When people think about the great Cubs teams from the 60's and 70's a few names immediately come to mind. Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, and Fergie Jenkins are all Hall of Famers who played for those historic teams.
But there's one other Hall of Famer who is forgotten when people think about those spectacular Cubs teams, and that forgotten player is none other then Ron Santo.
Santo played 3rd Base and he was amazing defensively as well as offensively. He was a 9-time All-Star and hit a solid .277 career. He had over 1300 RBI'S and over 2250 hits. He passed away in 2010 and was finally elected to the Hall of Fame by the Golden Age Community in 2012.
Now here are my 5 favorite cards of Ron Santo.
#5 1974 Xograph 3-D Super Stars
I love 3D cards and I have been able to accumulate a decent total of them over the years. This is one of my favorite 3D card sets I've ever seen. From the classic looking yellow banner to the uniform they chose for the card it's really just a great card. It even had a fake signature which I don't usually like, but it's so faint that it really works. I like this card, but I prefer classic Topps vintage cards which is why it's not higher on the list.
#4 1968 Topps
This is one of the best and most distinctive photos in any vintage Topps set. Sometimes the photo can be really bad and blurry, but not this photo. The uniform looks great and the glove in his hand truly completes the card. But for me the best part of the card is the set design. Controversial as it is 1968 Topps is is truly recognizable. This semi-action shot of Santo is simply an amazing card and that's why it's one of my favorite cards of Santo.
#3 1965 Topps
The small pennant on the 1965 Topps cards is my favorite part of the set. I love how they snuck the Cubs logo on the pennant which they also have on the amazing powdered blue uniform. The classic blue and red combination on the card really looks nice while the stadium background on the card makes the card even better. The set is great, the uniform is great, and the photo is great. What more could you really want on a vintage card.
#2 1974 Topps
There are always a handful of landscape style cards in Topps sets. They appear far less then regular cards, so I always try to appreciate when I see one of a player I collect and that's the case for this card. 1974 was Ron's last year with the Cubs and Topps gave him a proper sendoff with this card. aIt shows Santo at what I believe to be Spring Training along with a few other Cubs in the background. There are also a few fans watching in the stands which makes this such a great photo. However, my favorite part of the card is the pink banner. The Cubs have a long history of getting pink borders or banners on Topps cards and I love it. It really ties the card together and gives it a nice pop of color.
#1 2015 Leaf History of Baseball Cut Signature
(This card is encased, so I couldn't get a scanned image of it sorry)
This is such an amazing example of non-Topps sets going above and beyond. This 2015 Leaf set gave you 1 card per box which guaranteed to be a cut-signature of a Hall of Famer. I was able to get this card at a card show for just $20 which is an absolute steal. The best part is that it's numbered 4/10. It can be so hard to get autographs of Hall of Famers especially is they've passed away. So between the price, beautiful signature, and the player I was able to get it of it's no question that this is my favorite Ron Santo card.
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