r/baseball New York Yankees 29d ago

Image [Chicago Cubs] With great sadness, we share that Ryne Sandberg has passed away today.

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u/JayBuhnersBarber Seattle Mariners 29d ago

So, so true. Still, what the fuck, man? This one hits hella close to home.

Being of little league age on the Oregon coast in the late 90's, when I couldn't catch Mariners games I was feasting on Cubs broadcasts on WGN. I grew a great affinity for many Cubs players during this time, but none greater than the affinity I had for Ryno (except maybe Rookie Kerry Wood?)

RIP and absolutely fuck the fucking fuck out of cancer.

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u/explodeder 29d ago

I moved to Oregon and have met a lot of Cubs fans thanks to WGN. It’s crazy that owners don’t get that making games available that it builds long term value and lifelong fans. Ryne was my favorite player as a kid thanks to WGN.

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u/JayBuhnersBarber Seattle Mariners 29d ago

It's...truly so fucking baffling!

Being from Washington I was already a Mariners fan before I moved to the Oregon coast, but broadcasting contracts being what they were at that time I was just as enamored with the Cubs and the Braves as I was the M's.

More than anything, that level of exposure to 3 different medium to major market teams at once made me such a die-hard MLB fan that its almost comical.

Like, its an undeniable part of my DNA when it comes to how it informs my media consumption during the summer.

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u/kleenkong 29d ago edited 29d ago

Don't forget the strong Washington connection with Ryne growing up in Spokane WA. IIRC, Ryne, Fred Couples (edit: from Seattle), John Stockton and Mark Rypien were around the same era and went to Spokane high schools. Found an SI article on three of them.

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u/JerHat Chicago Cubs 29d ago

Same, grew up in south eastern Kentucky, only channels that had baseball every day were WGN and TBS, so everyone I knew were either Cubs or Braves fans.

I loved the Cubs, especially Ryne Sandberg. He was one of my absolute favorites when I first started getting into and playing Absolutely sucks to hear this news.