ryne sandberg is in my hall of famer collection

had steve garvey remained a dodger following the 1982 season, ryne sandberg might have been my favorite non-dodger. he's in my hall of famer collection, with this card as his entry:

that's a 2016 topps five star autograph gold parallel numbered 17/50.  here's the back:

even though sandberg spent the vast majority of the 1982 season with the cubs, steve sax and johnny ray (and cal ripken jr and kent hrbek in the american league) were the rookies on my radar that year.  with sandberg missing from the topps traded set, i didn't give him much thought until well in to the 1983 season, after he had moved to second base with ron cey taking over at third for the cubs.  even then, i still ranked sandberg behind saxy and ray.  in 1984, however, i caught cubs fever and became a full on fan of ryno.

the turning point for me began with the nbc game of the week (which i watched religiously back then) on june 23, 1984. now known as 'the sandberg game', ryno hit two home runs off of bruce sutter in the late innings, both to tie the game and keep the cubs' hopes alive. they eventually won in 11 innings. a few days later, there was a four game series that the cubs played in los angeles just before the fourth of july.

at the time, the cubs were fighting for first place at the time while the dodgers were several games back in third place. i was ok with that, seeing as how garvey and the padres were in first. i didn't care too much about the nl east, but i was learning more about the cubs and their history of failure thanks to my continuing fandom of the penguin.  anyway, the cubs came in to chavez ravine for that weekend series and i recall watching at least one of the games, and listening to the others on the radio. sandberg had himself a weekend. he went 11 for 18 over the four games with a homer and a triple, plus three steals.

i quickly made room for another second baseman on my favorite player list. sax had taken over for garvey as my favorite dodger, and sandberg was somewhere behind the latter on my favorite non-dodger list, along with paul molitor and rickey henderson. it's worth noting that former dodger rick sutcliffe, a recent acquisition by the cubs who would go on to win the cy young award, suffered his only national league loss of the year in that series, falling to orel hershiser in the second game.

even though the cubs fell to the padres in the nlcs that year and then lost again in 1989 (to the hated giants), sandberg performed will and remained one of my favorite players.  i never did see him play in person, but i was happy when he returned to the game after a year off in the late 90's, and happy to have this card of him in my hall of famer collection.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic

nap lajoie - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75

eddie collins - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic

hank greenberg - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

bob feller - 2001 topps archives certified autograph

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relic

ted williams - 1992 upper deck baseball heroes autograph 1067/2000

stan musial - 2002 topps team topps legends autograph

yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000

sandy koufax - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1707/2000

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints certified autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

bob gibson - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autograph

don drysdale - 1993 nabisco all-star autographs

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic

jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000

willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures 

jim palmer - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

fergie jenkins - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 154/333

gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

hal newhouser - 1993 front row premium all-time greats autograph

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autograph 43/45

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147

phil niekro - 2017 panini donruss recollection collection 1983 donruss buyback autograph 13/33

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

carlton fisk - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

eddie murray - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 45/50 

dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

wade boggs - 2005 upper deck baseball heroes autograph red parallel 30/49

ryne sandberg - 2016 topps five star autographs gold parallel 17/50

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites certified autograph

cal ripken jr - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 32/75

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

bert blyleven - 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph

ron santo - 2004 topps retired signature autograph

greg maddux - 2018 topps luminaries masters of the mound autograph 13/15

pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60

ken griffey jr - 2003 upper deck game face autograph

tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autograph green parallel 26/95

alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

roger clemens* - 1995 upper deck autograph

 

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.