Looking Back at Notable July 28 Events in Cubs History on Anniversary of Ryne Sandberg’s Passing
Notable events took place on this date, with the passing of icon Ryne Sandberg standing out as the biggest and most recent, but not the only memorable moment. Here we have a couple more offensive exploits.
1888: Jimmy Ryan hit for the cycle during a wild 21-17 victory over the Detroit Wolverines. He remains one of the few players in franchise history to accomplish this feat twice.
1963: Chicago’s Dick Ellsworth strikes out ten Cardinals, including Stan Musial three times, in a 5-1 win. This marked the only time “Stan the Man” struck out three times in a single game throughout his 22-year Hall of Fame career.
1977: In a wild one at Wrigley Field, the first-place Cubs (6) and Reds (5) combine for 11 home runs to tie the major league record. The Cubs come back four times to win, 16 – 15, in 13 innings in a contest that goes 4 hours and 50 minutes. The Reds lead 6 – 0 to start, beginning with Pete Rose‘s leadoff home run, and lead, 15 – 14, near the finish, but Dave Rosello‘s RBI single off Jack Billingham wins the game. Rick Reuschel wins his 15th game, and second in two days, pitching just two-thirds of an inning. Going deep are Bill Buckner (2), Bobby Murcer, George Mitterwald (2, including one in the 12th inning) and Jerry Morales for Chicago; Rose, Johnny Bench, Ken Griffey, Mike Lum and Cesar Geronimo homer for the Reds.
1979: The Cubs’ Dave Kingman continued his slugging with a single and three consecutive home runs during a 6 – 4 loss to the Mets. Kingman ties two records by having his second three-homer game of the season (the first was on May 17th) and hitting five home runs over two consecutive games.
2025: Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, who was the National League MVP in 1984, passes away from cancer at age 65.
Of course, we all remember Ryno’s battle and his eventual passing. For many of us, he was the face of the Cubs during the 1980s. The team actually made it to the playoffs twice, which we fans were not used to. I still hate the Padres and think we wuz robbed by the gods of baseball.
I wish things had worked out differently when Ryne was managing, as that could have been the greatest story ever. Instead, he was relegated to the awful Phillies and didn’t last very long.
