"This Old Cub": See it tonight!

"This Old Cub," the wonderful documentary about the heroic career of Ron Santo, will be shown on Superstation WGN-TV at 10:30 Central and 11:30 Eastern tonight.

Santo- ranked by Bill James as a better third baseman than Brooks Robinson- has better numbers than most of the third basemen currently in the Hall of Fame. But Santo himself is not enshrined in Cooperstown. His exclusion is widely acknowledged by baseball experts as one of the greatest injustices in the history of the Hall (my own hunch as to the reason: he was a teammate of Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Ferguson Jenkins, and Billy Williams- and four Hall of Famers on what has been called "the best baseball team in history never to win a pennant" apparently seems a bit much to some writers and former players, whom I think forget that membership in the Hall is an individual honor).

By any measurement one of the top ten third basemen ever to play the game- and easily one of the top five defensively- Santo's accomplishments are all the more impressive because he achieved them while suffering secretly from a severe case of juvenile diabetes which ultimately cost him both of his legs.

Currently the color man on the Cubs radio broadcasts, where he teams up with announcer Pat Hughes, Santo has always been a warm, generous human being remarkably devoid of self-pity. He was my favorite baseball player for much of my life, and still one of my favorite human beings, even though I've never met him. And a better, more inspirational role-model would be hard to find.

On top of it all, this is a great movie- directed by Santo's own son, Jeff. It's no classic from an artistic point of view, but trust me on this one: see this movie, and you'll have a new personal hero.

Take my advice: tune in to Superstation WGN tonight and see it!