This Week in Cubs History: Ron Santo’s Double-Digit Double-Header

In this week’s edition of This Week in Cubs History, we take a look at Ron Santo’s monster double-header against the Montreal Expos. On July 6, 1970, Santo drove in 10 runs over two games to help the Cubs sweep a double-header against the Expos.

After grounding out to lead off the first game, Santo stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the 4th with two outs and a runner on first. He drove the second pitch he saw deep over the ivy for a two-run homer. The Cubs would take the first game 3-2.

The second contest was a little bit more a bloodbath for the Expos. In the 2nd inning, Expo pitcher Mike Wegener allowed three straight walks to load the bases. Santo wasted no time driving those runs in, launching a grand slam give the Cubs a 4-0 lead.

In the 4th, Santo would get his easiest RBI of the game when he walked in a run to push the Cubs’ lead to 7-1. In the bottom of the 6th, he drove in the remainder of his runs with a three-run homer. The Cubs went on to beat the Expos 14-2 in that second game.

Santo finished the day going 3-for-6 with three home runs (missing the homer cycle by a solo shot), two walks, and 10 RBI. It would end up being the most productive single day of a career that included nine All-Star appearances, five Gold Gloves, one singed toupee, and a litany of memorable radio calls alongside Pat Hughes (looking at you, Brant Brown).

And he did it all while battling Type 1 diabetes, which wasn’t nearly as exact a science as it is now. In 2012, well over a year after he died, the Golden Era Committee voted Santo into the Hall of Fame with a 93 percent vote.