Ernie Banks
Shortstop / First baseman
Born: (1931-01-31) January 31, 1931 (age 81) Dallas, Texas
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 17, 1953 for the Chicago Cubs
Last MLB appearance
September 26, 1971 for the Chicago Cubs
Career statistics
Batting average	.274
Home runs	512
Hits	2,583
Run batted in	1,636
Teams
Chicago Cubs (1953–1971)
Career highlights and awards
14× All-Star (1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1959², 1960, 1960², 1961², 1962, 1962², 1965, 1967, 1969) Gold Glove Award winner (1960) 2× NL MVP (1958, 1959) 1967 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award Chicago Cubs #14 retired Major League Baseball All-Century Team
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1977
Vote	83.8% (first ballot)

Ernest "Ernie" Banks (born January 31, 1931 in Dallas, Texas), nicknamed "Mr. Cub",^[1] is a retired professional baseball player. He played as a shortstop and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 19 seasons on the National League's (NL) Chicago Cubs team, from 1953 through 1971. Banks was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977 and the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, in 1999.

High school years[link]

Banks was a letterman and standout in football, basketball and track at Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas, Texas, from which he graduated in 1950.^[2]

Playing career[link]

Retired number 14 at Wrigley Field

Banks signed with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League in 1950 and broke into the Major Leagues in 1953 with the Chicago Cubs as their first black player. He played for the Cubs his entire career, starting at shortstop and moving to first base in 1962.^[1]

Initially Banks' double play partner was Gene Baker, the second black player on the Cubs, and Banks' roommate on road trips. Thus making Banks and Baker, the first all black double play combination in major league history. When Steve Bilko would play first base, Cubs' announcer and home-town rooter Bert Wilson would refer to the Banks-Baker-Bilko double play combination as "Bingo to Bango to Bilko". This combination would not last quite as long as "Tinker to Evers to Chance", but Banks would become a Cubs institution.

Banks wore number 14 as a Cub, and is the first of only six Cubs players who have had their number retired by the organization. The number was originally worn by Guy Bush in 1932, the first year the Cubs wore numbers on their jerseys.

Banks was known for his catchphrase of, "It's a beautiful day for a ballgame... Let's play two!", expressing his wish to play a doubleheader every day out of his pure love for the game of baseball, especially in his self-described "friendly confines of Wrigley Field." In 1955, he set the record for grand slams in a single season with five, a record that stood for over thirty years.^[3]

Banks won the National League Most Valuable Player Award twice, in 1958 and 1959 despite the fact that the Cubs were not pennant contenders during those seasons. He became the first shortstop in the history of the National League to win the MVP award in back to back seasons.^[4] Jimmy Dykes reportedly remarked that, "Without him, the Cubs would finish in Albuquerque!"^[5]

On September 2, 1965, Banks hit his 400th home run, and five years later, on May 12, 1970 at Chicago's Wrigley Field, hit his 500th home run.^[6] Banks finished his career with 512 home runs, and his 277 homers as a shortstop were the most ever at the time of his retirement. (Cal Ripken, Jr now holds the record for most homers as a shortstop with 345.^[7]) Banks holds Cubs records for games played (2,528), at-bats (9,421), extra-base hits (1,009), and total bases (4,706).^[8]

Coaching career[link]

Ernie Banks, "Mr Cub," bronze statue at Wrigley Field

On December 1, 1971, Banks retired as a player, and the Cubs signed him as a coach.

On May 8, 1973, Cubs manager Whitey Lockman was ejected in the 11th inning of a game against the San Diego Padres. Banks filled in as manager for the remainder of the game, which the Cubs won 3–2 in 12 innings. Thus, he was technically, if not officially,^{[citation needed]} MLB's first black manager, predating Frank Robinson's hiring by almost two years.

Honors[link]

Banks is regarded as one of the most popular baseball players in Chicago sports history. He was a constant promoter of the Cubs and of daytime play at Wrigley Field. His popularity and positive attitude led to the nicknames, "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine".

In 1977, in his first year of eligibility, Banks was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The beginning of Banks' induction speech that August 8 leads off the Baseball's Greatest Hits, Vol. II, CD. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn is heard presenting Banks, who says, "Thank you very much, Commissioner, for the fine introduction. We've got the setting - sunshine, fresh air; we've got the team behind us so . . . 'Let's play two!"

In 1982, his Chicago Cubs uniform Number 14 became the first to be retired by the Cubs.^[8]

The 1990 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was dedicated to Banks. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch to starting catcher Mike Scioscia.

In 1999, Banks ranked Number 38 on The Sporting News list of "Baseball's Greatest Players", and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

On March 31, 2008, a statue of Banks was unveiled outside Wrigley Field. Upon its unveiling, the base of the statue was revealed to contain a typographical error, reading "Lets play two" rather than the grammatically correct "Let's play two". Two days later, sculptor Lou Cella came down to the ballpark early in the morning and carved the apostrophe.^[9]

Other[link]

Writing for the Associated Press, Joe Reichler reported on the eve of the 1960 World Series that the Milwaukee Braves were prepared to part with pitchers Joey Jay, Carlton Willey and Don Nottebart, outfielder Billy Bruton, shortstop Johnny Logan, first baseman Frank Torre and cash to pry Banks from the Cubs.^[10] The deal never materialized.

During Banks' career, the Cubs were rarely in contention despite his brilliance. They failed to finish in the first division every season until late in his career. Consequently, Banks holds the Major League record of most games played without a postseason appearance (2528).^[11]

Banks appeared in the film A Glimpse of Greatness-The Story of Ken Hubbs, in which he honors the late Cubs' second baseman. A DVD version is available by visiting www.kenhubbs.org.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Banks operated the Ernie Banks Ford car dealership on Stony Island Avenue in Chicago.

Banks made a guest appearance in the eighth season episode "Dancing with Weezie" of the sitcom Married... with Children, appearing in a new sports bar in Chicago.

In June 2006, Crain's Chicago Business reported that Banks was part of a group looking into buying the Chicago Cubs, in case the Tribune Company decided to sell the club.^[12]

Banks established his own charity, the Live Above & Beyond Foundation, to eliminate prejudice, support programs that enhance neighborhoods and relieve discrimination among various age groups and races. In 2008, Banks released a charity wine called Ernie Banks 512 Chardonnay, a nod to his 512 career home runs, with all of his proceeds donated to his foundation.

Banks is the great-uncle of Chicago Bulls point guard Acie Law IV.^[13] and the uncle of former major league catcher Bob Johnson. He is also the second cousin of O.J. Simpson.^{[citation needed]}

Banks, along with Johnny Bench and Frank Robinson appeared on Yes Dear as disgruntled players because Big Jimmy (played by Jerry Van Dyke) had stolen the team equipment from the Buffalo Bisons over 30 years ago.

Despite his advancing age, in late 2008 Banks and his wife, Liz Banks, adopted a daughter. He currently lives in the Los Angeles area.

Years led league by statistical category[link]

• Shortstop Major League Leader:
  • Fielding Average - 1 time
  • Fewest errors - 1 time
• National League Leader:
  • Games played - 6 times
  • Extra base hits - 4 times
  • Home runs - 2 times
  • RBIs - 2 times
  • Slugging percentage - 1 time
  • Total bases - 1 time
  • At bats - 1 time

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Baseball portal

• First black MLB players by team and date
• List of Major League Baseball Home Run Records
• 500 home run club
• List of baseball players who went directly to the major leagues
• DHL Hometown Heroes
• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
• List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
• List of Major League Baseball home run champions
• MLB consecutive games played streaks

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ernie Banks

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Ernie Banks at the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Ernie Banks - BaseballLibrary.com
• Ernie Banks' oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
• Ernie Banks Biography - The HistoryMakers

Jack Brickhouse in 1958

John Beasley "Jack" Brickhouse (January 24, 1916 – August 6, 1998) was an American sportscaster. Known primarily for his play-by-play coverage of Chicago Cubs games on WGN-TV from 1948 to 1981, he received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. In 1985, Brickhouse was inducted into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame along with the Voice of the Yankees Mel Allen and Red Sox Voice Curt Gowdy. Brickhouse also served as the organization’s Secretary/Treasurer and was a member of its Board of Directors.

Bust of Jack Brickhouse on Chicago's Magnificent Mile.

Brickhouse also called Chicago White Sox games prior to that team leaving WGN in 1968. He also covered national events from time to time, including three World Series for NBC television, although the Cubs never got there during his tenure. The voice on the audio track of the famous Willie Mays catch in Game 1 of the 1954 Series at the Polo Grounds belongs to Brickhouse, who was calling the Series along with the New York Giants' regular broadcaster, Russ Hodges. (Brickhouse himself had called Giants games locally in 1946.) Brickhouse also called the 1959 Series, which featured the White Sox with Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully, and the 1950 Series with Jim Britt. In addition, Brickhouse partnered with fellow baseball broadcasting legend Mel Allen for NBC's coverage of the 1952 Rose Bowl, and with Chris Schenkel for the network's coverage of two NFL Championship Games (1956 and 1963).

Brickhouse also covered many other events, sports and otherwise (such as professional wrestling for WGN and political conventions for the Mutual radio network). And for many years he called Chicago Bears football on WGN-AM radio, in an unlikely and entertaining pairing with the famous Chicago Sun-Times gossip columnist Irv Kupcinet. Brickhouse was also a boxing commentator. Fights he called include the 1949 fight between Jersey Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles and the 1951 fight between Johnny Bratton and Charley Fusari.^[1] He did Chicago Bulls basketball games for WGN-TV from 1966 until 1973 as well.

Background[link]

Brickhouse in the Comiskey Park press box in 1948 preparing to announce a White Sox game on television.

Brickhouse was born in Peoria, Illinois to Will and Daisy Brickhouse. His father died when Jack was just two years old, and the younger Brickhouse was largely raised by his mother. Brickhouse's first job was delivering the Peoria Journal and Peoria Star, a job he started at age 11. Brickhouse attended Peoria Manual High School.

Brickhouse began his broadcasting at the age of 18 at Peoria radio station WMBD in 1934. Chicago radio station WGN hired him in 1940 to broadcast Cubs and White Sox games, largely on the recommendation of their top announcer, Bob Elson. He was also the very first face shown when WGN-TV, Chicago's Channel 9, began broadcasting in 1948. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II, and thus missed the 1945 season, the only time during his long tenure that the Cubs would win the National League pennant. His only pennant as a broadcaster would be the one won by the White Sox in 1959.

Brickhouse broadcast both Cubs and White Sox games until 1967—something he was able to do because they almost never played at home on the same day. He retired in 1981.

Even in retirement Brickhouse kept a high profile as a Cubs and WGN ambassador. Jack would occasionally return to the booth for special events, such as Wrigley Field's annual "70's Night". He also guested with Harry Caray when the Cubs secured their first postseason berth in 39 years, as they clinched the 1984 National League Eastern Division title in Pittsburgh.

Broadcasting style[link]

Brickhouse tried to let the pictures speak for themselves. In contrast, his successor as Cubs announcer, Harry Caray, a radio broadcaster by training, tended to describe the game on TV as if he were doing a radio broadcast. Brickhouse was sparer with his descriptive prose; perhaps not as spare as Vin Scully of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but talking in quick bursts rather than long sentences, knowing that the well-established camera work of WGN-TV and of producer Arne Harris would tell much of the story.

Instead of over-describing the action, "Brick" was more likely to add "flavor" to what was obviously happening, with almost child-like enthusiasm. He would pepper his play-by-play with various old-fashioned expressions, such as "Whew, boy!" after a close play that went the home team's way, or "Oh, brother!" when it went the other way, or "Wheeeee!" when the team would do something well. During games at Wrigley Field, if the score was tied going into the bottom of the ninth inning, Brickhouse would retort, "Any old kind of a run wins it for the Cubs."

He was best known for the expression "Hey-hey", which he reportedly used everywhere... when the baseball team hit a homer, when the football team scored a touchdown, or even when he was taking tricks in a card game. But it was that home run call that stuck in fans' memories, and that phrase now vertically adorns the screens on the foul poles at Wrigley Field.

Chicago columnist and lifelong Cubs fan Mike Royko's annual Cubs quiz, April 11, 1968, included the following question:

Q: Quick - When a ball goes over the left-field wall, what street does it land on?

A: Waveland Avenue. But to hear Jack Brickhouse yell, you'd think it landed in his eye.

(One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko, University of Chicago, 1999, p. 29-31)

Some examples of Brick's calls:

September 22, 1959; White Sox at Cleveland in the 9th inning of what would be the A.L. championship pennant-clinching game.

"(Carrol) Hardy on second, (Jimmy) Piersall on first, and 'dangerous' Vic Power is up ... one out. Power ... is 1 for 4, an infield single ... there's a ground ball ... (Luis) Aparicio has it ... steps on second, throws to first ... THE BALL GAME'S OVER! THE WHITE SOX ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF 1959! A FORTY YEAR ... WAIT HAS NOW ENDED!"

May 15, 1960; pitcher Don Cardwell, in his Cubs debut, is trying to get the last out of a no-hitter, against the St. Louis Cardinals; the batter is Joe Cunningham; the left fielder is Walt "Moose" Moryn...

• "Watch it now ... Hit on a line to left ... Come on, Moose! ... HE CAUGHT IT! Moryn made a fabulous catch! ... It's a no-hitter for Cardwell! ... What a catch that Moryn made, what a catch he made!"

December 15, 1963; Bears defensive back Dave Whitsell makes a key play that wins the game over Detroit, and clinches the Western Conference for the Bears...

• "Here's the pass ... picked off by Whitsell! ... HE'S GONNA GO! ... HE'S GONNA GO! ... TOUCHDOWN! ... HEY-HEY!"

May 12, 1970; Atlanta's Pat Jarvis pitches to "Mr. Cub", Ernie Banks...

• "Jarvis fires away ... That's a fly ball, deep to left, back, back ... HEY-HEY! He did it! Ernie Banks got number 500! The ball tossed to the bullpen ... everybody on your feet ... this ... is IT! WHEEEEEEE!"

Cubs broadcasters, June 11, 1981 - Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau, Milo Hamilton, Jack Brickhouse

Illness & Death[link]

On February 27, 1998 Brickhouse became ill and collapsed while preparing for the funeral of fellow Cubs legendary broadcaster Harry Caray. Following brain surgery on March 3 to remove a tumor, Brickhouse quickly improved, even making a few on-air appearances in the spring and early summer. Though burdened with a gravelly voice (which he attributed to the surgery and said would soon pass), Jack seemed on the road to recovery. However, on August 6 Brickhouse died from cardiac arrest. He was interred at the Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Chicago.^[2]

External links[link]

• Baseball Hall of Fame - Frick Award recipient
• Jack Brickhouse Memorial in Chicago
• WGN Radio's page for Jack Brickhouse
• Jack Brickhouse at Find a Grave.

References[link]

1. ^ http://www.caytonsports.com/list.pdf
2. ^ http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3500 Find a Grave entry

Petterchak, Janice A. (1996). Jack Brickhouse - A Voice For All Seasons. Contemporary Books, Inc.. ISBN 0-8092-3207-3.