Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg's Cubs teammates cheering him on in cancer battle

MESA, Ariz. — Cubs great Rick Sutcliffe has been plotting to get Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg out to spring training this year.

Sandberg has become a fixture at spring training since taking on an ambassador role in 2016. But for about two months, he has been undergoing treatment for metastatic prostate cancer.

Sandberg has invited Cubs fans into the process with him, posting frequent updates on Instagram. He partnered with Obvious Shirts on a “Ryno Strong” line, with the proceeds going to Cubs charities, cancer research and cancer awareness.

“Our medical Team released the results at halfway point of Chemo,” Sandberg posted Friday. “ ‘The results are just what we had hoped for at this stage of [the] game!’ Great news as medicine is working and me feeling good is a positive direction on beating this journey! Keep the positive vibes and prayers coming because that’s playing a big part as well. Couldn’t be more grateful to all!”

Sutcliffe, a cancer survivor himself, has kept at it.

“I got some great advice about setting goals and staying positive,” Sutcliffe told the Sun-Times last month. “That’s what I’m doing with him. . . . Get your a-- out here.”

He put it like only a close friend of 40 years could.

Whether Sandberg swings by spring training or not, he’s scheduled to see plenty of former teammates, including Sutcliffe, when the Cubs unveil his statue outside of Wrigley Field on June 23. Members of the 1984 team, celebrating the 40th anniversary of their postseason drought-breaking season, plan to be there to support him.

“That right there is a brother from another mother,” Hall of Famer Lee Smith said over the phone. “If anybody can beat this, he can.”

Said Bobby Dernier: “When I got the news, it made me sick to my stomach. When I talked to him, once I heard his voice, it calmed down a little bit. He’s in battleship mode, and we’re all praying for him.”

Sandberg’s former teammates have seen him in “battleship mode” plenty of times before.

In his playing days, Sandberg was known for being dedicated, quiet and deeply competitive.

When Sutcliffe was traded to the Cubs midway through the 1984 season, he said everyone on the team went out of their way to welcome him — except Sandberg. After a couple of weeks, Sutcliffe finally confronted him.

Sutcliffe remembers Sandberg responding: “You don’t remember?”

“No.”

“You drilled me.”

In spring training two years earlier, Sutcliffe went to barehand a line-drive comebacker off Ty Waller’s bat and suffered a thumb injury that kept him out of the rotation to start the season.

Sutcliffe said he insisted on staying in the game. But he hit a batter with the next pitch he threw and finally relented.

Two years later, that batter still hadn’t let it go.

“I started laughing because I didn’t know who he was,” Sutcliffe said. “It took him a little while, but, from that point on, we both bought houses in the same area, and he and I rode to the ballpark every day for seven years.”

Though serious about his craft, Sandberg wasn’t always stoic around his teammates. The same qualities that made him a fearsome opponent also made him an accomplished prankster. In the mid-1980s, the hotfoot prank was going strong in baseball.

“Ryno was the best at it,” Jody Davis said in a phone call. “Because Ryno was so quiet, no one would suspect him. Ryno would slip into a conversation, sit down, lean over and light somebody’s shoes on fire, get up and walk away.”

Sandberg’s teammates now see a man going into battle armed with that sneaky sense of humor and legendary competitive streak.

“If anybody can beat this thing, Ryno can, man,” Davis said. “Because that’s just Ryno.”

Sutcliffe described Sandberg as an “iron man” on the field, for how reliable he was year in and year out. Sutcliffe’s initial reaction to Sandberg’s diagnosis was: “Not him. Not Ryno.”

The longtime friends are in regular contact. Most of the time, they’re sharing lighthearted jabs over text. But sometimes their conversations turn more serious.

“I told Ryno the same thing that they told me,” Sutcliffe said. “You’re going to die with it, but you don’t have to die from it.”