The stats bureau at the MLB league office will need to change some of Ron Stano's numbers after Sunday's Hall of Fame induction. Josh Timmers of Bleed Cubbie Blue reports that Santo hit No. 343 over the weekend:
Vicki Santo just hit Ronnie's last home run for him. #Santo @JDRF
— Josh Timmers (@Cubsminorswrap) July 22, 2012
Vicki Santo, Ron's widow, delivered an emotional and powerful speech at Ron Santo's posthumous induction to the Hall of Fame.
Here is a sample of Vicki's speech:
Long before science and technology caught up to Diabetes, Ron was as much as guinea pig as a baseball player. On a given day, he played doctor and third base. He tested his sugars by taking batting practice; he checked his glucose levels by fielding grounders; he gauged the amount of insulin he would need by running the bases. And this was before the game even started.
His prescription was often a candy bar or a glass of orange juice, never letting on that his sugars were low or telling his teammates about his daily injections. But without the difficulties, what value would have been the gift, what meaning would have been the journey?
It never held him back -- not before his career, not during, and not after. Not even after double amputations because Ron Santo believed it's not what happens to you in life that people may judge, but how you handle what happens to you in your life.
Ron Santo, who played with diabetes much to the surprise of his teammates, died from complications of his diabetes and bladder cancer in December, 2010.
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