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To many people, baseball is only a game, a form of entertainment. “America’s Past Time,” some will remember. To so many people nowadays, baseball is just a simple sport. But to Ron Santo, it was a way of life. Santo is one of the last of a dying breed of athletes. He played the game for the sake of the game. Money was never an issue, unlike with many of today’s stars. Over his fifteen years in the major leagues, Ron Santo put up numbers worthy of the Baseball Hall of Fame. But to this day, his plaque does not hang on the walls in Cooperstown, New York. To the millions of Cubs fans, this is a travesty. And after 95 years, Cubs fans know travesty. But because of his distinguished career and courageousness in the face of tragedy, Ron Santo should, and of right ought to be, recognized by Major League Baseball and inducted as a member of its prestigious Hall of Fame. Perhaps the most popular statistic voted on on the Hall of Fame ballots is hitting. Hitting has many aspects, of which the most prominent is home runs. There have been many third basemen with power. Today, third base is considered a power position, in fact. The third baseman with the most home runs is Mike Schmidt, with 548. Second is Eddie Mathews, with 512. The next closest to Mathews among Hall of Famers is George Brett, with 317(www.baseball-almanac.com). In his career, Ron Santo hit 342 homers, which would put third all time among 3rd basemen (www.outernetweb.com).
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