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Reviewing a subject matter as close to my heart as the Chicago Cubs, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the moment; affected by information I already knew that to others may seem trivial since it’s not their hometown team. (We get tired of hearing about the Red Sox woes in this city, too.) Coming at it objectively is hard to do when the ocular waterworks appear even if you’re not sure why. But somewhere in-between, taking it in as a casual observer, This Old Cub is one of the most informative, inspirational and moving documentaries I’ve ever seen.

Santo’s almost historical exclusion from election into baseball’s Hall of Fame is matched only by his struggles with Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes. In the days when media didn’t intrude into every aspect of celebrity life, Ron Santo was able to keep his condition out of the spotlight and still manage to put up some of the greatest stats a third baseman ever accumulated. One classic story documents an attack he suffered in the on-deck circle. He walked up to the plate seeing three of everything, swung at the first ball and tattooed a grand slam over the center field wall. That’s the kind of player he was.

The last few years of his life have been in the on-deck circle, as the disease forced the amputation of both his legs and sent him into extensive rehibilatation learning to walk again. Jeff Santo intimately captures his father's best and worst days on camera and some of the film’s best moments put ol’ number 10 far away from baseball and the days when he used to click his heels after a win. As someone whose grandfather lost both legs in WWII, the nearly unbroken segment showing Ron’s morning travails to get out of bed struck a personal chord that was uneasy to shake.

But Santo’s present days aren’t all about heartbreak and toil. This is a man who still loves the game, loves his Cubs and, most importantly, loves life through all the obstacles. Whether playing with his grandson or attending the annual Cubs fantasy camp, Santo’s spirit is always on the rise and the Chicago fans catch it like a cold without a cure.

This Old Cub can’t help but get sidetracked by some of the great stories in Santo’s life. His fabled 1969 Cub team almost delves into its own documentary. But as the film goes on and impartial viewers start seeing it as a puff piece to get Santo into Cooperstown, it successfully shifts beyond statistical recognition to his contributions for Diabetes research or his on-air relationship with fellow WGN broadcaster, Pat Hughes (widely considered one of the best on radio.) One of the film’s greatest strengths is how much information it’s able to pack into its 86 minutes.

Consider that the Chicago Cubs have had 99 different third basemen since Santo ended his career with them in 1973. That alone shows what he meant to the team that elected him captain. Listen to those camp wannabes and Chicago actors talk about Santo (and watch Bill Murray uncannily imitate his swing) and you know what he meant to those growing up in this city. Experience the immortal radio clip when Brant Brown dropped that fly ball in ’98 and the current fans’ love for the everyman quality he brings to the radio booth becomes clear. Ask the 11-year old diabetes sufferer whom Ron spent time with or those who benefit from his annual Walk To Cure Diabetes about him. It would probably be enough to fill 20 documentaries.

In the interest of satisfying both sides, it could have been beneficial to find someone who didn’t think Santo belonged in the hall of fame. But I don’t know if you would be able to find one. The numbers don’t lie and no one is trying to use his affliction as an excuse. If they were, Ron would shoot ‘em down. In turn, This Old Cub doesn’t bring you in for your sympathies nor does it saccharine it up for you to cry on cue. I watched the film finding my eyes welling up at various moments that didn’t even require tears. Maybe it was my love for the game of baseball or vicariously reliving some of those past memories. It could have even been that Chicago cold coming over me; the one that starts with people like good ol’ number 10. If you have to live vicariously, there are probably few people better to do it through. Because hometown bias aside, Ron Santo is in the hall-of-fame of life.

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originally posted: 03/28/04 06:32:03
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