Age: 25 (Sept. 18)
3rd season
with Cubs
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’1” Weight: 175
Prior to 1984:
A native of
Spokane, Washington, Sandberg was named after relief pitcher Ryne Duren. He
starred in football (where he was a Parade magazine high school
All-American quarterback) and basketball, as well as baseball at North Central
High School. Heavily recruited for football by major colleges, he preferred
baseball and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, who chose him in the 1978
amateur draft. Initially assigned to Helena of the Rookie-level Pioneer League
in ’78, Sandberg played shortstop (his high school position) and batted .311 in
56 games. In 1979 Sandberg advanced to Spartanburg of the Class A Western
Carolinas League where he led the team with 83 runs scored despite batting just
.247. Moving up to Reading of the Class AA Eastern League in 1980, he hit .310
with 21 doubles, 12 triples, 11 home runs, and 79 RBIs, while stealing 32
bases, and was named to the league All-Star team. With the Oklahoma City 89ers
of the Class AAA American Association in 1981 he batted .293 with 9 home runs
and 62 RBIs with another 32 stolen bases. Having demonstrated solid hitting
ability along with speed and defense, Sandberg was called up to the Phillies in
September and the utility infielder batted .167 with one hit in six at bats. Dangled
as trade bait in the offseason, he was dealt to the Cubs along with veteran
shortstop Larry Bowa. Sandberg won the starting job at third base during spring
training in 1982 and played there until September, when he was shifted to
second. For the year he hit .271 with 33 doubles, 5 triples, 7 home runs, 54
RBIs, 103 runs scored, and 32 stolen bases. He finished sixth in NL Rookie of
the Year voting. Still not a power hitter, he followed up in 1983 by batting
.261 with 8 home runs, 48 RBIs, and 37 stolen bases. He also received his first
Gold Glove for his play at second base. Prior to the 1984 season, the quiet and
hard-working “Ryno” signed a six-year $3.85 million contract. Coached by new
manager Jim Frey, he began to work on developing his power stroke.
1984 Season Summary
Appeared in 156
games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 700 [4]
At Bats – 636
[3]
Runs – 114 [1]
Hits – 200 [2]
Doubles – 36
[3, tied with Juan Samuel]
Triples – 19 [1,
tied with Juan Samuel]
Home Runs – 19
[14, tied with Jody Davis]
RBI – 84 [15]
Bases on Balls
– 52
Int. BB – 3
Strikeouts – 101
[11, tied with Tim Wallach]
Stolen Bases – 32
[13, tied with Wally Backman]
Caught Stealing
– 7
Average - .314
[4]
OBP - .367 [11]
Slugging Pct. -
.520 [3]
Total Bases – 331
[2]
GDP – 7
Hit by Pitches
– 3 [18, tied with ten others]
Sac Hits – 5
Sac Flies – 4
League-leading runs
scored were +8 ahead of runners-up Tim Raines & Alan Wiggins
Midseason
snapshot:3B – 11, HR – 11, RBI – 52, AVG - .335, SLG PCT - .548
---
Most hits, game
– 5 (in 6 AB) vs. St. Louis 6/23 – 11 innings
Longest hitting
streak – 18 games
HR at home – 11
HR on road – 8
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 6 AB) at Philadelphia 6/1, (in 6 AB) vs. St. Louis 6/23 - 11
innings
Multi-HR games
– 2
Most RBIs, game
– 7 vs. St. Louis 6/23 - 11 innings
Pinch-hitting –
No appearances
Fielding
Chances – 870
Put Outs – 314
Assists – 550
Errors – 6
DP – 102
Pct. - .993
Postseason
Batting: 5 G (NLCS vs. San Diego)
PA – 22, AB – 19,
R – 3, H – 7, 2B – 2,3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 2, BB – 3, IBB – 0, SO – 2, SB – 3, CS
– 1, AVG - .368, OBP - .455, SLG - .474, TB – 9, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF –
0
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
MLB Player of
the Year: Sporting News
Gold Glove
Silver Slugger
All-Star (Started
for NL at 2B)
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Ryne Sandberg,
ChiC.: 326 pts. - 22 of 24 first place votes, 97% share
Keith
Hernandez, NYM: 195 pts. – 1 first place vote, 58% share
Tony Gwynn, SD:
184 pts. – 1 first place vote, 55% share
Rick Sutcliffe,
ChiC.: 151 pts. – 45% share
Gary Matthews,
ChiC.: 70 pts. – 21% share
---
Cubs went 96-65
to finish first in the NL Eastern Division by 6.5 games over the New York Mets
while leading the league in runs scored (762), RBIs (703), and walks drawn
(567). The Cubs reached the postseason for the first time since 1945 by
battling the Mets until moving into first place to stay on August 1. Lost NLCS
to the San Diego Padres, 3 games to 2 after taking a 2-0 lead in the series.
Aftermath of ‘84:
The Cubs
dropped to fourth place in 1985, but Sandberg had another strong season,
batting .305 with 26 home runs, 83 RBIs, 113 runs scored, and 54 stolen bases.
He was an All-Star for the second consecutive year, received his third straight
Gold Glove, and placed thirteenth in NL MVP balloting. In 1986 he committed
only five errors in the field, and although he hit .284 his home run total
dropped to 14 and RBIs to 76. With a last-place team in 1987, Sandberg batted
.294 with 16 home runs and 59 RBIs and was still a Gold Glove second baseman in
the field. On a team revitalized by an infusion of young talent in 1988,
Sandberg hit .264 with 19 home runs and 69 RBIs. The stage was set for the Cubs
to return to the top of the NL East in 1989 and the veteran second baseman
contributed a league-leading 104 runs scored while batting .290 with 30 home
runs and 76 RBIs and still providing Gold Glove play in the field. Early in the
spring he also signed a three-year, $6.1 million contract extension. In 1990
Sandberg hit 40 home runs, to become the first second baseman to lead the NL in
that category since 1925. He also hit .306 while topping the circuit in runs
scored (116) and total bases (344), while establishing a major league record
with 123 straight errorless games at second base. Sandberg had solid seasons in
1991, ’92, and ‘93, batting .291, .304, and .309 respectively with home run
totals of 26, 26, and 9 while driving in 100, 87, and 45 RBIs. In 1993 he was
hindered by a broken hand and a finger injury as well. Sandberg abruptly
announced his retirement in June of 1994. Unhappy with the team’s direction, he
remained inactive until 1996, when he returned to the Cubs. He played two more
seasons in ’96 and 1997 until retiring for good. He hit .244 in ’96 with 25
home runs and 92 RBIs and .264 in ’97 with 12 home runs and 64 RBIs. Overall
for his major league career, spent almost entirely with the Cubs, he batted
.285 with 2386 hits that included 403 doubles, 76 triples, and 282 home runs.
He further compiled 1061 RBIs, 1318 runs, and 344 stolen bases. In 10
postseason games Sandberg hit .385 with a home run and 6 RBIs. A 10-time
All-Star, the Cubs retired his #23 and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall
of Fame in 2005. Sandberg also was awarded nine Gold Gloves and seven Silver
Sluggers. He became a minor league manager for the Cubs and Phillies and
managed at the major league level with the Phillies from 2013 to ’15. His teams
compiled a 119-159 record.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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