Ernie Banks
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| Ernie Banks | ||
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| Shortstop / First Baseman | ||
| Born: January 31, 1931 Dallas, Texas |
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| Batted: Right | Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | ||
| September 17, 1953 for the Chicago Cubs |
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| Final game | ||
| September 26, 1971 for the Chicago Cubs |
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| Career statistics | ||
| Batting average | .274 | |
| Home runs | 512 | |
| Run batted in | 1,636 | |
| Teams | ||
| Career highlights and awards | ||
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| Member of the National | ||
 Baseball Hall of Fame |
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| Elected | 1977 | |
| Vote | 83.8% (first ballot) | |
Ernest "Ernie" Banks (born January 31, 1931 in Dallas, Texas) is an American former Major League baseball player who played his entire career with the Chicago Cubs (1953-1971). Banks is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. His nickname is Mr. Cub. He currently resides in the Los Angeles area.
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[edit] High school years
Banks was a letterman and standout in football, basketball, and track.
[edit] Playing career
Banks signed with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League in 1950 and broke into the Major Leagues in 1953 with the Chicago Cubs as their first black player. He played for the Cubs his entire career, starting at shortstop and moving to first base in 1962.
Initially Banks' double play partner was Gene Baker, the second black player on the Cubs, and Banks' roommate on road trips. When Steve Bilko would play first base, Cubs' announcer and home-town rooter Bert Wilson would refer to the Banks-Baker-Bilko double play combination as "Bingo to Bango to Bilko". This combination would not last quite as long as "Tinker to Evers to Chance", but Banks would become a Cubs institution.
Banks wore number 14 as a Cub, and is the first of only four Cubs players who have had their number retired by the organization. Other players had worn number 14 previously, of course. Earlier in 1953, Paul Schramka had carried that number. It was originally worn by Guy Bush in 1932, the first year the Cubs wore numbers on their jerseys. [Info from list in current Cubs' media guide]
Banks became well known for his catch phrase of, "It's a beautiful day for a ballgame... Let's play two!", expressing his wish to play a doubleheader every day out of his pure love for the game of baseball, especially in his self-described "friendly confines of Wrigley Field." In 1955, he set the record for grand slams in a single season with five, a record that stood for over twenty years.
Banks won the National League Most Valuable Player Award twice, in 1958 and 1959 despite the fact that the Cubs were not pennant contenders during the season. Jimmy Dykes reportedly remarked that, "Without him, the Cubs would finish in Albuquerque!"[1]
On September 2, 1965, Banks hit his 400th home run, and five years later, on May 12, 1970 at Chicago's Wrigley Field, hit his 500th home run. Banks finished his career with 512 home runs, and his 277 homers as a shortstop were the most ever at the time of his retirement. (Alex Rodriguez now holds the record for most homers as a shortstop with 345.) Ernie Banks also currently holds the record for most extra base hits by a Cub with 1,009. Banks also holds the teams records for games played (2528), at-bats (9421) and total bases (4706).
[edit] Coaching career
On December 1, 1971, Banks retired as a player, and the Cubs signed him as a coach.
On May 8, 1973, Cubs manager Whitey Lockman was ejected in the 11th inning of a game against the San Diego Padres. Coach Ernie Banks filled in as manager for the remainder of the game, which the Cubs won 3-2 in 12 innings. Thus, he was technically, if not officially, MLB's first black manager, predating Frank Robinson's hiring by almost two years.
[edit] Honors
Banks is regarded as one of the most popular baseball players in Chicago sports history. He was a constant promoter of the Cubs and of daytime play at Wrigley Field. His popularity and positive attitude led to the nicknames "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine".
On August 22, 1982, his uniform number 14 became the first to be retired by the Cubs. It had already been de facto retired for nearly 9 years, not having been assigned to anyone else following Banks' retirement from the coaching ranks.
In 1977, in his first year of eligibility, Banks was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In 1999, he ranked Number 38 on The Sporting News list of Baseball's Greatest Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
On March 31, 2008, a statue of Banks was unveiled outside Wrigley Field. Upon its unveiling, the base of the statue was revealed to contain a typographical error, reading "Lets play two" rather than the grammatically correct "Let's play two." Two days later Sculptor Lou Cella came down to the ballpark early in the morning and carved the apostrophe.
[edit] Other
During Banks' career, the Cubs were rarely in contention despite his brilliance. They failed to finish in the first division every season until late in his career. Consequently, Banks holds the Major League record of most games played without a postseason appearance (2528). [1]
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Ernie Banks operated car dealership Ernie Banks Ford on Stony Island Avenue in Chicago.
In June of 2006, Crain's Chicago Business reported that Ernie Banks was part of a group looking into buying the Chicago Cubs, in case the Tribune Company decides to sell the club.[2]
Ernie Banks established his own charity, the Live Above & Beyond Foundation, to eliminate prejudice, support programs that enhance neighborhoods and relieve discrimination among various age groups and races. In 2008, Banks released a charity wine called Ernie Banks 512 Chardonnay, a nod to his 512 career home runs, with all of his proceeds donated to his foundation.
Banks is the great-uncle of Atlanta Hawks point guard Acie Law IV.[2]
[edit] Years led league by statistical category
- Shortstop Major League Leader:
- Fielding Average - 1 time
- Fewest errors - 1 time
- National League Leader:
- Games played - 6 times
- Extra base hits - 4 times
- Home runs - 2 times
- RBIs - 2 times
- Slugging percentage - 1 time
- Total bases - 1 time
- At bats - 1 time
[edit] See also
- First black MLB players by team and date
- List of Major League Baseball Home Run Records
- 500 home run club
- List of baseball players who went directly to the major leagues
- DHL Hometown Heroes
- List of top 500 Major League Baseball home run hitters
- List of major league players with 2,000 hits
- List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
- List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
- List of Major League Baseball home run champions
- MLB consecutive games played streaks
- Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game
[edit] References
- ^ "Ernie Banks", The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
- ^ "Ernie Banks Eyes Bid for Chicago Cubs", Steven Strahler, Crain's Chicago Business, June 9, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- applegate-art.com Gallery of Banks' Topps Baseball Cards
- baseballhalloffame.org – Hall of Fame biography page
- visionaryproject.com Biography and video interview excerpts
- The HistoryMakers Biography and video clips
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