Scott Frost remembers childhood hero Ryne Sandberg
UCF head coach Scott Frost has always been a proud Chicago Cubs fan. So when news broke of the passing of Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg last week, it hit home.
“Ryno was my favorite player growing up, obviously,” Frost said after Friday’s practice. “The ’84 team was when I started rooting for them—Keith Moreland, Bobby Dernier and Leon Durham and those guys. But Ryno was the heart of it.”
Sandberg passed away on July 28 at the age of 65 after a battle with prostate cancer. A 10-time All-Star and nine-time Gold Glove winner, Sandberg was the face of the Cubs throughout much of the 1980s and early 1990s and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.
For Frost, his admiration went beyond just what Sandberg did on the field.
“He just seemed like a consummate pro,” Frost said. “He was a multiple Gold Glover at second base and just kind of did it with a grace and style that you didn’t see a lot then. And obviously had some elite years hitting too.
“They were close in ’84. They were close in ’89 and never got over the hump. But I know he meant a lot to that organization and that city.”
Frost said he never had a chance to meet Sandberg, but his fandom started early, thanks to regular WGN broadcasts that introduced kids across the country to the Cubs.
“I’d come home every day starting in second grade, and it was either watch cartoons or put the Cubs game on,” Frost said. “And I liked sports, so I put the Cubs game on. That’s how it all started. I got my son drinking the Kool-Aid too.”
That passion was also reflected in a childhood Halloween costume Frost once wore, a homemade Sandberg baseball card crafted by his mom.
“When I was a second grader I think, mom cut out two big pieces of cardboard, put a Ryne Sandberg on the front, and I was a baseball card,” Frost recalled during his first stint at UCF in 2017. “That’s the most unique one that I remember.”
Although he never got to meet his favorite player, Frost does have one cherished memory from a childhood trip to Wrigley Field.
“My dad took my brother and I to a game when I was, I don’t know, fifth grade at Wrigley,” Frost said. “And we stuck around until Harry Caray came down. So I have a Harry Caray autographed ball behind my desk.”
Frost says it’s hard to be a fan of football when you’re living it every day, but he cherishes that he can still be a fan of baseball, especially when it comes to the Cubs.
“I’m a big baseball fan. Hope the Cubs did enough in the trade deadline to get over the top,” Frost said. “They didn’t sacrifice a lot of their young talent which is good to see too. So (my son) RJ and I will be watching them, rooting for them.”
Frost says he has connections to other teams, including the Guardians and Orioles, and roots for the Rays as well given the Florida connection. His heart though remains with the Cubs.
“My dad’s favorite player was Willie Mays and we lost both of them this year,” he said. “It’s tough. Ryno was the guy for me.”
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