Cubs' Santo Wins Hall of Fame Nod

Ron Santo is getting a place in Cooperstown at last—almost exactly one year after his death. The Veterans Committee ushered the Cubs great into the Baseball Hall of Fame today, with 15 of its 16 members giving him the nod, the Chicago Tribune reports. Santo was the only candidate up for consideration to get the requisite 12 votes for induction; Jim Kaat came in second with 10 votes, followed by Minnnie Minoso and Gil Hodges with nine each.

It’s a bittersweet day, given Santo's recent demise, notes Nick Pietruszkiewicz of ESPN, recalling an incident in which Santos was asked if he’d want to be inducted after he died and, in a classic Santo word flub replied, “I don’t want to go in post-humorously.” Santo, Pietruszkiewicz writes, deserved to get in on merit, but also because he meant so much to Chicago. “I wish we could all see him push himself out of his chair on that stage this summer … and fumble and mumble and shriek his way through a speech that wouldn’t leave a dry eye anywhere in Cooperstown.” (More Ron Santo stories.)