Ron Santo by the numbers

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With Induction Weekend upon us, let's take a look back at the wonderful career of Ron Santo, with a bevy of numbers:

1 - Day one of Ron Santo's Major League career was June 26, 1960; the first two games of his career came in a doubleheader at Forbes Field in the Steel City.

Game 1: 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI in 7-6 win
Game 2: 1-3, 2 RBI, R in 7-5 win
Total: 3-7, double, 5 RBI, run.

Fun fact: Anthony Rizzo also made his Cubs debut on June 26...and also went 2-4 .

2 - Consecutive games in 1966 with an extra-inning walkoff homer.

May 28, 1966 - 12th inning Walkoff HR off Braves' Ted Abernathy
May 29, 1966 - 10th inning Walkoff HR off Braves' Billy O'Dell

And there have been two players to hit an extra-inning walkoff HR in consecutive games since - Albert Belle in 1995 and Albert Pujols in 2011.

5 - Home runs hit in 1974 as a member of the White Sox, including one last big game:

June 9, 1974: 2-homer game - both off Bill Lee -- including the only inside the park home run of his career.

10 - RBI in a doubleheader vs Expos at Wrigley Field on July 6, 1970.

Game 1: 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, R
Game 2: 2-3, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB
10 - Jersey number retired Sept. 28, 2003. Since Santo wore this number there have been...

10 - Players to wear 10

Billy Grabarkewitz (1974)
Mike Sember (1977)
Dave Kingman (1978-80)
Leon Durham (1981-88)
Lloyd McClendon (1989-90)
Luis Salazar (1991-92)
Steve Lake (1993)
Scott Bullett (1995-96)
Terrell Lowrey (1997-98)
Bruce Kimm - manager (2002)

From "Now Batting, Number...: The Mystique, Superstition, and Lore of Baseball's Uniform Numbers" by Jack Looney.

12.62 - percentage of Santo's career plate appearances which were against Hall of Fame pitchers: 1186 career plate appearances against current Hall of Famers of 9397 career plate appearances (12.62 percent).

175 Bob Gibson (most against any pitcher)
147 Don Drysdale
124 Juan Marichal
107 Gaylord Perry
87 Steve Carlton
87 Sandy Koufax
86 Phil Niekro
79 Jim Bunning
79 Tom Seaver
67 Warren Spahn
59 Don Sutton
32 Nolan Ryan
30 Robin Roberts
10 Bert Blyleven
5 Fergie Jenkins
5 Jim Palmer
4 Rollie Fingers
3 Hoyt Wilhelm

This is an extremely high percentage. Consider that it's roughly one of every eight career PA -- about one every other game. By comparison, Carl Yastrzemski faced a Hall of Famer in 6.97 percent (93313392) of his career plate appearances.

15 - Number briefly worn by Santo in 1960, before switching to his customary No. 10.

Fun fact: Frank Thomas briefly wore 15 in 1990 before switching to No. 35.

64 - Number of games in which Ron Santo and Billy Williams both homered

Most games homered in by a pair of teammates:

75 - Hank Aaron & Eddie Mathews
73 - Lou Gehrig & Babe Ruth
68 - Willie MaysWillieMcCovey
67 - Gil Hodges & Duke Snider
64 - Ron Santo & Billy Williams
61 - Harmon Killebrew & Bob Allison

From The SABR Baseball List & Record Book

68.4 - Santo's career WAR with Cubs. Best in franchise history since 1900. Better than Ernie Banks. Better than Billy Williams. Better than Ryne Sandberg. Better than Sammy Sosa.

Cubs WAR leaders (Baseball-Reference.com) 1900-current:

Ron Santo: 68.4
Ryne Sandberg: 65.0
Ernie Banks: 62.5
Billy Williams: 58.5
Sammy Sosa: 55.9

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