R.I.P. 23

Years ago a friend of mine used to ask, “Who is the Chicago All Star that wears the number 23? Most everyone would say Michael Jordan, and he would say no Chicago Cubs 2nd baseman Ryne Sandberg. Ryne Sandberg passed away this past week from prostate cancer. The Spokane native was certainly a Cub favorite.

Now I’m not a Chicago Cub fan but I remember when Ryne Sandberg was an outstanding athlete for the North Central Indians on the north side of Spokane. I can’t say that NC was a hotbed of Division 1 athletes or had much of a history of successful teams over the years but from 1975-78 the India...