3n m\u00c3\u00a1s enconada ten\u00c3\u00ada que ver con dos tipos que jugaban en un lugar que ellos llamaban \u00e2\u20ac\u0153la esquina caliente\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Felipe se refer\u00c3\u00ada a Brooks Robinson como si lo conociera desde mucho tiempo. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Brooks Robinson es capaz de agarrar un toque de bola con los ojos cerrados y sacar por un paso al corredor m\u00c3\u00a1s r\u00c3\u00a1pido\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Jes\u00c3\u00bas Mario met\u00c3\u00ada las manos en los bolsillos del pantal\u00c3\u00b3n de caqui. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ron Santo hace todas las jugadas, lo he visto hasta hacerle asistencia a Don Kessinger\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[12420,12418,4714,506,12413,12424,12421,4724,12412,12423,12422,12414,12417,12410,4711,12415,6007,10767,12411,291],"class_list":["post-9940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-18-anos","tag-atributos","tag-cachorros-de-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-controlar-la-diabetes","tag-de-diciembre","tag-de-los-dos","tag-determinante","tag-don-kessinger","tag-esperanza-de-vida","tag-golpes","tag-la-esperanza","tag-las-fallas","tag-legendario","tag-los-cachorros","tag-ninguno-de-los-dos","tag-pelotero","tag-ron-santo","tag-seattle-washington-usa","tag-third-baseman"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t