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‘Mr. Cub’ Ernie Banks dead at 83
By Patrick Mooney
Beyond the Hall of Fame career and the iconic nickname, Ernie Banks will be remembered for the big smile on his face, the deep connection to the fans and this city, an enthusiasm forever summed up with three words: “Let’s play two!”
“Mr. Cub” is dead at the age of 83.
That’s why the news stung late Friday night and so many tributes flowed all across social media and all around the country, memorializing such a gracious Chicago legend.
But there’s no doubt Banks lived a full life that can’t simply be defined by his 512 career home runs, all those All-Star selections and the back-to-back National League MVP Awards in 1958 and 1959. Or the fact that he played in the majors until the age of 40 – more than 2,500 games in a Cubs uniform – and never made it to the playoffs or saw his team finally win a World Series.
Born and raised in Dallas, Banks served in the U.S. Army and debuted with the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues. He signed with the Cubs in 1953 and became the first African-American player in franchise history.
“Words cannot express how important Ernie Banks will always be to the Chicago Cubs, the city of Chicago and Major League Baseball,” chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement. “He was one of the greatest players of all-time. He was a pioneer in the major leagues. And more importantly, he was the warmest and most sincere person I’ve ever known.
“Approachable, ever optimistic and kind-hearted, Ernie Banks is and always will be Mr. Cub.”
Former Cubs manager Dusty Baker once put it this way: “Ernie was never in a bad mood. I couldn’t believe how a guy could never be in a bad mood. Forty years later, and he’s still never been in a bad mood.”“Mr. Cub” is dead at the age of 83.
That’s why the news stung late Friday night and so many tributes flowed all across social media and all around the country, memorializing such a gracious Chicago legend.
But there’s no doubt Banks lived a full life that can’t simply be defined by his 512 career home runs, all those All-Star selections and the back-to-back National League MVP Awards in 1958 and 1959. Or the fact that he played in the majors until the age of 40 – more than 2,500 games in a Cubs uniform – and never made it to the playoffs or saw his team finally win a World Series.
Born and raised in Dallas, Banks served in the U.S. Army and debuted with the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues. He signed with the Cubs in 1953 and became the first African-American player in franchise history.
“Words cannot express how important Ernie Banks will always be to the Chicago Cubs, the city of Chicago and Major League Baseball,” chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement. “He was one of the greatest players of all-time. He was a pioneer in the major leagues. And more importantly, he was the warmest and most sincere person I’ve ever known.
“Approachable, ever optimistic and kind-hearted, Ernie Banks is and always will be Mr. Cub.”
Banks would make Wrigley Field his second home, getting his No. 14 retired in 1982 and a statue at Clark and Addison in 2008. In between those two moments, he got voted onto the All-Century Team and honored at Fenway Park during the 1999 All-Star Game.
“Is this a great country or what?”
That’s how Banks responded in the summer of 2013 after finding out he would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. He wanted to include everyone that night at Wrigley Field, promising to clear it with the Secret Service and inviting reporters to join him at the White House.
Banks told the story about the first time he met Barack Obama at a Jesse Jackson dinner on Navy Pier – and how he planned to tell the future Mr. President not to run in 2008. Banks had run for alderman himself in the 1960s, as a Republican going up against Mayor Richard J. Daley’s Chicago machine.
Banks just loved walking around the old ballpark and talking to people and asking questions, the Hall of Famer just happy to be there.
Banks didn’t act like he invented the game either, saying how it used to be or how things should be run. When 21-year-old shortstop Starlin Castro earned his first All-Star selection in 2011, Banks quickly told a group of reporters: “He’s better than me.” Banks couldn’t make it to last weekend’s Cubs Convention, where he would have fit right in with all the fans convinced that “This is The Year.” It would have been his 84th birthday next week.
“Ernie became known as much for his 512 home runs as for his cheer and his optimism and his eternal faith that someday the Cubs would go all the way,” Obama said during the 2013 Medal of Freedom presentation. “That’s serious belief. That is something that even a White Sox fan like me can respect. He is just a wonderful man and a great icon of my hometown.”
Sports Quote of the Day:
"Losing someone is the hardest thing to accept. Remembering you is easy. I do it everyday. Missing you is heartache, that never goes away. ~ Unknown
R. I. P. Mr. Cub
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