Remembering Ernie Banks

Ernie Banks, the Hall of Fame shortstop who played his entire 19-year career with the Chicago Cubs, was known for his 512 home runs, two National League MVPs and a never-ending sunny disposition on life, even though he never came close to playing in a World Series. Banks, 83, who died Friday night, also had a curiosity that was as legendary as Wrigley Field. He loved asking people questions because he said he enjoyed learning. And he understood that the magic of baseball was in the thrill of the game and not the big-money paychecks. The Cubs' No. 14 was always accessible to talk baseball and many times he did the interviewing. He'd show up at Wrigley Field and talk to fans as if he were a one-man welcoming committee. The Cubs always said that he was worth hundreds of billboards. Many times before games, he'd stand near the railing of the Cubs dugout and converse with fans. He'd ask them random questions as he signed autographs. "Where are you from?" "I guess it's all right, but why on earth are you a Cardinals fan?" "What do you do for a living?" "How long does it take you to drive from (fill in the blank of your hometown?)" "Did you ever play baseball?" Banks was an All-Star shortstop and first baseman. He didn't have the typical size for a guy with more than 500 home runs, but he had strong wrists that whipped the bat through the strike zone. His home runs were like lasers heading into the Wrigley Field bleachers. He hit 40-plus home runs five times and drove in 100 runs in eight different seasons. He won consecutive National League Most Valuable Player awards in 1958 and 1959, even though each time the Cubs finished fifth in an eight-team league, 13 and 20 games out. In 1958, Banks hit .313-47-129 and finished ahead of San Francisco's Willie Mays in the NL MVP voting. The next season, he hit .304-45-143 and beat Milwaukee's Eddie Mathews. Banks won led the NL in home runs and RBIs twice. He hit .300 three times and finished with a .274 career average. In his Hall of Fame speech in 1977, he repeated his famous line, "There's sunshine, fresh air. ... Let's play two." Banks was associated with losing. His 2,528 games without playing in October remains a record. That was 106 games more than another shortstop, Luke Appling. In his 19 seasons with the Cubs, his teams finished at least 13 games out 17 times. Banks, a 14-time All-Star who retired after 1971, twice came close to the postseason. One was in 1969, the first the American League and NL each split into two divisions. The Cubs led the NL East as late as Sept. 9, but finished eight games behind New York's Miracle Mets, who went on to beat the Orioles in the World Series. The following season, the Cubs finished five games behind Pittsburgh. Still, the losing never stopped Banks from smiling. He dreamed of playing in a World Series, but he always put his baseball life in perspective. He was humble. The last time I interviewed him was in January 2011, and as usual, I got a few questions, this time about life in D.C. "How far do you live from the White House?" "How long does it take to get to Baltimore?" "Who is the mayor of D.C.?" "How many games does the president see in person?" When I asked him questions about how the Hall of Fame had changed his life for a story for SI.com, he couldn't believe he was a baseball celebrity. "When I went into the Hall (in 1977), I talked to Lou Boudreau about it, and he told me that my life was going to change, and he was right," Banks said. "I made appearances everywhere, in every county and every city around. I was the grand marshal in a small town's parade. I went to banquets. I dedicated youth fields. I spoke in schools. I went to bar mitzvahs. I had kids that wanted to do a (school) paper on me. "I would say I'm not worthy of this, but people would tell me I was, and that they appreciated watching me play. It's amazing the variety of people - young and old - that remembers you playing. They know about you, where you were born, your batting average in a certain year, stuff like that. I had no idea how many people I touched."