CHICAGO, IL – Back on June 12th, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were slaughtered outside her home in Brentwood, LA. Nicole was NFL great O. J. Simpson’s ex-wife. That same day, Chicago Cubs legend Ryne Sandberg announced his sudden retirement. The next day’s periodicals were all about O. J., while Ryne’s announcement was a footnote.
In 1997, I saw Sandberg inside of Mickey Mantle’s, the restaurant located on Central Park South in NYC. It was after that night’s NY Baseball Chapters Dinner. Sandberg was with a group of people and as I approached him, I shouted, “You f*cked up, kid!” The group all looked at me as I reminded him of that notorious day when he announced his retirement.
A member of Ryne’s group screeched, “Is that so?” as Ryne smiled and said. “Oh yeah, I messed that one up.”
Ryno’s surprising retirement back in 1994 was speculated to be because of marriage issues, which probably led to his stellar play that season. He eventually divorced and quickly remarried. His mind was now clear and his inner happiness led to an itch of playing again when he announced a comeback for the 1996 season. O. J. had a problem with Nicole turning into an independent woman and his control over her was now a thing of the past, and he wouldn’t let go.
On the night of the murders, Chicago Cubs fans were shocked that their future-Hall-of-Famer was walking away prematurely at the age of 34. Ironically, that same night, O. J. made a pit stop at Burger King before he headed to the airport on his way to Chicago. When authorities tracked down his whereabouts, they informed him of Nicole’s death, and he put on his B-acting skills before immediately flying back to LA for questioning.
Ryno’s career thrived while O.J.’s turned into an Etch-A-Sketch mess. Years later, I ran into Sandberg at the Ted Williams Hall of Fame in St. Pete, Florida. He looked fresh and relieved after quitting his job as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. I asked him how difficult it was to manage a new generation of players. He smiled and said, “That’s why I left, I might have killed one of ‘em.”
Unlike O.J., Ryne kept his cool and moved on. They both passed away from the same dreaded complications and even though they shared that one day on June 12th, 1994, they couldn’t have been more opposite, as Ryno heads to Baseball Heaven.
R.I.P., Ryno.
