Ryne Sandberg is gone, but his legend won’t be leaving Wrigleyville anytime soon. The Cubs icon passed away on July 28, 2025, at 65, losing a hard-fought battle with metastatic prostate cancer. Just months before, it looked like he had turned a corner—he was even declared cancer-free in August. But the reprieve didn’t last. By year’s end, the disease had returned and spread, cutting short the life of one of baseball’s most respected figures.
Though his early MLB days were quiet, everything changed on June 23, 1984. That afternoon, against Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter, Sandberg hammered two clutch home runs in a game that’s now simply known as “The Sandberg Game.” From that point forward, he owned second base like few ever have—earning 10 straight All-Star nods, nine consecutive Gold Gloves, seven Silver Sluggers, and a National League MVP.
A career .989 fielding percentage at second base? That was the MLB record when he retired in 1997. And though he briefly stepped away from the majors, the Hall of Fame welcomed him in 2005, where he remained a familiar face.
Now that we’re looking back on the legend he became, it’s time to trace it to the roots. Who were Ryne Sandberg’s parents? What kind of childhood did he have, and did any siblings share those early days with him? Let’s step into his early world and see how it all began.
Ryne Sandberg’s Parents and Three Siblings
Ryne Sandberg was born into a working-class family in Spokane, Washington, the youngest of four children. His father, Derwent D. “Sandy” Sandberg, worked as a mortician at Hazen & Jaeger Funeral Home, while his mother, Elizabeth, was a nurse. Sandy had served in World War II and met Elizabeth through a wartime pen-pal connection. She was from Vermont, he from Minnesota, and they settled in Spokane after Sandy completed mortuary school.
Though Sandy rarely brought work home, he passed down a love for sports that quietly shaped Ryne’s future. The name “Ryne” wasn’t picked from a baby book—it came straight from a Yankees broadcast one night in 1959 when Sandy and Elizabeth heard relief pitcher Ryne Duren’s name and decided that would be it if their baby was a boy. Years earlier, they had named their son Del after Phillies slugger Del Ennis. With that, a subtle pattern began: one child named for a ballplayer, and another destined to become one.
Ryne had three siblings: Del, who became a high school teacher; Maryl, who went on to work in television in Seattle; and Lane, the eldest, who suffered from epilepsy his entire life and died in the family home in 1992 at age 42. Despite life’s challenges, Elizabeth later said simply, “I have a wonderful family.”
How His Family Supported Him To Become a Baseball Star
The Sandberg household sat on West Augusta Avenue, a few blocks from the ballpark that now bears Ryne’s name. The house had a barn-style roof and a wide front porch—modest but full of life. Money was tight, but there was always just enough to buy a glove, a pair of spikes, or anything else Ryne needed to keep playing. His father never pushed him toward the funeral business, but always made sure he had the tools to play.
Elizabeth was an athlete in her youth, and her influence showed. Ryne excelled in baseball, football, and basketball at North Central High School, earning All-America honors as a quarterback. Washington State University even recruited him to play football, but he chose instead to enter the MLB draft when the Phillies came calling in 1978.
Still, his success didn’t make him flashy. As a teenager, he was quiet, focused, and respectful. When a scout once mentioned he might earn a $50,000 signing bonus, he turned to his high school coach with wide eyes and whispered, “Oh… really?” That same humble tone followed him all the way to the Hall of Fame.
His father, Sandy, passed away in 1987, but not before seeing Ryne’s career flourish. Friends recalled him sitting in Jack & Dan’s Tavern watching his son play on WGN—quietly proud, never boastful.
Elizabeth, years later, kept the Cubs’ schedule pinned on her fridge, catching nearly every game. The family didn’t just raise a ballplayer. They built a foundation that never cracked under pressure, and that—just like that house in Spokane—stood the test of time.
