A friendly face in the Confines - Chicago Cub Ryne Sandberg

The baseball gods are in a charitable mood these days, no doubt because they feel sorry about what happened last year. They give Clevelanders their first World Series since we liked Ike, confer a title upon Atlanta, throw just enough playoff bones to Seattle to keep the franchise there, even let Don Mattingly see what October's all about it is probably a matter of time before ivy grows into the picture.

The Cubs haven't been to the World Series since 1945 and haven't won it since 1908. They unquestionably are on their way back up, with the astute Andy MacPhail-Ed Lynch-Jim Riggleman regime, Brian McRae's speed, Sammy Sosa's power, Mark Grace's glove and Randy Myers' security system. The Cubs figured to tinker a little more, call up outfield phenom Brooks Kieschnick, maybe will a 1996 wild-card berth or even the National League Central.

What no one counted on was Ryne Sandberg. You remember him: Great glove, great bat, great personal life. Retired in 1994 at the age of 34, saying he was fed up with the old Larry Himes regime and no longer was in a baseball state of mind. Sandberg said last week he would be coming back in 1996, like michael Jordan without the 45, coming back to second base with a one-year contract a new wife and a new lease on life. What remains to be seen is whether this is the baseball gods' offering to Wrigley Field, that nudge that gets Harry Caray to the World Series -- or whether Ryno just got in the way.

To Sandberg's legions, it's probably impossible to imagine the latter. But this is not about riding a bike. This is about seeing Mark Wohlers' heat and short-hop grounders day in, day out. It's hard to kick back for a year and a half and come back the same, especially when you're 36. It's not impossible, as Ted Williams and Bronko Nagurski showed. Williams, who had endured three years of combat in World War II as a Kid, played only fragments of the '52 and '53 seasons because the Marines summoned him again, to Korea. In 1954, at 36, Williams batted .345 and hit 29 home runs, restarting a career that would include many more $300-plus seasons -- further proof he is the best hitter who ever lived. Nagurski, the football immortal who found comic relief in his roles as a pro wrestler, joined the Bears in 1930 and retired after the '37 season, when he was 29. Nagurski returned to the Bears for the '43 season and helped them win the NFL championship, scoring a touchdown that put Chicago ahead for good in a 41-21 victory over Washington in the title game.

Sandberg wasn't in the Williams or Nagurski class when he left, nor is he to be confused with Jordan the baseball player, who couldn't hit real pitching during his 17-month hiatus. And it's n like there was a line of successors when they tried to find a second baseman for the N.L. All-Star team this year; neither Craig Biggio nor Mickey Morandini were automatic ballot punches. But to expect the old Ryno -- the 9-Gold Glove, 245-homer, 905-RBI, 325-steal Ryno -- is a leap of faith. His skills were eroding before he quit, which is putting it mildly. His offensive numbers had steadily shrunk from a 1990 season in which he led the National League with 40 homers. He hit .238 in 1994, way below his .289 career average.

Re-signing Sandberg is a gamble of sorts for the Cubs, because now they have to decide whether to re-sign free agent Shawon Dunston and move him to third (axing Todd Zeile), so Rey Sanchez can be bumped from second to his natural position, shortstop. More than likely they will let Dunston price himself out of the picture and use the savings Sandberg's $2-million salary means more payroll flexibility -- on another free-agent infielder. Two things are certain: (a) Sandberg is not going to be moved from second base, and (b) a MacPhail-run organization some. how will find a way.

By signing Sandberg for just a year, the Cubs at least protect themselves in case he is better equipped as a PGA Tour caddie, one of his vacation time-killers. The club can reduce its exposure if the year-and-a-half layoff has taken more of a toll than we might expect," MacPhail says. "The spectrum of how this could play out could be very good, it could be disappointing." Sandberg, of course, doesn't foresee the latter. He began working out a month ago and sounds like someone on a mission. 'I think time is on my side, having five months to work out and to get ready for the season," he says. "I'd like to start going to the facilities, maybe starting in the first part of February and getting a little jump on things."

Waiting with open arms in Mesa will be Grace, another marquee player who knows what it's like to play through marital problems. He says Sandberg's leadership alone would help. Indeed, Sandberg has been to the postseason twice with the Cubs. "If he's got that desire back, he's one of the ultimate bulldogs, one of the best," Grace says. "I don't think Ryno would allow himself to come back and play poorly. He'll know in spring training whether he's got it or not Ryno's not one who will go out and embarass himself. If he's got the ability, he'll do it. And if he doesn't have the ability, hell let someone else do it"

That's just what some Cub-watchers fear, and Ron Santo is one of them. You have to respect his opinion on this matter, too. Santo retired at age 34, his body willing but his head no longer in the game, after 15 seasons. He also was an All-Star infield regular with a good bat and glove, probably a Hall of Famer if he had lasted longer. Santo has been a Cubs broadcaster the last six years and, like a lot of us, would just as soon remember the old Ryno. "I just can't see it happening," Santo says. "In my personal opinion, it's a mistake. ... This man had lost that edge. At the age of 36, you're not going to get it back. This man left the game with not the same kind of abilities that he had when he was younger. I know what it means when he tells us that he has lost the edge. I'm kind of negative about this." But then, as with most other critics, Santo adds a disclaimer "He's a very happy man now, and maybe without all this stress now it will work. You can't overlook Ryno."

Is Sandberg another gift from the baseball gods? Or is the ex-cub factor about to eat its own? Hey, at the very least we have something besides a strike to look forward to. Perhaps we should heed the advice of columnist Mike Royko of the Chicago Tribune, the company that also employs Sandberg: "Chances are that Sandberg will still be pretty good. After all, he hasn't spent the last year lying in the gutter eating Twinkies and dringking chocolate malts. And while being pretty good isn't as good as being great being pretty good is still pretty good. If everybody was pretty good, we'd have a pretty good society."

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