In the hours after Ryne Sandberg’s death, there was much focus on his legendary baseball career. Yet, for B.R. Koehnemann, to be recalled was one particular lesson about life which his stepfather had often delivered.
“He told us to do everything the right way,” Koehnemann said. “If you are going to do something, do it right. Always be on time and always give your best.”
Sandberg died July 28 after a battle with metastatic prostate cancer at his Lake Bluff home, surrounded by his family. He was 65.
Koehnemann, also of Lake Bluff, reflected on a relationship with his stepfather that spanned roughly 30 years, dating back to when Sandberg married his mother, Margaret. Sandberg was living in Arizona at the time following his first retirement from the Chicago Cubs.
With the marriage, they had a blended family of five children that today has expanded with 11 grandchildren. Koehnemann noted the same guiding principles offered by Sandberg to the children also went to the next generation.
“You do the right thing, you treat people the right way,” he said. “That was always the way he handled everything.”
Of course, baseball was a major part of life in the Sandberg household. Koehnemann reminisced about the time when he was 14 and attending Seton Catholic High School in suburban Phoenix. One day, Ryne and Margaret stopped by the school, and Sandberg gauged his stepson’s thoughts on the idea of his coming out of retirement and returning to the Cubs.
It was an idea that Koehnemann thought was “amazing,” and there was an extra benefit. Sandberg, along with a cousin who was drafted into the major leagues, fielded ground balls and took batting practice at Seton Catholic.
“They would be hitting bombs off the top of the gym at our little high school baseball field,” he happily recalled.
There were many father/son moments for the two, including Sandberg teaching Koehnemann how to drive a stick shift. But it was another car providing still another memory for the two.
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Following Sandberg’s second and final retirement in 1997, the Cubs presented the 1984 MVP and 10-time All-Star with a red Corvette as a going-away present. At the time, Koehnemann was the quarterback at Seton Catholic.
He made a bet with his stepfather that if his team won the state championship, he would be allowed to drive the Corvette to school for a week.
The title was won, and Sandberg paid off the wager, true to his word.
“It was ridiculous to have an 18-year-old kid drive a Corvette to little Seton Catholic,” he recalled with a laugh.
One of Koehnemann’s other favorite memories of his stepfather occurred in 2005 when Sandberg delivered a bold speech upon his induction into the Hall of Fame. Specifically, he called out selfish play in baseball and emphasized the importance of showing respect for the game.
Koehnemann said he hadn’t heard the speech in advance and thought his stepfather “killed it” when he heard the words in Cooperstown, NY.
“We were all extremely surprised and extremely proud of what he had to say,” he said, proudly mentioning that people are still talking about it 20 years later. Further, Koehnemann now shows the speech to his children, and it has maintained its significance.
“What it means to the history of baseball and what it means in life,” he said. “The respect you have for what you do and how you go about your business. It was the pinnacle of the kind of guy he was.”
After his Hall of Fame induction, Koehnemann said Sandberg fulfilled a personal dream by becoming a major manager with the Philadelphia Phillies after working his way up through the minors for both the Cubs and the Phillies.
It was quite a change of scenery for his stepfather and mother, but it represented another positive trait, according to his stepson.
“How many Hall of Famers have ridden buses from Peoria to Beloit? Not too many,” Koehnemann noted. “The fact that he was willing to do that and stay in a Holiday Inn Express in Beloit or wherever they played just showed his love for the game and commitment to the younger generation of baseball.”
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Sandberg resigned from the Phillies in 2015 and permanently settled in Lake Bluff the next year to be close to many of the children and grandchildren.
“Their home was the focal point for the family,” Koehnemann said. “Thanksgiving and Christmas were always at their house.”
While Sandberg was active in supporting local charities by donating autographed baseballs and jerseys, Koehnemann said he mainly wanted to quietly blend into Lake Bluff by playing golf and eating at the local restaurants. He added he was constantly picking up and dropping off his grandchildren from school or watching them compete athletically.
“Going to Lake Bluff baseball games, he was just like another grandpa,” Koehnemann said. “He would sit down the left field, keep his mouth shut, and eat seeds and enjoy the day like every other grandfather in the stands.”
Still, he was Ryne Sandberg, and people were interested in what made him a Hall of Fame athlete. With one of his grandsons playing for a Lake Forest High School freshman basketball team, Sandberg spoke to the entire squad just this past February.
“He stressed the importance of how playing multiple sports helped him become the athlete that he was,” coach Ray Del Fava said of Sandberg’s 30-minute address. “He talked about his work ethic and being a great teammate and just doing what you needed to do to succeed.”
Del Fava recalled that Sandberg told the players that he was ready to go to Washington State on a football scholarship until he was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies, and his older brother strongly advised him to turn pro.
“That is why he chose baseball,” noted Del Fava, a big Cubs fan. “Fortunately for us, he did.”
Del Fava said he would go to Wrigley Field and focus on Sandberg’s routine and preparation for every pitch while playing second base. He noted the subtle movements and communication with the shortstop.
“You can’t see that on TV, but you can see it when you are there. Things like that showed you how prepared he was day in and day out,” he said. “That was one of the things he stressed to the basketball players. The preparation and the work you put in before the games means more than the games because if you don’t put in the work beforehand, you are not going to succeed.”
Among the friends Sandberg had in Lake Bluff was local realtor Brad Andersen. The two met through a mutual acquaintance, and a friendship soon developed.
“When I first met him, I was shocked that I was going to be working with a client who is a Hall of Fame baseball player, and I was starstruck,” Andersen recalled. “Soon after I got to know him, I learned more about him as a person and his dedication to his family.”
Other residents spoke of Sandberg’s generous streak.
Dan Rogers recalled initially meeting Sandberg about five years ago when Rogers was retained as the landscape contractor.
“What I was struck with was what a genuinely nice person he was. He was never, “I’m Ryne Sandberg”, it was I’m just Ryne.”
Rogers marveled at the fact that Sandberg would bring out his grill and cook lunch for the crew working at the house.
“He would treat the guys like he was part of the group,” he said.
Rogers added that Sandberg‘s devotion to his family was evidenced in the design of the outside area of his home.
“We made the front area like a baseball diamond so he had a place to play ball with the grandkids,” he said. “That was the main focus, to make sure the big area in front was open.”
Another local encounter involved Dana Hansen, the Lake Bluff Preschool Director. She remembered that in October 2014, the Sandbergs volunteered to carve pumpkins and bake seeds for her class, which included one of their grandchildren.
Hansen recalled that as the children were playing and the seeds were baking, one grandfather affectionately known as “Papi” volunteered to clean out the fish tank. However, she did not recognize the man who was receptive to her direction.
Later, she was told it was Ryne Sandberg, and at that time, he was the manager of the Phillies.
“I could not believe it because I spent the morning bossing ‘Papi’ around. It was pretty funny.”
Hansen described herself as a huge Cubs fan who would sit in the Wrigley Field bleachers and would cheer Sandberg in his Hall of Fame career.
Yet like the others, she marveled at Sandberg’s devotion to his family, not expecting others to care about his impact on baseball.
“He was so proud of his grandkids,” she said. “That’s all he wanted to talk about. What they were up to and how great they were doing.”
Koehnemann, his stepson, added that the devotion to his family went almost to the end as Sandberg traveled to Atlanta to watch his grandson in a baseball tournament just three weeks ago.
He is now reflecting on the man who has a well-documented place in baseball history in addition to his personal legacy.
“We know his on-field accolades,” Koehnemann said. “But the kind of person he was as a dad, a husband, as a grandfather. There was no one better. There was a kindness, understanding and peace that he had. He was an amazing person on and off the field.”
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
