Cubs celebrate Hall of Famer Santo at Wrigley

CHICAGO -- Longtime Cubs third baseman and radio analyst Ron Santo, inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame last Sunday, was celebrated on Friday at Wrigley Field.

There were No. 10 flags on top of the ballpark and a "10" imprinted in center field in honor of Santo, who passed away in December 2010, one year before the Golden Era Committee voted him into the Hall of Fame.

Santo's wife, Vicki, and Santo's sons, Ron Jr. and Jeff, and daughter Linda and her two children, Sam and Spencer, received a photo from the ceremonies in Cooperstown in which the family posed with the plaque. The family then shook hands with Cubs manager Dale Sveum, the coaches and all the players lined along the dugout.

Santo's grandson, Spencer Brown, threw a perfect strike to recently retired Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood for the ceremonial first pitch.

As they took the field, the Cubs players clicked their heels as they did last Sunday in St. Louis in honor of Santo, who first did the celebration in 1969.