Full Text of HR0197 94th General Assembly
HR0197 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Ryne Dee "Ryno" Sandberg was born on September 18, | 3 |
| 1959, in Spokane, Washington; he went to North Central High | 4 |
| School, where he was a two-sport high school star, playing both | 5 |
| football and baseball during the 1976-1978 school years, and | 6 |
| named an All-America starting quarterback by Parade Magazine | 7 |
| after his senior year, while being heavily recruited by major | 8 |
| college football programs; after being selected in the | 9 |
| twentieth round by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1978 draft, | 10 |
| he retired his shoulder pads for the baseball diamond and | 11 |
| quickly earned the label of "can't-miss" major league prospect; | 12 |
| he spent three seasons in Philadelphia's minor league system, | 13 |
| primarily as a shortstop, before earning his major league debut | 14 |
| at the end of the 1981 season; on January 27, 1982, as teams | 15 |
| finalized rosters for spring training, Mr. Sandberg was dealt | 16 |
| to the Chicago Cubs along with veteran shortstop Larry Bowa, | 17 |
| for shortstop Ivan DeJesus; the trade to Chicago gave Ryne | 18 |
| Sandberg the chance to play every day, an opportunity the | 19 |
| Phillies just couldn't grant with infield prospects Julio | 20 |
| Franco and Juan Samuel beating him to the major leagues; and | 21 |
| WHEREAS, Ryne Sandberg joined the roster of Chicago Cubs' | 22 |
| greats by combining a dazzling defensive flair at second base | 23 |
| with a tremendous knack for power; etching his name among fan | 24 |
| favorites Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, and Ron Santo, he | 25 |
| endeared himself to the Cubs' national fan base by doing | 26 |
| something his predecessors could not: leading the club in 1984 | 27 |
| to its first postseason appearance since 1945, and returning | 28 |
| the club there five seasons later, as the Cubs again captured | 29 |
| the National League East Division title in 1989; second base | 30 |
| was not immediately in his future, however, as he found his two | 31 |
| infield positions - shortstop and second base - occupied with | 32 |
| Bowa and Bump Wills, who was a spring training acquisition from | 33 |
| Texas; Mr. Sandberg started the season at third base, appearing | 34 |
| in 133 games at the hot corner in his rookie season; at the |
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| plate, Sandberg displayed the offensive potential that scouts | 2 |
| spotted early as a minor leaguer, batting .271 in 156 games, | 3 |
| with 103 runs scored, 54 runs batted in, and 33 steals; he also | 4 |
| began to work out at second base, logging 24 games at the | 5 |
| position that he would take over fulltime in 1983, when the | 6 |
| Cubs acquired Ron Cey from the Los Angeles Dodgers during the | 7 |
| 1982 off-season to play third base; the 1983 season would be a | 8 |
| harbinger of great things to come for Mr. Sandberg; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, As the Cubs' starting second baseman for the first | 10 |
| time, "Ryno" appeared in 158 games, winning his first of nine | 11 |
| consecutive Gold Gloves with a .986 fielding percentage; at the | 12 |
| plate, Sandberg built on what he began as a full-time regular | 13 |
| in 1982, ranking among the top five in runs scored in the | 14 |
| National League for the second consecutive season; what he and | 15 |
| the Cubs were setting the stage for in 1984 was nothing short | 16 |
| of amazing; with just eight winning seasons from 1945 through | 17 |
| 1983, the Cubs' chances of winning the National League East | 18 |
| Division seemed slight to their fans, at best; Mr. Sandberg, | 19 |
| though steady in his first two seasons, was not yet expected to | 20 |
| carry the club; he and the Cubs won 96 games, winning the | 21 |
| division by 6.5 games over the New York Mets; arguably | 22 |
| producing his best offensive season, Mr. Sandberg captured the | 23 |
| National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1984, the first | 24 |
| Cubs' MVP since Ernie Banks in 1959, batting a career-best | 25 |
| .314, fourth-highest in the National League, totaling a | 26 |
| career-best 200 hits, while leading the league in runs (114) | 27 |
| and triples (19); he highlighted his 1984 season with a | 28 |
| 5-for-6, seven RBI performance against St. Louis on June 23, | 29 |
| belting consecutive home runs off Cardinals' closer Bruce | 30 |
| Sutter in the 9th and 10th innings; and | 31 |
| WHEREAS, The 1984 season offered a testament to Ryne | 32 |
| Sandberg's all-around excellence, as he captured his second | 33 |
| consecutive Gold Glove Award by committing only six errors in | 34 |
| 156 games, a .993 fielding percentage; even though the Cubs |
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| would lose to San Diego in the 1984 National League | 2 |
| Championship Series, Ryne appeared in his first of 10 straight | 3 |
| All-Star Game appearances; the season marked his third | 4 |
| consecutive with at least 30 stolen bases, a facet of his game | 5 |
| that would reach its pinnacle in 1985, when he finished fourth | 6 |
| in the National League with a career-best 54 steals; as he | 7 |
| matured, so too did his ability to hit for power; he totaled at | 8 |
| least 14 home runs in nine consecutive seasons from 1984 to | 9 |
| 1992, and it wasn't until 1989 that he hit 30 home runs for the | 10 |
| first time, the fifth-highest total in the National League; | 11 |
| that season, he helped return Chicago to the postseason, | 12 |
| leading the league in runs scored for a second time in his | 13 |
| career, while finishing in the top five in MVP voting for the | 14 |
| second time in his career; and | 15 |
| WHEREAS, In 1990, Mr. Sandberg would reach 40 home runs, | 16 |
| pacing the National League, becoming the first second baseman | 17 |
| since Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby in 1922 to hit 40 in a | 18 |
| single-season; his 116 RBIs were also a career-best; despite | 19 |
| his rise in power, his ability to swipe an extra base remained, | 20 |
| stealing 25 in 1990, his seventh season with at least 25 | 21 |
| steals; defensively, he turned in his best season in 1991, | 22 |
| committing just four errors in 786 total chances, a league-best | 23 |
| .995 fielding percentage; his mastery of the field from 1989 | 24 |
| through 1994 resulted in just 37 errors over six seasons, | 25 |
| including a major league record errorless streak of 123 games | 26 |
| and 584 chances that ended in May of the 1990 season; and | 27 |
| WHEREAS, In June 1994, Mr. Sandberg stepped away from the | 28 |
| game, taking what would be a brief retirement before returning | 29 |
| to the Cubs for the 1996 season; he would appear in 285 games | 30 |
| over the 1996 and 1997 seasons before retiring permanently; his | 31 |
| 277 career home runs as a second baseman established a record | 32 |
| for the most ever by the position, until surpassed at the | 33 |
| conclusion of the 2004 season by Jeff Kent; among Mr. | 34 |
| Sandberg's numerous career accolades, he ranks first all-time |
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| for highest fielding percentage by a second baseman (.989), he | 2 |
| shares the major league record for most years with 500 or more | 3 |
| assists by a second baseman (6), he totaled five .300-plus | 4 |
| batting average campaigns and one 200-hit season, and he hit | 5 |
| five career grand slams; he led the National League second | 6 |
| basemen in fielding percentage four times (1983, 1984, 1986, | 7 |
| 1991), he led the National League second basemen in assists | 8 |
| seven times (1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, and 1992), and | 9 |
| he led the National League second basemen in total chances four | 10 |
| times in 1983 (914), 1984 (870), 1988 (824), and 1992 (830); in | 11 |
| 2,164 career games, he totaled a career .285 batting average, a | 12 |
| .344 on base percentage, 282 home runs, 1,318 runs scored, and | 13 |
| 1,061 RBIs; as further testament to the greatness that "Ryno" | 14 |
| exhibited while playing for the Chicago Cubs, Hall of Fame | 15 |
| manager Tommy Lasorda is quoted as describing Sandberg as "a | 16 |
| dominating player. He could beat you with his glove, his bat, | 17 |
| and his arm."; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 19 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 20 |
| we congratulate Ryne Dee "Ryno" Sandberg on his induction into | 21 |
| the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, which occurred on | 22 |
| January 4th, 2005; we are proud to recognize one of the best | 23 |
| overall athletes ever to play for the Chicago Cubs, not only | 24 |
| for his skill, ability, and knowledge of the game, but also for | 25 |
| the outstanding character he portrayed both on and off the | 26 |
| field; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 28 |
| presented to Ryne Dee "Ryno" Sandberg and his family, the | 29 |
| Chicago Cubs organization, and the Major League Baseball | 30 |
| Association.
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