Ryne Sandberg is a quiet man who lets his bat and glove do the talking. He won the National League Most Valuable Player award in 1984 and has set numerous major league offensive and defensive records for second basemen. He has won ten Gold Glove awards for fielding excellence and once hit 40 home runs in one season. Many experts consider Sandberg to be the best second baseman to ever play the game. But you'll never hear that from him, as he retired in 1997 with only one goal unmet: winning a World Series.

Ryne Dee Sandberg was born September 18, 1959, in Spokane, Washington. His father, Derwent, was a mortician, and his mother, Elizabeth, a nurse. The youngest of four children, Sandberg and his family lived on West Augusta Street in Spokane. His parents couldn't decide on a name when they were expecting Sandberg until they heard a television announcer introduce the...