Former Chicago Cub Santo Elected to Hall of Fame

(With additional reporting from Illinois Public Radio)

Ron Santo was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on Monday, chosen by the Golden Era committee almost a year after the Chicago Cubs third baseman died hoping for the honor.

Santo drew 15 votes from the 16-member panel. It took 75 percent - 12 votes - to get chosen.

Santo was a nine-time All-Star, hit 342 home runs and won five Gold Gloves. He was a Cubs broadcaster for two decades, eagerly rooting for his favorite team on the air.

Santo received 15 votes from the 16-member panel. Twelve votes are need to make it into the Hall of Fame. Other baseball greats considered included Jim Kaat who received 10 votes, and Gil Hodges and Minnie Minoso who each had nine votes. Minoso went on to play for the Chicago White Sox, and he was the first African-American to wear a major league baseball uniform in Chicago.

Santo joined former Cubs teammates Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ferguson Jenkins in the Hall. That famed quartet did most everything at Wrigley Field through the 1960s except reach the World Series.

His longtime teammate, Billy Williams, was among the Hall of Famers on the committee. Williams said Santo's contributions to the community played a role in the decision.

"The numbers are there. Everybody saw the numbers, the Gold Gloves, and I think they looked at it with a different view," Williams said.

Santo will be inducted into Cooperstown on July 22, along with any players elected by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Jan. 9. Bernie Williams joins Jack Morris, Barry Larkin and others on that ballot.

Santo never came close to election during his 15 times on the BBWAA ballot, peaking at 43 percent - far short of the needed 75 percent in his last year of eligibility in 1998.

Santo's wife, Vicki, said the honor will carry on his legacy, but she said it's a disappointment Santo wasn't inducted before he died last year.

"When his number was retired at Wrigley Field and he stood in front of 40,000 people and said this is my hall of fame, he truly meant that," she said. "I always believed he was meant to be in the Hall of Fame, but obviously not during his life time."

A star while playing with diabetes, a disease that eventually cost him both legs below the knees, Santo died last December from complications of bladder cancer at age 70.

Santo had come close in previous elections by the Veterans Committee. The panel has been revamped several times in the last decade, aimed at giving a better chance to deserving candidates.