Drew Silva

Published late Christmas Eve, this inspiring story on Ron Santo’s passing from the Arlington Heights Daily Herald flew largely under the radar during the holiday weekend.

Let’s bring it back to light.

The obituaries will tell you that the Cubs legend passed away on December 2, but Santo’s immediate family knows the real truth.

At 8:30 p.m. on December 2, a Thursday night, the Santo kids said goodbye to their father and doctors pulled the 70-year-old off life support.

But he refused to give up his battle against bladder cancer and beat the odds into early Friday morning.

Ron Santo died at 12:40 a.m., Friday, December 3, just 10 minutes after his wife and children left his bedside. He was a fighter, an inspiration and a man of pride from start to finish.

_________________

Ron Santo died????

_________________

take it from the man whose blustery space heater impression graces your signature line: the reason stuff like this went largely unnoticed was because there comes a point where it becomes "ENOUGH ALREADY!"

ron santo did a masterful job of changing his image from "total asshat" to "our loveable mascot" as is evidenced by the nonstop 24/7 converage of this guy's death here in, dare i say it? ..... hooterville!

i'm sure it's a touching article, i'm sure its gift to the world is lifting up all of our hearts minds bodies and souls to a level where we're in danger of touching that big bad space heater in the sky that has a target lock on our toupees... but seriously, throughout the whole ordeal i kept thinking the pope died or something.

in the end, maybe that's what ronnie truly became... maybe he became the pope of cubdom, cuz nothing quite embodies cubdom like a guy who epitomized decades upon decades of futility, renown as the heart and soul of a franchise that has more than a fighting chance of never winning anything thoughout my lifetime.... and i'm 30 years old!

not to mention, truly beLIEving that "this is the year" countless times only to have your heart ripped off of your sleeve time and time again requires a level of faith not entirely unlike that of religion. in that regard, it's very very cub to look in the face of rationality history and all tangible metrics of performance and say "my faith is unwavering, you will never get me to stop beLIEving" so i will sleep easy tonight knowing that ron santo was/is/forever-will-be the pope of cubdom.

also, it'll be a proper LOL when he makes the hall of fame post-mortem. i bet you that journey dude could use a free lunch en route to unleashing the pipes during the 7th inning stretch.

_________________

they should never have taken him off life support

if he wants to fight, let him

his family killed him...they had no right to make that decision for him

i hate when people "accept" it

let the man go on his own terms

_________________

Hendry made them do it.

_________________

He had to die so that Zombie Santo could RISE!

_________________

You're a fucking moron. I think your mother tried to play with a coat hanger when she was pregnant with you, but she failed.

_________________

The Santo family are nothing but bullies!

_________________

Asshole. I spit my coffee all over my desk.

_________________

he was murdered

it's like in game...u never mail it in

u gotta play a full 60 minutes, and u never know what might happen

this smacks of selfishness and laziness on the part of his family for not wanting to see this thru, to push thru and fight for him in any way they can...like a good teammate would

if the guy is gonna die, he will die...no need to rush him to it

_________________

_________________

I have a real post that I would like to type, and I know it will not be seen in the best light, but people might equate me with you, thus I have to continue to hold back for ahwile until your moronic mess wears off.

_________________
"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

why is it moronic...i can relate to a similar personal experience..it's just an opinion, u dont have to like it

_________________

When did baseball install game clocks??

_________________

Everyone knows that if a basball game goes over an hour, you can start to take it easy. But you'd better play your ass off for an hour, that's for sure...

_________________
This is my signature...

The Cancer Santo had was terminal. He was in pain and there was no hope for a recovery. Keeping him as comfotable as possible and alive for a few more days would have only meant having him and his family deal with his impending death for a longer period of time, knowing it was inevitable. It must have been agonizing decision for the family, but I can understand their decision. That he stayed alive as long as he did after the ventilator was shut off is not a shock. The man survived so many operations over the past 7 years, it was remarkable he was still around as long as he was.

_________________
Go Cubs!!!!