Ron Santo, the beloved Chicago Cubs player and broadcaster, died Thursday night at age 70.

Santo, who has battled health problems for years, fell into a coma Wednesday night in Arizona and died Thursday of complications from bladder cancer, the Chicago Tribune reported.

After a 15-year playing career spent entirely in Chicago, Santo really wove himself into the fabric of the city as a broadcaster.

"My siblings and I first knew Ron Santo as fans, listening to him in the broadcast booth," Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement. "We knew him for his passion, his loyalty, his great personal courage and his tremendous sense of humor. It was our great honor to get to know him personally in our first year as owners.

"Ronnie will forever be the heart and soul of Cubs fans."

Santo broke into the big leagues with the Cubs in 1960 and became their starting third baseman a year later. He held that job through the 1973 season, making the All-Star team nine times, then headed to the South Side and played one more year for the White Sox before retiring.

It wasn't until 1990 that he joined the Cubs' broadcast team on WGN radio, but he quickly became a fan favorite with his unfiltered approach to calling games. His style was likened to "listening to your crazy uncle yelling at the TV with a beer in his hand."

The Cubs retired Santo's No. 10 jersey in 2003, making him, at the time, only the third former player so honored. Hall of Famers Ernie Banks (14) and Billy Williams (26) were the others.

Santo loved the game, but the one constant source of frustration was that he never made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Fifteen years on the writers' ballot didn't get him in, and he also has fallen short in four subsequent appearances on the Veterans' Committee ballot.

He cut back on his travel schedule in recent years as health problems mounted. Diabetes cost Santo both of his legs, and heart problems were a constant concern. But whenever Santo was at the ballpark, there was no question he was enjoying himself.