Tell Me About Mr. Cub

… would be the profile I wrote about Ernie for the BCB top 100 series two years ago. Here’s an excerpt that tells you something about how great a player Ernie was:

From 1955 through 1960, he hit forty or more home runs five times in six seasons. Since then — a span of forty-six seasons — only Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr., Harmon Killebrew and Alex Rodriguez have accomplished that feat; Hall of Famers such as Willie Mays and Henry Aaron, Banks’ contemporaries, never did. In 1955, he hit five grand slams, a record that stood for thirty-two years (and still stands as the NL record). The climax to all this production was the back-to-back MVP awards he won in 1958 and 1959, the first time a National Leaguer had won two in a row.

Looking back on those awards from a 2007 perspective, they are even more impressive than they must have seemed at the time. The Cubs were mediocre clubs both those seasons — losing 82 games and finishing 20 games out of first place in ’58, losing 80 and winding up a closer, but still poor, 13 games behind in ’59. But Ernie dominated. In 1958 he led the league in: games, at-bats, SLG, total bases, HR, RBI and extra-base hits, and finished second in OPS, and for good measure, second in triples with 11, though he was never much known for having any baserunning speed. He got sixteen of the possible 24 first-place MVP votes. He became only the third Cub to hit forty homers in a season, after Hack Wilson and Hank Sauer, and it would take another twelve years (until Billy Williams hit 42 in 1970) for anyone else to join that exclusive club (since joined by Dave Kingman, Andre Dawson, Ryne Sandberg, Sammy Sosa and Derrek Lee).

Check out the rest of the link. I think I did a pretty good job on Ernie’s life and career.

I just watched the joy with which he played the game. That was enough for me. It helped turn me into the baseball fan (and Cub fan) I am today.

By that time, he wasn’t the same player and was rightfully overshadowed by other 1st basemen like Willie McCovey. To see Banks’ greatness you need to look at the late ’50 seasons and consider he was a shortstop putting up those numbers. No other shortstop was close.

If he had better health and durability, he would likely be mentioned in the same breath as his contemporaries Willie Mays and Hank Aaron as an upper echelon Hall of Famer.

Some old timers will tell you he was a mighty colossus, a veritable mountain of bone and muscle with white hot flames for eyes, shoulders wide enough to park a bus on, and hands like steel traps. His mere presence in the batter’s box made hard bitten veteran pitchers quake in their cleats and sob like babies. His blistering line drives reduced brawny third basemen to quivering blobs of jello, and it’s said that he once brought down a small plane with one of his majestic home runs. He swam across Lake Michigan and back every day, wrestled tornadoes for relaxation, ate more hot dogs every day than Babe Ruth ate in his whole life, and kilt a grizzly b’ar when he was three. Of course, they’re probably exaggerating; I’m almost positive he was four when he killed that grizzly.

… and NOT Sammy Sosa…

…will forever be remembered as Mr. Cub.

We ran into him as he was sitting in the stands at Wrigley in 1977 before a game. Me and my four brothers and my dad went to a game in spring of that year. My father immediately recognized him and we walked through the amazingly spare crowd there and waited only a few seconds as he finished chatting with another couple of Cub fans.

He had that million dollar and yet heartfelt smile. That’s what I remember. He wasn’t some ex-baseball player who avoided fans whatsoever. He wasn’t hiding behind the Frains. Ernie was a class act, graciously signed our stuff and hoped we’d have a good time at Wrigley, chatting easily with my dad. I was just standing there in 16 year old awe.

From what I understand, he hasn’t changed a bit.

I was so glad to see that statue of him erected outside Wrigley. While Santo and Sandberg are men who some day should get their own statues, I think, Mr. Cub will forever be Ernie. Cut them and they bleed Cubbie blue. But Ernie is the man for whom that title will forever be well bestowed. No one could put a better face to the heart and soul of the Chicago Cubs then Mr. Banks.

I realize every generation has to have their icon and Ryno certainly will carry the torch very well indeed – he’s kind of a temperamental cross breed of both Ron and Ernie. But Ernie is Mr. Cub. No question.

Sir Linkalot

I was nine years old and had just spent 18 days in a northwest Indiana hospital following emergency surgery. Ernie Banks was going to sign autographs at the only local sporting goods store. Everyone in the neighborhood wanted to go. Our parents took us there and it was a mob scene. My mom freaked… worried that I would get hurt again. I don’t know who she talked to, but he next thing I knew was I was called to the side and Mr. Cub and I were face to face. He flashed the smile, gave me a personalized autograph and I was hooked for life.

I only remember the last year and a couple of fractions of his career, and I was a little kid… but compare these three seasons:

Player A: .266/.320/.452, 24 HR, 95 OPS+
Player B: .247/.287/.469, 32 HR, 118 OPS+
Player C: .313/.366/.614, 47 HR, 156 OPS+

At least one of these is Ernie Banks, and at least one is not.

Player C is obviously Banks, his first MVP season.
Player A is Corey Patterson’s best season,

Player B is Ernie Banks, 1968. That is his best season of his last eight full seasons. Amazingly, he came in 13th in the MVP voting. This was the first season with the lowered mounds.

Banks moved to 1B in 1962. He was never the same hitter after that. But his persona and personality continued to grow.

He came to enroll his daughter Jan in my class and I was taken out of class and brought literally to the princible’s office but in a good way. I was not sure what was going on but they said , " Mr. Banks we want you to meet our biggest Cub fan" . Ernie gave me an autograph I still have somewhere. It was a big thrill.