7/14/2023 0 Comments Ernie banks 33 rpm recordHe’ll miss some time in 2021 due to injury, but as of now Trout has a lifetime slash line of. Through 1960 - his age-29 season - Banks hit. Can you imagine what Chicago would have been like with a Cubs/ White Sox World Series in 1959?īanks’ 1960 season wasn’t quite as good as the previous two, though he did lead the NL in home runs (41) and finished fourth in MVP voting. A poor pitching staff couldn’t hold up and they finished 74-80, in a compressed league that was only 16 games from first to seventh place they finished 13 games out of first. 304/.374/.596, 45 HR, 143 RBI, led NL in RBI, 7.8 bWARĮrnie almost single-handedly kept the Cubs in contention in 1959 as late as July 29 they were 50-49 and only five games out of first place. He hit “just” 28 home runs in ‘56.Įrnie’s two MVP seasons - he was the first NL player to win back-to-back MVP’s - are among the greatest years in Cubs history.ġ958. It would have been six straight years, but in 1956 Banks missed time with a hand infection, which broke a consecutive-game streak of 424 games. His contemporaries Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, both of whom hit far more homers than Ernie, never did that. He hit 40 or more home runs five of six seasons from 1955-60. He hit 19 home runs his rookie year, finishing second to Wally Moon for NL Rookie of the Year. Even Don Kessinger and Glenn Beckert, All-Stars for many years as the Cubs’ shortstop and second baseman, weren’t great hitters, and many of that time were far worse.īut Banks, installed as the Cubs shortstop in 1954, hit and hit for power immediately. If they hit, so much the better, but some didn’t. When Ernie debuted, middle infielders were expected to produce great defense. In many ways, Banks was the prototype of today’s power-hitting middle infielder. That’s 545, held by Sammy Sosa.īut Ernie’s 512 homers were hit in a lower-offense era than the steroid-fueled times Sammy played in, and that’s part of what I want to take a close look at here. Cub.” Even if you never saw him play in person, or if you’re too young to have watched him live on TV, that ramrod-straight bat in his batting stance pictured above is something all Cubs fans know.Įrnie’s 512 home runs are a number seared into the memories of Cubs fans, even though that’s no longer the franchise record. It’s obviously Ernie Banks - he even bears the honorary title “Mr. He returned to Kansas City after he was discharged, playing one more season before joining the Cubs.There isn’t, I don’t believe, any doubt among Cubs fans as to who the greatest Cubs player of all time is. Banks played one season before going into the Army. He joined a barnstorming Negro Leagues team at 17 and was spotted by Cool Papa Bell, who signed him to the Monarchs in 1950. Banks grew to love the game and was a standout in high school, along with participating in football, basketball and track and field. He played 1,259 games at first and 1,125 games at shortstop.īorn and raised in Dallas, Banks would be bribed to play catch by his father, who always wanted him to be a baseball player. He is best known as a shortstop, where he won a Gold Glove in 1960, but he switched to first base in 1962. Known mostly for his power at the plate, Banks was a solid fielder, too. He owned most of the Cubs’ career slugging records, some of which still stand today. How to Fix the Oscars: Take a Cue From the Sports World and Fix the Talent Pool (Guest Column)īanks retired after the 1971 season. “I’d like to get to the last game of the World Series at Wrigley Field and hit three homers,” he once said. 14 was the first number retired by the Cubs, and hangs from the left-field foul pole at Wrigley Field. One famous admirer, “Saturday Night Live” star Bill Murray, named his son Homer Banks Murray.īanks’ No. Still, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1977, the first year he was eligible, and selected to baseball’s All-Century team in 1999.īanks’ infectious smile and non-stop good humor despite his team’s dismal record endeared him to Chicago fans, who voted him the best player in franchise history. Though he was an 11-time All-Star from 1953-71, Banks never reached the postseason, and the Cubs finished below. My family and I grieve the loss of such a great and good-hearted man, but we look forward to celebrating Ernie’s life in the days ahead.” “Approachable, ever optimistic and kind hearted, Ernie Banks is and always will be Mr. CBS Sports' Greg Anthony Suspended Following Arrest
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