This Old Cub

This Old Cub is an acclaimed documentary about former nine-time all-star third baseman, broadcaster, and Chicago Cubs legend Ron Santo and his lifelong battle with diabetes. Santo was the first and only major league position player to play professional baseball with Type One diabetes (insulin dependant). He played most of his career without revealing his disease for fear that he would be forced to retire from baseball. At a time when much less was known about how to regulate insulin levels, Santo rarely missed a game—taking injections and eating chocolate bars based on how he felt from moment to moment. This Old Cub captures the spirit of a man and his will to achieve. Santo is the ultimate optimist and therefore the ultimate Cub. Director Jeff Santo's This Old Cub is more homage to his father than a documentary. (And it's something of a calling card to baseball's Hall of Fame. It is not just for Chicago Cubs devotees or fans of old-school baseball, of which former third baseman Ron Santo is in a class by himself.) Anyone facing adversity or hardship will be inspired by Santo's moving story. Santo is in the pantheon of great Cubs players: hard-nosed and blue collar. In his 14-year career, he suffered heartbreaking setbacks, including the Cubs' ignominious 1969 collapse, and not yet making it into the Hall of Fame. But his unyielding courage, perseverance, and determination to not let diabetes strike him out far outshine his on-the-field heroics. Santa was diagnosed with diabetes at age 18, and for most of his playing career, he kept it a secret (at one point, he recalls a remarkable at-bat when Santo, seeing triple, somehow managed to hit a grand slam!). As Johnny Bench observes, "No disease could ever defeat him." One stirring scene is quintessential Santo. Now a double amputee, he is seen trying to acclimate himself to his walker. Unsteady on his prosthetic limbs, he stumbles. Jeff, who is working the camera, instinctively reaches out to help him. Ron waves him off. "I'm supposed to be doing this myself," he states. This Old Cub is affectionate, but unflinching. What it lacks in slick production values, it more than makes up in heart. Chicagoans and die-hard Cub fans Bill Murray, Gary Sinise, William Petersen, and Dennis Franz add some star power as they reminisce about the dreaded 1969 season, when it actually seemed like the Cubs would make it to the World Series before being overtaken by the "miracle" New York Mets. While This Old Cub efficiently covers all the bases of Santo's storied career as a player and broadcaster, it is more an uplifting story of a man facing the severest tests of his optimistic attitude (insert your own Cubs joke here). --Donald Liebenson