Ron Santo, 1940-2010, and Graniterock’s Clarence Thomas

By Steve Snodgrass

After reading that Ron Santo died recently, I felt compelled to share about what a great person Ron really was.  I work with a gentleman at Graniterock that has diabetes, the same as Ron had.  Both Ron and my coworker, Clarence Thomas, had their legs amputated below the knee and were about the same age. 

I was fortunate enough to arrange a meeting about five years ago between both men in the WGN booth at AT&T Park in San Francisco.  As Clarence and I nervously entered the booth, Ron immediately put us at ease and acted like he had known Clarence all his life. 

Ron proceeded to roll up his left pant leg and tell us that this was the best prosthesis you could buy.  He then told us he had the Cubs home jersey on his right prosthesis and the away on the left.  Ron was a true role model to us and acted like the gentleman we expect all of our sports heroes to be.  Clarence still gets a smile on his face when we talk about meeting Ron. As a long time Santo fan, I will always remember him for his kindness and generosity that day.