Former Chicago Cubs outfielder Matt Szczur paid homage to crew icon Ryne Sandberg by way of a singular means: artwork.
Since retiring, Szczur has constructed up a following on Instagram (125,000 followers) and TikTok (19,200 followers) posting, amongst different issues, movies of himself portray. His most up-to-date venture was a tribute to Sandberg, a Corridor of Fame Cubs infielder who died on Monday at 65 years outdated.
“Ryne Sandberg wasn’t only a baseball legend,” Szczur wrote within the publish’s caption on Instagram. “He was a quiet chief, a real skilled, and one of many greats we ALL regarded as much as. Grateful for every little thing he gave this recreation and all of us who liked it. Sharing time with Ryne on and off the sector are recollections I am going to always remember. Relaxation in peace, Ryno.”
The video of Szczur creating the portrait reveals the previous Main Leaguer incorporating numerous baseball-themed strategies into his course of, together with hitting cups of paint off a batting tee and throwing paint overhand onto the canvas.
Sandberg spent 15 of his 16 MLB seasons with Chicago after being traded to the Cubs by the Philadelphia Phillies forward of the 1982 season. He would go on to amass 10 All-Star nods and 9 Gold Gloves whereas within the Windy Metropolis, profitable Nationwide League MVP in 1984.
Szczur performed solely 4 main league seasons in Chicago, however his time with the group was memorable for an additional purpose — he was a part of the 2016 Cubs squad that ended the crew’s 108-year World Sequence drought.