Hello Baseball Fans,
Late last night, we lost a great, great legend with the passing of Ernie ‘Mr. Cub’ Banks. He was 83 years young, just eight days short of his birthday. And to say we lost a legend is to say that America, not just baseball, has one less all so friendly icon to look to for a needed smile or momentary distraction from the real world. We all know his famous line of ‘Let’s play two’. This could only be renowned from someone who possessed that child-like enthusiasm. And considering that no one ever accused his Cubs teams of being great, much less good, only backs that notion. Sadly, his Cubs record of games played, (2,528), is also the record for any player to appear in and not play in the postseason. (He also only played in 3 expansion era seasons where there were two divisions per league, thus doubling the playoff teams each year.)
Few, if any, other players have enjoyed all that the game of baseball (or any other) has brought them. Ernie played the game like a kid, embraced the game like a kid, and stayed close to the game like a kid does via Wrigley Field and Hall of Fame appearances long after his playing days. Correction, LONG after. He was elected in 1977, his first year of eligibility, with over 83% of the vote. Impressive.
Personally, I can specifically remember seeing his smiling, happy face in 2005 on the sidewalks of Cooperstown on HOF Induction Weekend. He was sitting at his table and taking in the crowd. To explain, every year, upwards of 50 Hall of Famers flock to the birthplace of baseball to celebrate, commiserate, and annunciate the Hall’s members, both old and new. Many of them are available to sign baseballs and other memorabilia items for a fair price (free would just be ridiculously crazy). Most of them arrive in a back door of a hotel or card shop; for the crowds are large in the small town. And it’s hot out there in the waning days of July so that’s understandable. However, few of the game’s biggest icons, and Ernie is obviously amongst THE biggest I saw in the three years I attended the full weekend’s worth of festivities, sat at a folding table and waited for people to redeem their pre-purchased ticket for an autograph, handshake and picture, and, oh yeah, that friendly smile. Well Ernie did just that. Most of the big guys are inside where it’s, well, a bit more sheltered. You have to be outside to play two, in most places, and certainly in Ernie’s era. I’m not knocking the other greats at all, I’m just tipping my cap to Ernie.
As three of us walked around town with an agenda of coordinating our tickets at different places and times, I remember thinking that I should just seize the opportunity and get one more ticket for that quick, but certainly memorable, moment with ‘Mr. Cub’. Unfortunately, I had already purchased tickets for Orioles’ greats, Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson, icons in their own rights, no doubt. I never did pull the trigger that year and even went back one more time in ’08, only to fail again. Could have and should have. Two plays, two errors. E-Me.
On the field, Ernie is known for his big bat as he’s tied for 22nd all-time with Eddie Mathews at 512 HRs. He also won a Gold Glove in 1960. His 277 HRs as a shortstop are still the National League record (Cal Ripken Jr.’s 344 are best in AL). In 19 seasons, he had 2,583 hits and 1,636 RBI. Oddly, he played in 163 games in 1965. That stat stood out to me. It’s not like the Cubs had a playoff game, which count as regular season statistics, to determine the team going to the postseason. Not even close, they were under .500 in ’65. During the season, two games were played to ties (I’m guessing both were Cubs home games and no lights are the reason). Since there is no tie in baseball, the games didn’t count on the team record, but all player stats did count. His teammate Ron Santo bested him by one and played in a buck, sixty-four. Wow. Sometimes, 162 just isn’t enough. Especially fitting for Ernie.
Sadly, Ernie, like the great Ted Williams, never witnessed his beloved team win the World Series. Here’s to hoping that he’ll have a great seat on a sunny and warm day up above the day ‘next year’ finally arrives. They won’t schedule a double-header of course, but maybe we can get some free extra innings baseball when the Cubs take their first title since 1908 with their first Fall Classic appearance since ’45. Maybe ’15 will be the year. They can dedicate it Number 14. RIP Ernie.
Later Baseball Fans.