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Ron Santo: A Perfect 10
A funny, emotional and true account of the incredible career of a baseball great and fan favorite, Ron Santo. Never before told, behind the scenes stories mixed with humor and fascinating facts, plus a whopping 24 pages of great photos make this book a must read for Cubs fans. The remembrances are all here, told by an all-star team of people. It is like sitting around Wrigley Field listening to Ron's friends reminiscing about the man we all loved. Ron Santo Jr., contributed the Foreword.
261 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
March 18, 2016
Ron Santo a Perfect 10 by Pat Hughes and Rich Wolfe is a funny, emotional, and true story about the life of an incredible career of a baseball legend and fan favorite, Ron Santo. Stories that most don’t know, off the baseball field stories mixed with humor and fascinating facts/stats, this is a must read for all cubs fans and even sports fans in general. If you are looking for baseball action and not as much off the field drama, this isn’t the book for you because this book does a poor job of expressing Ron's career as a player. The title of this book refers to the number that Ron wore on his jersey for most of his career, which is now retired by the organization, meaning nobody else in the Cubs organization can wear this number. This is a very heartwarming book about one of the, if not the greatest cubby ever. Ron Santo wasn’t just an amazing ball player but an outstanding man off the field, he was always open to signing autographs for the public and other nice deeds like visiting fans in the hospital. Not only was Ron one of the greatest players for the Cubs organization but also a phenomenal cubs announcer. Ron played fourteen seasons with the Cubs and one with the Sox, after his retirement he went on to announcing for his team, the Cubs. Santo was inducted into the Hall of Fame on December 6th 2011 a year after he died. Ron was diagnosed with Diabetes and raised over $60 million for juvenile diabetes before this disease killed him at age 70 in 2010. The reasons I loved this book is because it shows how Ron was a good dad, friend, and most importantly a good person. He wasn’t cocky, and was very open to the public unlike many of sports stars today. This book did an amazing job expressing the things Ron did for the City of Chicago and the people who lived in it.
June 27, 2011
Bias is an understatement. Ron Santo is one of my heroes and I listened to him faithfully on the Pat and Ron Show as part of the Chicago Cubs ball games. He played with such heart and put his life on the line for the Cubs, whether playing the "hot hand on the hot corner" or "walking for JDRF. His antics and colorful dialogue in the booth with Pat are treasured memories. Pat was a great straight man for him.
I am a diabetic and I miss his words the and laughter.
This book allows us into the hearts of the contributors and anyone who is a fan will cry, laughing!!!
I am a diabetic and I miss his words the and laughter.
This book allows us into the hearts of the contributors and anyone who is a fan will cry, laughing!!!
October 24, 2011
This book will you make you laugh and cry with the memories of one of the BIGGEST Cubs fan and player. Ron Santo was not only a top rated third baseman, but also one of the most memorable WGN Radio broadcasters. Having grown up listening to him on the radio, I grew up hearing some of the stories memorialized in the book played out on the radio or at least retold. While reading I found my self crying, laughing and being inspired by a man who changed lives through his struggles and strengths.
September 7, 2020
Im torn with this review. On one hand it has a lot of great moments and outside the lines highlights that were great to read. On the other hand I really would have liked to read a bit more from his teammates beyond a three line section about his hair piece from Ernie Banks and a page or so from Fergie Jenkins. A lot of the sections came off as disjointed single-sentence memories and lacked a good flow. Also, could have done without the random and out of place trivia, as well as the unnecessary magazine-style call out boxes.
December 5, 2019
This is just a good old-fashioned feel good book. Not particularly well-written, a ton of repetition, but all heartfelt. I grew up when Ron Santo was a BIG DEAL on the Cubs team. Watched him play a couple hundred times easily. This book taught me many things about him I didn't know. He was larger than life and had a huge heart and willingness to help. Chicago is better for having had him here.
April 13, 2018
The 1969 Cubs were the first baseball team to break my heart. Ron Santo was the captain and third baseman for that team. I later enjoyed listening to him on the Cubs radio broadcasts. This book is a series of recollections by family, friends and colleagues about their interactions with Ron. I laughed out loud. I laughed until I cried. I cried. Any Cubs fan will thoroughly enjoy this book.
May 18, 2023
I wanted to like this book. I love the Cubs. I love Ron Santo. This book, though, is just such a disaster. Poorly written. Repetitive stories. Organized with no rhyme or reason. Definitely cannot recommend anyone else reading this book.
February 28, 2024
Loved this book!
November 25, 2012
Summary:
This book is about the life of The Great Ron Santo. The book is about people tell about Ron's life in perspective of other point of view. This book just talks about how great his life was, and how he got where he did. Some of his close friends like Len Kasper, and his family like his brother, sister, wife, son, and his grandchildren. This book tells some of Ron's great stories.
Stories:1. One of the stories was when Ray McKinney met Ron Santo in 2001 in Scottsdale, AZ. Ray was some sort of physician and Ron just had one of his leg amputated.
2. One from Matt Boltz. This story is about how Matt found out that Ron had a hair piece. Also Ron's partner for the radio Pat Hughes use to make up a fax and pretend it was from the listeners. "how do youy wash it?"
# of stars:
I gave it 5 stars because it is one of the funniest books that I have ever read.
Quote:
"He was a dad who you feared at times."Hughes and Wolfe(2011)I choose this quote because I thought of this as kind of funny. I say that because Ron Santo was one of the nicest people from my point of view.
Recommendation:
I would recommend this book to people that love to laugh and who like the cubs and baseball. I say to people who like to laugh because in the book there are little stories about Ron, and how people met Ron. The little stories in the book are from his family, partners, and the cubs organization.
Connection:
We were writing childrens books, and Ron Santo in a way was kind of like a kid with his goofy attitude.
This book is about the life of The Great Ron Santo. The book is about people tell about Ron's life in perspective of other point of view. This book just talks about how great his life was, and how he got where he did. Some of his close friends like Len Kasper, and his family like his brother, sister, wife, son, and his grandchildren. This book tells some of Ron's great stories.
Stories:1. One of the stories was when Ray McKinney met Ron Santo in 2001 in Scottsdale, AZ. Ray was some sort of physician and Ron just had one of his leg amputated.
2. One from Matt Boltz. This story is about how Matt found out that Ron had a hair piece. Also Ron's partner for the radio Pat Hughes use to make up a fax and pretend it was from the listeners. "how do youy wash it?"
# of stars:
I gave it 5 stars because it is one of the funniest books that I have ever read.
Quote:
"He was a dad who you feared at times."Hughes and Wolfe(2011)I choose this quote because I thought of this as kind of funny. I say that because Ron Santo was one of the nicest people from my point of view.
Recommendation:
I would recommend this book to people that love to laugh and who like the cubs and baseball. I say to people who like to laugh because in the book there are little stories about Ron, and how people met Ron. The little stories in the book are from his family, partners, and the cubs organization.
Connection:
We were writing childrens books, and Ron Santo in a way was kind of like a kid with his goofy attitude.
April 5, 2013
If I knew the number of actual hours that I spent listening to Ron Santo on WGN in the 90s and 00s, I probably would be concerned. I listened to him, for many years, on almost every game each season. This was a fun, and also sad, book to read. I enjoyed it because of all of the wonderful stories about Ron, and how genuine personality and perseverance kept shining through despite the diabetes ravaging his body and causing him horrible and prolonged health problems.
I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Ron a few times over the years, and he was incredibly polite and friendly each time. I am just so sorry that the Hall of Fame voted him in only after he died. I am still disgusted by that. He deserved to be in the Hall of Fame a long time ago, and he needed to have been voted in while he was alive to enjoy it.
This is not a particularly well-written book, but I didn't read it for its literary quality. I read it to enjoy hearing more about a great human being who really was selfless in devoting his time to helping children who had been afflicted with juvenile diabetes, and to making sure that each fan who wanted an autograph got one. I miss listening to Ron - a lot.
I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Ron a few times over the years, and he was incredibly polite and friendly each time. I am just so sorry that the Hall of Fame voted him in only after he died. I am still disgusted by that. He deserved to be in the Hall of Fame a long time ago, and he needed to have been voted in while he was alive to enjoy it.
This is not a particularly well-written book, but I didn't read it for its literary quality. I read it to enjoy hearing more about a great human being who really was selfless in devoting his time to helping children who had been afflicted with juvenile diabetes, and to making sure that each fan who wanted an autograph got one. I miss listening to Ron - a lot.
January 10, 2014
This book was an inspirational journey about a great man's life. Ron Santo has been a very big icon to me since I was little. This book was amazing, it told the many great stories of his past. Ron cared a great deal about his beloved Chicago Cubbies. He use to play for them and the moved to broadcasting on the radio for them. His partner Pat Hughes writes, "The main time he was upset, grouchy, and in a bad mood was simply when the Cubs were not playing good baseball. That is fact." (Hughes 46). From this quote alone, you can see this man cared a great deal about a baseball team. Was it the players? Or was it the tradition? Combination? Ron Santo was with the Cubs for good or bad, mostly bad. This books gives memorable stories all throughout Ron's life by various people such as Pat Hughes, Ned Colletti, Cory Provus, and many more. This was a very good read and I'm going to read it over and over. I would recommend this book to Chicago Cub lovers and baseball lovers in general.
June 1, 2012
This book was amazing. Filled with personal stories of Santo I was laughing out loud. I'ver heard him on the radio, but this really captured his full personality and a behind the scene look at the real Ron. Who knew he could be such a funny guy off the field.
This book is hysterical. The personal stories of Ron kept me laughing all the way through the book. HOW COULD HE DO THAT!! I always asked myself that question. Some of things that happened were unbelievable. His wig caught on fire; he cut across his lawn to beat another car to his house.
I can relate to this book because I love Ron Santo and have been a fan of his for a while. We both love baseball and the Cubs. Ron Santo was an announcer, but he also acted as a fan. He was always screaming "NOooooooooo!" Or "Oh my goodness" when something bad was hapening. He really was the "perfect 10".
This book is hysterical. The personal stories of Ron kept me laughing all the way through the book. HOW COULD HE DO THAT!! I always asked myself that question. Some of things that happened were unbelievable. His wig caught on fire; he cut across his lawn to beat another car to his house.
I can relate to this book because I love Ron Santo and have been a fan of his for a while. We both love baseball and the Cubs. Ron Santo was an announcer, but he also acted as a fan. He was always screaming "NOooooooooo!" Or "Oh my goodness" when something bad was hapening. He really was the "perfect 10".
July 8, 2012
I really wish that I could rate this book higher, but I was also really hoping for a book of stories that would be put together in a way that was interesting to read. The stories in this book don't flow together in any way, and it's only the subject matter of this book, Ron Santo himself, that redeems this book at all. I can't recommend this book for anyone but the biggest Cubs or Santo fan, and even then, it's a painful experience. Sure, there were places where I laughed, and there were places where things started to get a little dusty, but Ronnie deserves better that a collection of jumbled stories, very few of which were actually from players. Buy Pat Hughes' Voices of the Game CD instead.
April 8, 2015
This book was absolutely fantastic and every single cub fan that knows something about Ron Santo should read this book. This book had me laughing, had me crying, and everywhere in between. It is the kind of book that drains you of emotions and leaves you feeling almost raw and numb after a while, only to make it that much more enjoyable when you pick it back up and continue reading the next day. This book takes you on a series of journeys. Not one in particular but a series of them that made the entire experience that much more enjoyable.
Read
January 14, 2016Both authors (Pat Hughes & Rich Wolfe) do an excellent job of showing Ron Santos life in Ron Santo Perfect 10. They show through Ron Santos life that humor and jokes. This behind the scenes look a well loved cubs player/announcer will leave you laughing. Overall this is a heartwarming book that will inspire its audience that being positive will change the world and that yogurt machines should not be messed with.
-Jon
-Jon
February 12, 2025
I picked this up from a used book shelf expecting a biography of Ron Santo. Instead, it is stories and memories of dozens of people who knew him. Family, friends, baseball players, and many people who worked with him while he was in the WGN radio booth.
Great read about a great man. But no cohesive. Each chapter reads like a stream of consciousness, probably a minimally edited record of an interview. If you don't know much about baseball, or at least Cubs baseball, you will find yourself repeatedly lost.
Great read about a great man. But no cohesive. Each chapter reads like a stream of consciousness, probably a minimally edited record of an interview. If you don't know much about baseball, or at least Cubs baseball, you will find yourself repeatedly lost.
January 16, 2012
Most of the books are put in this category because they were bad or I got bored with them. That is not the reason this one is here. I was really enjoying the book, it's basically people telling their favorite stories about Ron Santo. But, the account from his children are hitting me a little too hard at this point after just losing my father a few months ago. Maybe in the future I can pick it up again and really enjoy it.
June 8, 2011
Can't get this anywhere else but it is rather poorly written. Where are the editors? It seemed like the father's day holiday really pushed them. Mostly it seemed like an unedited transcript of oral remembrances.
Even so, just like Pat Hughes promised I both laughed out loud and found a tear in my eye a couple times.
Even so, just like Pat Hughes promised I both laughed out loud and found a tear in my eye a couple times.
August 30, 2011
Of all of the books I have ever read, this was one of them.
The first 5 pages had me in stitches then repetition ad nausea killed it.
Great guy, no doubt, but the same good guy story over and over just written by different people.
A great read if you are a Ron Santo fan, great guy as I said, but I never reached the adoration stage.
The first 5 pages had me in stitches then repetition ad nausea killed it.
Great guy, no doubt, but the same good guy story over and over just written by different people.
A great read if you are a Ron Santo fan, great guy as I said, but I never reached the adoration stage.
January 11, 2013
Ron Santo was one of my Dads favorites, so of course he became one of mine! I liked reading about his life, but this book pulls in friends and family to tell about Ron. Some of the stories are repeated in parts. I'd say borrow from a library, probably not a keeper, unless you want to re visit the pictures.
October 5, 2015
Very much enjoyed this one. The stories from his friend, family, people he worked with all told of what a great guy he was to be around. Loved the stories of his youth from his family. The whole book is told in eulogy type fashion. The result is alot of repeated accolades, but fun to read. Great player, great fan, broadcaster who let his feelings out.
July 6, 2011
Some stories were really funny. I really liked listening to Ron and Pat but this book did not grab me because I felt that a lot of the people in the book just kept repeating the same thing over and over
July 14, 2011
The stories are great, and Ron comes through on every page, but the book's design is sloppy and distracting in places. Ronnie deserves a classier book some day. (Jonathan Eig, are you reading this?)
August 1, 2012
Being a Cub fan since the 1960s, this was an interesting book about a legendary Cub. There were several things that I learned including that Ron Santo had a great on-base average, which further supported that he was deserving on being a hall-of-famer.
October 6, 2013
As a diehard Cubs fan and Santo fan, I laughed out loud as I read this book. It brought back all the wonderful memories Ron helped create. There will never be another on the radio who can create the same emotions for listeners. Ron, rest in peace!
August 3, 2011
This was the perfect Father's Day gift. A wonderful life story.
August 14, 2011
so far one of the funniest books I have read!
October 11, 2011
A must-read for any Cubs fan. Endearing, engaging, in parts hilarious.
March 27, 2012
Poorly written and repetitive.
July 17, 2012
I haven't laughed or cried as hard as a book as I had at this one in a long time. Makes me want to work harder at living life and being a Cubbie fan.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews