DALLAS – Four months after Ryne Sandberg announced that he was cancer-free, the Chicago Cubs icon is again dealing with a medical situation. Sandberg shared Tuesday’s update on his Instagram account, where he first publicly revealed his metastatic prostate cancer diagnosis in January and later marked milestones in his recovery.
“Unfortunately, we recently learned the cancer has relapsed and it has spread to other organs,” Sandberg wrote. “This means that I am back to more intensive treatment. We will continue to be positive, strong, and fight to beat this. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for me and my family.”
Your Hall of Fame family is always with you, Ryno. pic.twitter.com/zdUyiFL9nQ
— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) December 10, 2024
Sandberg, 65, is a distinguished member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In recent years, he has remained a regular presence around Wrigley Field as both an ambassador for the Cubs and a grandfather who maintains a home on Chicago’s suburban North Shore.
“Ryne is an inspiration to cancer survivors everywhere,” Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement released by the team. “I know all Cubs fans join my family and me in sending positive thoughts to Ryne and keeping him and his family in our prayers as he faces this next round of treatments to defeat cancer. Ryne has the heart and soul of a champion and that will serve him well in this challenge.”
This past summer, the Cubs unveiled a Sandberg statue outside Wrigley Field, recognizing his enormous impact around the Friendly Confines as a 10-time All-Star who won seven Silver Sluggers and nine Gold Gloves.
The statue ceremony came on the 40th anniversary of “The Sandberg Game” (June 23, 1984). Going through the cancer treatment – and seeing the turnout for the event – had given him more perspective.
“I’ve learned about the people in my life,” Sandberg said that day. “From my family to my friends to my neighbors to my teammates to the Cubs fans, it’s all about the relationships that I have with people. And there’s a lot of them, so it’s just a reflection on that. To see everybody here today, that’s kind of what I’m talking about – how special it is. I’ve felt it.”
(Top photo of Ryne Sandberg: Matt Dirksen/Chicago Cubs/Getty Images)
