Ron Santo’s Fight Against Diabetes “I expect you to judge me by what I do on the field. I just don’t want to hide it anymore,” expressed Ron Santo (Santo, R.). This is how many diabetics feel. They do not want their disease to affect the way people view them, so they try to hide it. They just want to be judged by their performance. Ron Santo proved diabetics can do anything they want, despite their disease, and he ended up being one of the best third baseman baseball has ever seen.
In order to fight through diabetes, one must understand the disease. “Diabetes is a disease that occurs when the body is unable to use sugar properly, resulting in high levels of blood sugar” (Brill 101). Specifically, type 1 diabetes is typically diagnosed in children or young adults and is when the pancreas produces little to no insulin, so sugar …show more content…
At his annual physical, the doctors found sugar in his blood, but Ron had no idea what this meant until the doctors explained diabetes to him. Doctors advised Santo to start paying close attention to his body, especially when playing baseball, so he read all the information he could about his disease. At age eighteen, Ron read, “the life expectancy of a juvenile diabetic is twenty-five years. It is the number one cause of blindness, the number two cause of kidney failure, and number three cause of hardened arteries.” These words changed his mindset towards life (15).
Ron Santo’s fame was due to his success in his baseball career. His outstanding high school career made many Major League Baseball teams want to sign him, but he decided to sign with the Chicago Cubs as a third baseman (Stout 20). He made his major league debut on June 26, 1960 (Santo, R). Santo went on to become a five-time Gold Glove winner and a perennial All-Star, and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012 (Stout
In order to fight through diabetes, one must understand the disease. “Diabetes is a disease that occurs when the body is unable to use sugar properly, resulting in high levels of blood sugar” (Brill 101). Specifically, type 1 diabetes is typically diagnosed in children or young adults and is when the pancreas produces little to no insulin, so sugar …show more content…
At his annual physical, the doctors found sugar in his blood, but Ron had no idea what this meant until the doctors explained diabetes to him. Doctors advised Santo to start paying close attention to his body, especially when playing baseball, so he read all the information he could about his disease. At age eighteen, Ron read, “the life expectancy of a juvenile diabetic is twenty-five years. It is the number one cause of blindness, the number two cause of kidney failure, and number three cause of hardened arteries.” These words changed his mindset towards life (15).
Ron Santo’s fame was due to his success in his baseball career. His outstanding high school career made many Major League Baseball teams want to sign him, but he decided to sign with the Chicago Cubs as a third baseman (Stout 20). He made his major league debut on June 26, 1960 (Santo, R). Santo went on to become a five-time Gold Glove winner and a perennial All-Star, and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012 (Stout