THIS. IS. THE YEAR!!!!!!

[Quality Start Machine]

Christ on a triscuit. I haven't seen maudlin horseshit like this since I traveled into the future and read Huey's Brett Favre obituary.

Ron Santo is entering a new league, the highest level of all. And there he will never again be betrayed by his passion, his perseverance, his enormous love of life, the joy he found amid more pain and heartache than any dozen men should have to endure.

Bladder cancer reportedly claimed the Cubs' greatest cheerleader, who had battled diabetes for most of his life. He slipped into a coma on Wednesday and died Thursday in Arizona. He was 70, going on 17.

If these things could be measured like runs crossing the plate, the finally tally for Santo would be something like this: Delight 5,410, Bitterness 0.

On the plus/minus scale of Phil Rogers awfulness, I give this a +7.

Bitterness 0??? Bitterness 0? He put 1969, any philosophical differences with Leo Durocher, his problems with the Wrigleys, his one long year with the White Sox, and his inability to get in the Hall of Fame aside easily. He took all of that in stride.

Hey, he let the burning toupee thing go pretty quickly.

[R-V]

Christ on a triscuit. I haven't seen maudlin horseshit like this since I traveled into the future and read Huey's Brett Favre obituary.

Ron Santo is entering a new league, the highest level of all. And there he will never again be betrayed by his passion, his perseverance, his enormous love of life, the joy he found amid more pain and heartache than any dozen men should have to endure.

Bladder cancer reportedly claimed the Cubs' greatest cheerleader, who had battled diabetes for most of his life. He slipped into a coma on Wednesday and died Thursday in Arizona. He was 70, going on 17.

If these things could be measured like runs crossing the plate, the finally tally for Santo would be something like this: Delight 5,410, Bitterness 0.

On the plus/minus scale of Phil Rogers awfulness, I give this a +7.

Bitterness 0??? Bitterness 0? He put 1969, any philosophical differences with Leo Durocher, his problems with the Wrigleys, his one long year with the White Sox, and his inability to get in the Hall of Fame aside easily. He took all of that in stride.

Sorry, I should have quoted the next line.

Well, OK, maybe Bitterness 1.

[Chuck to Chuck]

Died from bladder cancer?

Intrepid Reader: Ted Stryker
What a pisser!

[CBStew]

 His death makes me sad.  Although his health issues during the last ten years diminished the quality of his life, he made the best of  it and was an example for us.  I admired him for that even more than I admired him as a ballplayer.

[Internet Apex]

His death makes me sad.  Although his health issues during the last ten years diminished the quality of his life, he made the best of  it and was an example for us.  I admired him for that even more than I admired him as a ballplayer.

Thank you for THI. 

[R-V]

His death makes me sad.  Although his health issues during the last ten years diminished the quality of his life, he made the best of  it and was an example for us.  I admired him for that even more than I admired him as a ballplayer.

Thank you for THI. 

Between Stew's post and Dolan's excellent tribute I'm in real danger of experiencing actual human emotion.

[Richard Chuggar]

His death makes me sad.  Although his health issues during the last ten years diminished the quality of his life, he made the best of  it and was an example for us.  I admired him for that even more than I admired him as a ballplayer.

Thank you for THI. 

Between Stew's post and Dolan's excellent tribute I'm in real danger of experiencing actual human emotion.

Oh, Jeez.  the dude had no legs and was 70.  He should have died years ago.  He's lucky.

[Bort]

His death makes me sad.  Although his health issues during the last ten years diminished the quality of his life, he made the best of  it and was an example for us.  I admired him for that even more than I admired him as a ballplayer.

Thank you for THI. 

Between Stew's post and Dolan's excellent tribute I'm in real danger of experiencing actual human emotion.

I'm sure you'll tamp that down.

[Gilgamesh]

His death makes me sad.  Although his health issues during the last ten years diminished the quality of his life, he made the best of  it and was an example for us.  I admired him for that even more than I admired him as a ballplayer.

While Santo, I'm sure, was a great person, to me he encapsulates so much that is wrong with this franchise, from the rampant homerism and subsequent lack of critical thought of the team, to his embodiment of all things KUBBIEZ, to his style appeal more than his substantive offerings.  He's a prime example of a rising trend in our society: the inability for cultural icons to understand that their time has come and gone and that they need to exit the stage gracefully.

That said, I'm sad the man is dead.

However, brace yourself for the inevitable: the oncoming insufferable douchiness of Cubdom, embodied in its prophet, Al Yellon.

[Chuck to Chuck]

His death makes me sad.  Although his health issues during the last ten years diminished the quality of his life, he made the best of  it and was an example for us.  I admired him for that even more than I admired him as a ballplayer.

While Santo, I'm sure, was a great person, to me he encapsulates so much that is wrong with this franchise, from the rampant homerism and subsequent lack of critical thought of the team, to his embodiment of all things KUBBIEZ, to his style appeal more than his substantive offerings.  He's a prime example of a rising trend in our society: the inability for cultural icons to understand that their time has come and gone and that they need to exit the stage gracefully.

That said, I'm sad the man is dead.

However, brace yourself for the inevitable: the oncoming insufferable douchiness of Cubdom, embodied in its prophet Profit, Al Yellon.

$20 t-shirt'd.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

However, brace yourself for the inevitable: the oncoming insufferable douchiness of Cubdom, embodied in its prophet, Al Yellon.

His previous post was headlined, "Cubs Wrigley Financing Proposal Dead"

Poor taste, old man.

[Quality Start Machine]

His death makes me sad.  Although his health issues during the last ten years diminished the quality of his life, he made the best of  it and was an example for us.  I admired him for that even more than I admired him as a ballplayer.

While Santo, I'm sure, was a great person, to me he encapsulates so much that is wrong with this franchise, from the rampant homerism and subsequent lack of critical thought of the team, to his embodiment of all things KUBBIEZ, to his style appeal more than his substantive offerings.  He's a prime example of a rising trend in our society: the inability for cultural icons to understand that their time has come and gone and that they need to exit the stage gracefully.

That said, I'm sad the man is dead.

The thing with Santo was, his homerism was genuine. If the Cubs had fired him, he would have just gone home and waited to die. He wouldn't have bothered going to the Sox, or relocated for another broadcasting gig. He was a Cub through and through, for better or worse.

It is the polar opposite to someone like Harrelson, who should be throat punched with regularity.

I expect something heartfelt from Yellon, in which Santo's death somehow becomes all about Al.

[Chuck to Chuck]

I expect something heartfelt from Yellon, in which Santo's death somehow becomes all about Al.

Intrepid Reader: Gilgamesh

What's wrong with that?  That's what Data realized when Tasha died (sniff).

[Oleg]

I guess he couldn't outrun death.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Well this is a hell of a way to start the day.

I mean, now it seems that (barring a December game-changer) Huey's finally taking the prize.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tEvra8aPSTDmrRGJT9-vybQ&single=true&gid=3&output=html
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tEvra8aPSTDmrRGJT9-vybQ&single=true&gid=5&output=html

This could wind up being literally the worst thing to happen all year.

Two hours later and Chuck's posts are already making me reconsider this.