Did you know Ryne Sandberg once sported a wildly controversial mustache?
The second annual Cubs Convention (née Die-Hard Cubs Fan Club Cubsfest) was held in 1987 at Chicago’s Hyatt Regency on the last weekend of January. Ryne Sandberg appeared as a panelist at the “For Women Only” session to answer fan questions, along with teammates Gary Matthews, Keith Moreland, and Jamie Moyer. The Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan deemed it noteworthy to include, albeit parenthetically, that Sandberg was “sporting a new mustache” that weekend.
When the Cubs reported to spring training in February, the legend of Sandberg’s new look continued to grow. Initially, his whiskers were described as “pencil-thin…more like Wayne Newton’s than Hulk Hogan’s.”
Sandberg’s wife, Cindy, took the blame, “he ran out of shaving cream and I forgot to get some. It looks okay I guess. I’m kind of used to it.”
In mid-March, Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune noted, “Sandberg has a new mustache but plans to approach the 1987 season with the same workmanlike discipline that he has shown in the past.” The article included a photo of the mustachioed Sandberg.
The Chicago Sun-Times then ran a poll, asking readers to vote whether Sandberg should keep the mustache or ditch it. Some responders were pragmatic, “I don’t care if he looks like Abraham Lincoln. Just so he hits .300 and steals 50 bases,” wrote one. Others described the look as “sexy,” “distinguished,” and “a slice of heaven.” Another anointed Sandberg “the new Tom Selleck.”
Regardless, the results announced by the Sun-Times on April 5 were overwhelmingly in favor of a clean-shaven Ryno. The tally was 602 in favor of shaving the mustache and 68 for keeping it. Another 21 undecided votes were submitted.
The results of that poll were published a day late, however.
Fed up with the frivolous attention his facial hair was getting, Sandberg reverted back to a glabrate upper lip in advance of the Cubs’ April 7 home opener, “I shaved it off last night [April 4]. It got so the mustache was all anybody wanted to talk about. It was becoming kind of a distraction. I just want to concentrate on playing baseball.” Sandberg explicitly denied the Sun-Times poll had anything to do with his decision.
Despite sporting a mustache for a very short duration, photos of Ryno with his mustache can be found in several baseball card issues, mainly in issued in 1988.
Additionally, his whiskered look was memorialized on the cover of the 1987 Cubs Gift Catalog and a wall poster.
I mustache you now, how do you feel about a mustachioed Ryne Sandberg?
Checklist:
A list of baseball issues depicting the hirsute Ryno follows, including variations for the completists among us. If you happen to know of any others, please let me know!
- 1988 Fleer Baseball MVPs #29
- 1988 O-Pee-Chee Stickers #23 1987 World Series WS, VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 O-Pee-Chee Stickers #36 Ozzie Virgil VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 O-Pee-Chee Stickers #57 / 225 Ryne Sandberg / Terry Kennedy VAR: John Franco (32) back
- 1988 O-Pee-Chee Stickers #57 / 225 Ryne Sandberg / Terry Kennedy VAR: Dan Plesac (65) back
- 1988 O-Pee-Chee Stickers #102 / 165 Kevin McReynolds / Tony Phillips VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 O-Pee-Chee Stickers #138 / 280 Buddy Bell / Jeff Reardon VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 O-Pee-Chee Stickers #147 Ryne Sandberg AS, Bruce Hurst (62) back
- 1988 O-Pee-Chee Stickers #151 Darryl Strawberry AS, Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 O-Pee-Chee Stickers #158 George Bell AS, Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 O-Pee-Chee Stickers – Super Star Backs #6 Ryne Sandberg
- 1988 Panini Stickers #260
- 1988 Topps All-Star Set Collector’s Edition (Glossy Send-Ins) #14
- 1988 Topps American Baseball (UK Minis) #65
- 1988 Topps Coins #52
- 1988 Topps Stickers #16 1987 NLCS, VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers #27 / 240 Jim Deshaies / Pete O’Brien VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers #34 / 245 Bill Doran / Dwight Evans VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers #36 Ozzie Virgil VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers #57 / 225 Ryne Sandberg / Terry Kennedy VAR: Dale Murphy (18) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers #57 / 225 Ryne Sandberg / Terry Kennedy VAR: Ozzie Virgil (24) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers #57 / 225 Ryne Sandberg / Terry Kennedy VAR: Mark McGwire (36) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers #57 / 225 Ryne Sandberg / Terry Kennedy VAR: Keith Hernandez (3) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers #84 / 307 Denny Martinez / Mike Dunne FS, VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers #100 / 190 Roger McDowell / Jimmy Key VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers #103 / 275 Sid Fernandez / Tom Brunansky VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers #134 / 195 Doug Drabek / Jim Gantner VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers #137 / 208 Nick Esasky / Cory Snyder VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers #142 / 227 John Franco / Billy Ripken VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers #161 Terry Kennedy AS, FOIL, VAR: Ryne Sandberg (6) back
- 1988 Topps Stickers – Super Star Backs #6 Ryne Sandberg
- Unknown Poster Promo Ryno with Rhinoceros NNO
Sources:
Paul Sullivan, “Cubs Give Die Hard Fans Words to Live By,” Chicago Tribune, February 1, 1987.
Joe Goddard, “Cubs Bits,” Chicago Sun-Times, February 20, 1987.
Fred Mitchell, “Despite Mustache, It’s Same Old Sandberg,” Chicago Tribune, March 15, 1987.
Fred Mitchell, “Sandberg’s Mustache Fails to Make Final Cut,” Chicago Tribune, April 5, 1987.
Eddie Gold, “Poll Suggests a Close Shave for Sandberg,” Chicago Sun-Times, April 5, 1987.
“Let’s ‘Stache All that Talk About Ryno,” Chicago Sun-Times, April 6, 1987.
