Cubs fans pay tribute to Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg

The Cubs may have been 1,800 miles away preparing to face the Angels in Anaheim, California, but droves of fans made the trek to Wrigley Field anyway Friday to pay tribute to one of the team’s most iconic players and the embodiment of what it meant to be a Cub.

Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg, the 10-time All-Star, nine-time Gold Glove winner and 1984 National League MVP, died July 28 at age 65 after a battle with prostate cancer. To celebrate his life, the Cubs hosted a public tribute at Gallagher Way outside the ballpark — the site of Sandberg’s bronze statue, unveiled last summer — and offered fans a big-screen view of the live funeral service at Old St. Patrick’s Church downtown.

Speakers included Sandberg’s son Justin and former NBC sportscaster Bob Costas, who called the legendary “Sandberg Game” in 1984 in which Sandberg homered twice against the Cardinals to rally the Cubs to victory as the team made its way toward the franchise’s first postseason appearance in nearly 40 years.

“Ryne was the man,” said Cubs fan Roberto Ramos, who used to live across the street from Wrigley. “Still to this day, the things he’s always done, the pride that he carries, he’s definitely the Cub of Chicago.”

Ramos was dressed head to toe in Cubs gear, complete with a construction helmet with a makeshift horn affixed to the front to honor “Ryno.” Attending the tribute wasn’t ever a question for him.

“We celebrate him because of the man he is,” Ramos said. “He wasn’t one of these flamboyant players who always had to be showboating it. He was a guy who played with his heart, and he showed it day in and day out.”

The year Sandberg won the NL MVP, the Cubs went 96-65, losing to the Padres in the National League Championship -Series. His achievements on the field over 16 seasons, all but one with the Cubs, are well-documented. But the essence of Sandberg was a simple, fundamental way of playing that fans latched onto and fondly remember.

“Ryne was the kind of player any dad or youth coach could point to and say, ‘That’s the way you play the game,’ ” Costas said during the church service, which was attended by Hall of Famers Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, Joe Torre and Ozzie Smith and a sea of other Sandberg contemporaries — both former teammates and former opponents.

To Sandberg’s family, Costas said, “We hope there’s a measure of comfort in knowing how admired, respected and beloved your husband, father, grandfather and brother was by those he played with — by Cub fans, of course, and also by baseball fans across America who might not have been Cub rooters.”

After his playing career, Sandberg embraced the role of Cubs ambassador, regularly showing up at Wrigley.

“[Sandberg] was the first player in my time that was of his stature,” said Michael Nichaelbojanowski, a Cubs fan of more than 60 years. “I always admired him for how he carried himself and the way he performed on the field. He was a player who came to win, came to beat you, but played like a gentleman.”

Sandberg, never the most boisterous personality, is portrayed in his statue in a defensive stance rather than making a spectacular play — a beloved everyman to the end.

“[When he] had the blue and red on him, he showed pride with the Cubs,” Ramos said. “And that’s what he did day in and day out throughout his life.”