Santo is voted into the Hall of Fame

Ron Santo always kept rooting for the causes dearest to him -- for his Chicago Cubs to win the World Series, for doctors to find a cure for diabetes and for his election to the Hall of Fame.

On Monday, Cooperstown finally came calling.

The barrel-chested third baseman who clicked his heels in victory was elected to the Hall, overwhelmingly chosen by the Veterans Committee nearly a year to the day after he died hoping for this very honor.

Santo was a nine-time All-Star, hit 342 home runs and won five Gold Gloves. He was a Cubs broadcaster for two decades, beloved by the home crowd for the way he eagerly cheered for his favorite team on the air, hollering “Yes! Yes!” or “All right!” after good plays and groaning “Oh, no!” or “It’s bad” when things went wrong.

ETC.

Busch, Penske end their partnership

Kurt Busch and Penske Racing parted ways after six bumpy seasons, a split that clouds the former champion’s future in NASCAR as he embarks on a personal journey to reclaim his passion for racing.

The team and driver said ending the relationship was a “mutual agreement,” but many believe Busch was fired in the fallout of yet another embarrassing incident. A fan caught Busch on video verbally abusing an ESPN reporter during last month’s season finale, and Busch was fined $50,000 by NASCAR after the clip was posted on YouTube.

Busch, though, was insistent leaving Penske is probably the best thing for him personally and seemed at peace during an interview with the Associated Press.

“What’s troublesome is this five letter ‘f-i-r-e-d’ word is being used, but it’s obvious to me that looking back, I was very unhappy over the second half of the season,” Busch told the AP.

“I need to put the fun back into racing for me. I want to be a better driver and a better person. Today is the day that begins.”

--

Chevron has decided not to renew its title sponsorship of the Chevron World Challenge, which Tiger Woods won Sunday to get his first victory in more than two years. The company had been the title sponsor of the event, at Sherwood Country Club, for four years.

Tournament director Greg McLaughlin said that he was confident he would be able to find another title sponsor and that Sherwood had extended its contract to host the tournament through 2015.

--

Brendon Todd shot a final-round four-under-par 68 on the Jack Nicklaus Stadium Course at La Quinta to win the PGA Tour qualifying tournament by one stroke, earning his tour card for 2012.

Todd had a six-day total of 17-under 415 and earned $50,000 for the win.

--

New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain ailment related to Alzheimer’s disease that is caused by repeated blows to the head, the New York Times reported.

Boogaard, who was 28 when he died in May of an accidental overdose of alcohol and oxycodone, was found to have had CTE -- which can be diagnosed only after the death of the patient, the newspaper reported.