Ron Santo, legendary Chicago Cubs third baseman, dies at 70.

When I was in second grade, we lived in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield and I was a huge Cubs fan. My dad would pitch whiffle balls to me in the front yard, and I would go one-by-one through their batting order, imitating each player’s stance and swing. Ron Santo was my favorite — and he had lots of competition: Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, Ernie Banks (whose autograph I got at Wrigley in ‘68 or so). He was our home run hitter after all, and besides, I played third base in little league. A year later after we had moved to Lake Bluff, Illinois, I made a drawing of my hero and sent it in to WGN, the Chicago television station (not yet a “super station”) that broadcasted the Cubs’ games and had an after school show during which they showed kids’ artwork between installments of Diver Dan and Sea Hunt. I was pretty damn proud when they showed my drawing of Ron Santo — a truly pre-renaissance conception of perspective, but exquisite detail in the uniform — on the TV, and I’m not entirely sure that the experience didn’t have an impact on the direction that drawing and art would take in my life in years to come.