The Chicago Cubs first put numbers on their jerseys in 1932. Since then, the Cubs have had some stand-out players who did their uniforms proud. And, in recognition of these outstanding players, they decided that no other player will ever wear Chicago jerseys with those numbers on it. So they retired those jerseys.

This Hub is about the man who wore Number 10, Ron Santo.

In all, the Cubs have retired five jerseys. The Chicago jerseys that have been retired are:

Number 14, worn by Ernie Banks, retired in 1982

Number 26, worn by Billy Williams, retired in 1987

Number 42, worn by Jackie Robinson, retired in 1997

Number 10, worn by Ron Santo, retired in 2003

Number 23, worn by Ryne Sandberg, retired in 2005

Ron Santo wore Chicago jerseys for his entire career. During the first fourteen seasons, from 1960 through 1973, he played third base for the Chicago Cubs. During his last year in baseball, 1974, he moved to the South Side to play as designated hitter and second baseman for the Chicago White Sox.

Santo was indefatigable as a player. He played 2,102 games for the Cubs. He played in every game of the season five times, in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965 and 1968. In 1966, he hit in 28 consecutive games. That was a club record at the time, though it has since been broken.

A nine-time All-Star, Santo was patient at the bat. He reached base on walks at least 87 times in each of eight seasons (1964 through 1971), leading the league in four of those years. He was a league-leading defensive player, too, winning the Gold Glove Award five times (1964, 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968). He led the league in putouts at third base seven times, assists from third base seven times, and in double plays four times.

Beloved by Chicago fans, he played on some losing teams in his career. This may explain why he never won the MVP Award. He also never played in the post-season.

Santo had a role in the long story that is the Curse of the Billy Goat. In 1969, a time when there were only two divisions in the National League, the Cubs spent the summer smoking hot, leading the second-place New York Mets by as many as 8.5 games. The Cubs that year were a world-class team. Santo’s teammates included Hall-of-Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ferguson Jenkins. His manager was Hall-of-Famer Leo Durocher.

As the summer progressed, the Cubs cooled off a bit, but they remained in first place as they entered a three-game series in early September against the Mets at Shea Stadium. And that’s when it happened. During that series in New York, Santo was warming up in the on-deck circle when he had a visitor. A black cat had gotten on to the field. The cat slinked its way past Santo, had a good look at the team as it sat in the dugout, and then scampered away.

The Cubs lost that game and that series. In fact, they lost 17 of their 25 games that month. The Mets won the division, the National League pennant, and the World Series. And Ron Santo never got to the post-season.

In 1971, the Cubs celebrated Santo’s career with “Ron Santo Day.” And it was then that Santo revealed something that came as a shock to the other guys in Chicago jerseys and to his fans. Santo let everyone know that he suffered from Type I diabetes. Diagnosed at the age of 18, he had kept it a secret, thinking that it would affect his baseball career if it was known.

But Santo’s diabetes may have affected his career despite being a secret. After the 1973 season, he was among several Chicago Cubs players traded away. Santo was traded to the White Sox, despite the fact that the Sox didn’t need a third baseman. He played as the designated hitter but itched to be in the field. So the Sox played him at second base. This was not a position he felt comfortable at, having developed his skills at third. But beyond that, he was wearing down. His former league-leading skills were falling off. He retired after the 1974 season, at the age of 34, after a 15-year career. Who knows how many good years were robbed from him by his battle with this disease.

And the battle didn’t end when he retired. Santo is a double amputee as a direct result of his diabetes. But he has also used his disease to inspire an impressive legacy of service. Since 1974, he has sponsored the Ron Santo Walk to Cure Diabetes. He has raised over $50,000,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

More than thirty years after his retirement, Ron Santo remains a beloved Cubs personality. Since 1990, he has been the color commentator covering Cubs games for WGN Radio. He is known for his unabashed support of the Cubs and his frank opinions.

With the career that Santo had, you would expect him to have been elected to the Hall of Fame by now. Right? Well, no. He has missed being elected to the HOF by eight votes in 2005 and by five votes in 2007. Both the fans who love their men in Chicago jerseys and a number of baseball writers think the honor is overdue. Santo will be eligible to be voted on again in 2009. What do you think? Should Ron Santo be elected to the Hall of Fame?