“You Never Miss a Game for Family”: Bob Melvin’s Final Goodbye to Ryne Sandberg Shakes the Baseball World
By [Staff Writer]
Published: July 29, 2025
CHICAGO — On a gray and overcast morning at Wrigley Field, the ivy on the outfield walls looked more solemn than usual, as if even the vines were mourning. Outside the ballpark, hundreds of fans gathered quietly around the bronze statue of Ryne Sandberg — Cubs legend, Hall of Famer, and forever #23 — with candles, handwritten notes, and a sea of blue flowers at its base.
But nestled carefully among the tributes was something different. A small bouquet of white lilies tied with a Detroit Tigers ribbon. It was a quiet but powerful gesture — and the first sign of something bigger.
Inside, the atmosphere wasn’t just somber. It was spiritual.
That afternoon, Major League Baseball officially said goodbye to one of its most revered figures. Sandberg passed away just days earlier after a private battle with cancer. His sudden death left the baseball world stunned. But what happened at his memorial service — and what Giants manager Bob Melvin did — is what fans will never forget.
“High fever, shaking, and no clearance to fly”
Bob Melvin had coached through rainouts, ejections, and October pressure. But this week tested him like no playoff ever could.
On Sunday night, Melvin was reportedly diagnosed with a severe respiratory infection. Doctors advised complete rest — “do not fly, do not travel, stay isolated,” according to a source close to the team’s medical staff.
The Giants, gearing up for a critical road series, told him to stay back. Players offered to represent the team at Sandberg’s memorial on his behalf. Even Melvin’s family urged him to sit this one out.
But Melvin had made up his mind.
“I don’t care what anyone says,” he told Giants captain Brandon Crawford, according to clubhouse sources. “You don’t miss a game for family. And Ryne was my family.”
With that, he booked a red-eye flight from San Francisco to Chicago — masked, bundled up, feverish and pale — determined to show up for his friend.
“He said one sentence — and we all broke down”
The memorial was held in a private suite overlooking the field. Many of Sandberg’s former teammates were there — Andre Dawson, Mark Grace, even Greg Maddux flew in. Joe Maddon and Lou Piniella sat silently in the back row.
But it was Melvin’s entrance that changed the room.
Wearing a black Giants pullover and a white armband bearing Sandberg’s #23, Melvin walked slowly to the front, pausing at the casket. His hands were shaking. He was visibly weak.
And then, according to eyewitnesses, he leaned in, placed a ball on top of the casket — and whispered:
“This one’s for that double play you never missed.”
Silence. Then tears. From everyone.
“I lost it,” said former Cubs bench coach Alan Trammell, who also played against both men in the 1980s. “I’ve seen a lot in this game, but never a tribute like that.”
The ball Melvin left wasn’t just any ball. It was the last out from a 1991 game — Giants vs. Cubs — when Sandberg turned a miraculous double play to end the ninth and rob San Francisco of a win. Melvin, then a backup catcher, had never let it go.
“He told me once it was the cleanest play he’d ever seen,” said Melvin’s longtime friend and current Giants bench coach Matt Williams. “But the way he remembered it — not with resentment, but with awe — that tells you who Ryne was to him.”
Beyond the Rivalry: A Brotherhood in the Dirt
Few fans knew how close Sandberg and Melvin truly were.
Though they’d played in rival uniforms, their bond formed at spring training clinics, charity golf tournaments, and All-Star alumni events. Over time, it became a friendship rooted in old-school baseball values — work ethic, humility, quiet leadership.
“Bob said Ryne was the one guy who could make you feel like you were slacking off, even if you were working hard,” said Dusty Baker, who managed both men at different points. “He respected the way Ryne played more than almost anyone.”
Their text messages were mostly just scores, updates, sarcastic jabs. But Melvin reportedly kept one voicemail from Sandberg saved for over a decade: “Good call on the pitching change. You saved that game. I owe you a beer.”
That beer never came. But the memory lives on.
A Legacy Bigger Than Stats
For many young fans, Ryne Sandberg is just a name on a plaque. But to those who played with him, he was the embodiment of quiet excellence.
“He never yelled. Never showed off,” said Ken Griffey Jr. “But you watched him play, and you wanted to be like him.”
He was the gold standard for second basemen — 10 Gold Gloves, 7 Silver Sluggers, one MVP — but more than anything, he was respected.
That’s why what Melvin did meant so much.
“I think Ryne would’ve hated the attention,” said his son Justin Sandberg. “But he would’ve loved that Bob came. He always said, ‘That guy plays the game the right way.’”
One Final Pitch
After the ceremony, as people filtered out into the rainy Chicago streets, Melvin reportedly sat alone for a few minutes in the front row. His eyes didn’t move from the casket.
When asked later by reporters why he came, Melvin responded simply:
“You don’t leave legends behind. Not when they made you who you are.”
The Giants granted him an extra day before rejoining the team in Milwaukee.
As he left Wrigley Field that afternoon, a Cubs security guard handed him something — a small, laminated photo of Sandberg turning two, with a handwritten note on the back:
“Forever #23. Forever respected.”
For once, there were no rivalries. Just baseball. And brotherhood.