Ryne Sandberg: Legendary broadcaster Bob Costas remembers Cubs legend
On June 23, 1984, Ryne Sandberg formally introduced himself to the baseball world.
[Ryne Sandberg, Cubs legend and Baseball Hall of Famer, dies at 65]
With the Cubs’ matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals being broadcast nationally on NBC’s Game of the Week, Sandberg — an up-and-coming second baseman not yet known for his power — hit game-tying home runs in the ninth and 10th innings off of St. Louis’ star closer Bruce Sutter as Chicago clawed back from deficits of 7-1, 9-3 and 11-9 against their regional rivals. Sandberg went 5-for-6 with seven RBI and 11 total bases.
The Cubs went on to win 12-11 in 11 innings, and from that day on, it was known almost exclusively as “The Sandberg Game.”
In the broadcast booth that day was none other than Bob Costas, whose iconic call became the voice behind Sandberg’s budding superstardom.
“Do you believe it?! It’s gone!” Costas cried as Sandberg’s second home run of the game descended on the pandemonium in Wrigley Field’s left-center bleachers.
From then on, Sandberg was the face of the Cubs and a star in his own right. He won the NL MVP that season, leading the Cubs to their first playoff appearance since 1945.
Tributes have poured in from every corner of the sports world after Sandberg’s family announced his passing from cancer at the age of 65 on Monday. Costas joined “Cubs Postgame Live!” on Marquee Sports Network to share what it means to him to have his voice associated with Sandberg.
[Ryne Sandberg: Ex-players, celebrities honor Cubs legend after death]
“The Game of the Week really was, for much of the country, the game of the week,” Costas said of NBC’s weekly national MLB broadcast. “If you lived in a non-big-league city, that was probably the only game you had a chance to see.”
The Sandberg Game is widely regarded as the one to put the 1984 Cubs on the radars of fans across the country — particularly because of the circumstances it was under, Costas told Marquee’s Cole Wright. With the Cubs playing the majority of their games on WGN and without social media around to spread the word of the kind of player Sandberg was, many fans had to wait until that June 23 game to see what the Cubs were all about.
Boy, was it worth the wait.
“Have there been other games since then, that had all the elements that that game had? Yes,” Costas began. “But not all the surrounding elements of Cardinals-Cubs, of much of the nation watching. That game had a higher rating than some postseason games get today. It was the signature game of what turned out to be a Hall of Fame career.”
Sandberg was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer in January 2024. He went into remission but announced in December that the cancer had returned. On July 16, Sandberg announced through his social media that it had been “a challenging few months” and he was “looking forward to making the most of every day.”
“I knew it was coming, as most people who follow the Cubs did … But it’s still heartbreaking,” Costas said of Sandberg’s passing. “The fact that it doesn’t come as a surprise, that it isn’t a shock — it doesn’t lessen the heartbreak. He was only 65 years old.”
Costas was one of many high-profile guests present at the unveiling of Sandberg’s statue outside Wrigley Field on June 23, 2024 — the 40th anniversary of the game that forever connected the two.
“He looked great, felt great. The cancer was in remission,” Costas said of seeing Sandberg at the ceremony, which boasted Wrigley’s Gallagher Way packed to the brim to watch him become immortalized outside the place that made him legendary.
On the concourse platform above, the entire Cubs team watched intently, many draping their arms over the neck-high railings to get a better look at the festivities.
“That scene right there — it meant as much to me that day as anything else you could have mentioned,” Costas said. “All the ballplayers, in uniform, showing the generational connections that are almost unique to baseball. The respect shown for one of the great players in the franchise’s history. That was such a perfect day in every way.”
