I first met Ron as a little kid when I got his autograph at Wrigley Field and he treated all the kids like they were his own-like gold. Later,when I got into the media,as did Ron, I got to know him very well, be on a first name basis with him,and can tell you there was no more genuine person. 

Being on the air on 670-The Score when news of Ron’s passing came in around 4:15am flashed me back to the summer of 1998 when Jack Brickhouse passes away around 1am when I also was on the Score and I also broke it to listeners. Like back then, callers started lighting up the phone lines with their favorite Ran Santo thoughts,moments and memories and that was a big tonic for me. 

Ronnie, thanks for the great career you gave Chicago, and the friendship. It’s tough to say this, but Rest In Peace. 

The White Sox have agreeed to terms with 1B-DH Adam Dunn on a four year-$56 million deal pending a Friday physical. Sox GM Kenny Williams wouldn’t quite go as far on Thursday’s call as full confirmation, but he still stopped all of the hypothetical Dunn questions by deferring to a Friday get-together at U.S. Cellular Field as a better place and time for such inquiries. “Why don’t we do this,” said Williams, when asked the first question about Dunn. “Why don’t we talk about that tomorrow at 2 p.m. [CT] at the ballpark.”

A.J. Pierzynski has re-signed with the for two years and $8 million. The Sox have declined to offer a contract to closer Bobby Jenks, but have exercised a club option on shortstop Alexei Ramirez for next season.The White Sox also chose Thursday to not give a contract to lefty reliever Erick Threets.

Brandon Wood scored 19 points and hit the go-ahead basket in overtime as Valparaiso fought back for a 68-66 victory over UIC in a Horizon League opener Thursday night.The Crusaders (5-2) trailed by as many as 14 points and were down by 10 with 4:47 left in regulation. But they finally tied it 62-62 on Ryan Broekhoff’s 3-pointer with 1:01 left in the second half. Wood then hit the first two baskets in overtime, and Valparaiso won its third in a row.Cory Johnson scored 15, Howard Little 12 and Broekhoff 10.Paul Carter paced the Flames (4-4) with 18 points. Brad Birton added 11 and Zavion Neely 10.The Flames outrebounded Valparaiso 44-34 but went just 1 of 14 from 3-point distance.UIC led 36-24 at intermission.

ROSEMONT—Tony Freeland scored a career-high 25 points and Brandon Young added 17 as DePaul defeated Northern Illinois 86-84 on Thursday night.The Blue Demons (2-4) led by as many as 17 points late in the first half and were up 38-28 at halftime. They finished shooting 26 of 58 from the floor and 32 for 41 from the free-throw line.Xavier Silas helped the Huskies (2-4) rally in the second half and pull within the final score on a 3-pointer in the final second. Silas, who entered the game seventh in the nation in scoring at 24.8 points per game, finished with a game-high 34 points to tie his season best.Jeremy Landers added 14 points for the Huskies while Nate Rucker pitched in with 13.Mike Stovall finished with 16 points for DePaul.

Jameer Nelson scored 24 points and the Orlando Magic dominated the paint and cruised to a 107-78 victory over the Bulls on Wednesday night, spoiling the debut of Carlos Boozer.Boozer played his first game of the season after missing all of the preseason games plus the first 15 of the regular season after breaking the fifth metatarsal in his right hand in an accident at his home on Oct. 2.He looked like a player who hadn’t played in a while. Tentative most of the game, Boozer finished with five points and two rebounds in 22 minutes, shooting 2 for 5 from the floor.Vince Carter scored 22 points for Orlando, Brandon Bass had 17 off the bench and Nelson added nine assists.Joakim Noah led the Bulls with 16 points in 25 minutes, but failed to grab a rebound. Noah entered the contest as the NBA’s second-leading rebounder with 13.2 per game.Noah hadn’t gone an entire game without a rebound since Dec. 27, 2008, a contest in which he played just six minutes. In games in which Noah has played eight or more minutes, he’d never gone without a rebound.Derrick Rose added 15 points in 32 minutes for the Bulls.Carter scored 20 points during the first half. The Magic finished with a 44-21 edge in rebounding, a 27-13 advantage in second-chance points and outscored the Bulls 46-26 in the paint. The Bulls entered the game third in the NBA in rebounding percentage.Dwight Howard scored 13 points for Orlando and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.Orlando led by as many as 25 points in the first half, but the Bulls closed with 16 a couple of times after halftime. However, Quentin Richardson hit a pair 3-pointers and Rashard Lewis hit another as the Magic pushed the lead back to 26 points.The Bulls got no closer than 19 points thereafter, as the fourth quarter played out with mostly with reserves on the floor, a letdown for the sellout crowd of 21,435 in the United Center,the first game at their since Nov. 13. The game ended to the sound of boos.The Bulls (9-7) last played on Saturday, a 96-85 win over Sacramento that completed a seven-game road trip during which they went 4-3, and should have been well rested. Instead, it was the Magic with the fresh-looking legs.The Magic played at Orlando on Tuesday and despite the short rest — and a virus going around the team that had forward Mickael Pietrus vomiting in the hallway at one point in the first half — Orlando had little trouble in raising its Eastern Conference-best record to 14-4.Orlando has won five straight games overall. The Magic entered the game tied with the Boston Celtics for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

NOTES—The Bulls are considered one of the up-and-coming challengers to the conference’s elite teams, but also lost to Orlando 105-67 in a preseason game on Oct. 16. … Carter passed John Stockton for 37th place on the NBA’s career scoring list. Carter now has 19,714 points during his 12-plus seasons in the league. … Boozer, considered the crown jewel of the Bulls’ offseason rebuilding plan, was injured shortly before the start of the preseason schedule. He said that he fell over a bag that had been left on the floor when he rushed to answer the door of his apartment.

Matt Howard and Zach Hahn scored 15 points apiece and Butler held on to defeat Loyola 65-63 in the Horizon League opener for both schools Wednesday night.Hahn made a pair of free throws with 7 seconds left to give Butler a three-point lead. Loyola could only manage a free throw by Courtney Stanley with 3 seconds left.Butler (4-2), the four-time defending Horizon champion who was the national runner-up last season, led 38-28 at halftime before the Ramblers (7-1) rallied, but Loyola never drew even. Shawn Vanzant’s 3-pointer with 3 minutes left gave the Bulldogs a 63-56 lead. Reserve Geoff McCammon scored 14 points to lead Loyola. Andy Polka added 12 points and nine rebounds and Jordan Hicks had 10 points and nine rebounds.The Ramblers are off to their best start since 1962-63, when they began 21-0 and ended the season with the NCAA championship.