John Blanchette

July 31, 2005

Ryne Sandberg was close to his late parents, Derwent and Elizabeth, and still treasures their guidance. But in most respects, he set his compass by his older brother, Del.

If Del, six years older, and his friends went to the playground at old Bancroft school to play basketball, Ryne tagged along. Baseball at North Central, golf at Downriver, swimming at Cannon pool, you name it.

Despite his own success as an athlete and coach, Olympia's Del Sandberg says he will always be known as "Ryne Sandberg's brother." (Tony Overman/The Olympian)

"And he held his own," Del said.

But it was seeing what happened to Del when he went off to play baseball at Washington State that came to change Ryne Sandberg's life.

"I had some looks from scouts when I was at NC, but I always felt they lost some interest when I decided to go to college," said Del, who has taught in Olympia since graduating from WSU. "I think that had a lot to do with Ryne's decision to sign a pro contract and not go to college. I tried to lay it out for him – do you want to go to school and try to play a sport, or even two, and maybe or maybe not get the chance to play professionally, or do you want to take this opportunity now?"

Those options were presented with mixed emotions "because I would have loved to have seen him play quarterback at WSU," Del said.