The Ron Santo, Bill Holden Story: Amazing Fundraisers For Diabetes Cure

Some men are tough in spirit, grit and determination, despite chronic debilitating diseases. This is the story of two such men who overcame tremendous odds and went on to help raise millions of dollars for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Ron Santo was born February 25, 1940 and died December 2, 2010. When he was 18 years old he was diagnosed with type I diabetes and given a life expectancy of 25 years. Ron was a gifted baseball player and said to his doctor, "I wish you could keep my diabetes secret because I want to prove a diabetic can play major league baseball."

His doctor respected his wishes and Ron Santo made his major league debut on June 26, 1960 and went on to have a stellar career as third baseman for the Chicago Cubs. Playing in an era when there was no equipment to self-monitor blood sugar levels, Ron used the way he "felt" to assess blood sugars and ate candy bars in the clubhouse and dugout when he thought his sugar dropped low. Sometimes he played with blurred vision or a shaky, weak feeling, but he never missed a game until 1966 when he was sidelined for nearly two weeks following a pitch that fractured his cheekbone and ended his consecutive playing streak.

Throughout most of his 14 year baseball career no-one except a few teammates knew that he suffered from diabetes because he feared that if this information were to be known he would be forced into retirement. In 1971, as part of the publicity surrounding "Ron Santo Day" at Wrigley Field, he finally revealed his struggle with diabetes and on September 29, 1974 he played his last major league game.

In 2001 his right leg was amputated below the knee and in 2002 he lost his left leg. In 2004 his son, Jeff Santo, wrote, co-produced and directed a documentary film about his baseball career and his struggles with diabetes called, This Old Cub.

From 1974 until the time of his death, Ron Santo endorsed the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's (JDRF) annual Ron Santo Walk to Cure Diabetes and helped raise 60 million dollars for the JDRF. And it was this desire to raise funds that created a connection between Ron and the other man in our story, "Wild" Bill Holden.

Bill Holden, born in 1948 in Elgin, Illinois was an avid Chicago Cubs fan and Ron Santo was his favorite player, so it was only natural that Bill's son gave him a DVD of This Old Cub. Please watch the trailer and we'll continue our story.

Bill watched the documentary 5 times on New Year's Eve 2004 and by morning he was convinced that he had to do something to help find a cure for diabetes. But what could he do? He was a divorced, unemployed 56 year old teacher, who was overweight and had 2 arthritic knees that the doctor had advised him to have knee replacement surgery on but because of insurance difficulties he couldn't afford to have surgery.

But despite all those obstacles "Wild" Bill decided to walk from the Cubs' Spring Training facility in Mesa, Arizona (which was near his home), all the way to Wrigley Field in Chicago, a total of 2100 miles in hopes of raising money for diabetes research. He contacted Jeff Santo with his plan and Jeff and his co-producer, Tim Comstock, decided to back him by donating $5 from every This Old Cub DVD and VHS sold from the day Bill started walking on January 11, 2005 until the day of his anticipated arrival at Wrigley Field in June. It was hoped that $250,000 would be raised.

His charity walk made national headlines and when he was half way through it one reporter asked what his doctors had said about his plans, Bill answered, "What would most doctors say? 'Don't do it. You won't make it. Well screw 'em. Sure I'm sore. Sure it hurts. But how can I complain about having sore knees when Ron Santo doesn't even have any legs? I take it slow. Didn't the tortoise win that race with the hare? I'm making it."

And make it he did, trudging 12 miles each day across six states, including Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois. When he finally arrived at Wrigley Field on July 1, 2005 Ron Santo stood on the mound waiting for him and the 2 men embraced as 40,000 people stood and cheered. The Cubs played the Washington Nationals that day and during the game's 7th inning stretch Ron and Bill sang, Take me Out to the Ballgame."

I end this story with a quote from Ron Santo that pretty well sums up the character of both these men. "Until adversity hits you, and I had open heart surgery and lost both my legs, you think I can't get through it, but really, you do what you have to do. I say that to everybody. You only have one way to go, and that's a positive way."

Ron Santo dreamed of being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame one day, and to the great dismay of many of his fans, to date that hasn't happened, but he left a more important legacy- he proved that people with diabetes can overcome the challenges they face and achieve amazing things such as raising 60 million dollars toward finding a cure for diabetes. He is an inspiration to millions of fans and to kids and adults who still suffer from this disease. He will be sorely missed by those who admired and loved him.