Ernie Banks Died

[Guest]

Damn, RIP Mr Cub.

[d_money]

Damn that sucks. He had an infectious personality - what a great man. RIP Ernie.

[Banedon]

There were about 4 different Ernie Banks related things trending on twitter last night...a lot of my non-baseball follows mentioned him...it's a wonderful thing that he touched so many lives.

[Backtobanks]

The reason I became a Cub fan. RIP Ernie.

[illiniguy]

Damn, RIP Ernie.

[rawaction]

January 23, 2015

 

1 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 5 = 14

 

Rest in peace, Mr. Cub.

 

That's so cool.

[rawaction]

He had a pretty tremendous six year stretch from 1955-1960 where he won 2 MVP's and averaged 44 HR, 184 hits, 123 RBI, and a 148 OPS+

 

2 MVPs when Musial, Mays and Aaron were all also in their prime in the same league. Frank Robinson was coming on strong then too.

 

Ernie was more important to Chicago than Jordan or Payton, IMO. Jordan left town. Payton left the world too soon. Ernie spent 62 years in Chicago and around the Cubs franchise.

[Vinestal]

The thing I'll remember most about him was his smile and he was always smiling. You could tell how much he loved the game and just being around it.

[Guest]

My first memories of watching the Cubs was Banks at 1b, Beckert at 2b, Kessinger at SS, Santo at 3b, Hundley behind the plate, and Billy Williams in LF in 1969. I was watching them at my grandmother's house in Chicago on a local Chicago channel. A commercial during the game stood out for some reason, and I think it might have been Ernie advertising Clark gas Station or something of that nature. Really wished I got to see him play in his prime. Always bummed to go back to Peoria and not be able to get Cub games unless they were the game of the week on a Saturday afternoon.

 

RIP Mr. Cub!

[Felix Leiter]

He had a pretty tremendous six year stretch from 1955-1960 where he won 2 MVP's and averaged 44 HR, 184 hits, 123 RBI, and a 148 OPS+

 

2 MVPs when Musial, Mays and Aaron were all also in their prime in the same league. Frank Robinson was coming on strong then too.

 

Ernie was more important to Chicago than Jordan or Payton, IMO. Jordan left town. Payton left the world too soon. Ernie spent 62 years in Chicago and around the Cubs franchise.

 

Ernie did leave Chicago for awhile, as he lived in California in parts of the 1990's. I think he moved back about 15 years ago.

 

Ernie hit 5 grand slams in one year, as many as Ryno hit in his entire career. He would flick those wrists and the ball would jump off his bat.

 

A gentleman in every way.

[Guest]

He had a pretty tremendous six year stretch from 1955-1960 where he won 2 MVP's and averaged 44 HR, 184 hits, 123 RBI, and a 148 OPS+

 

2 MVPs when Musial, Mays and Aaron were all also in their prime in the same league. Frank Robinson was coming on strong then too.

 

Ernie was more important to Chicago than Jordan or Payton, IMO. Jordan left town. Payton left the world too soon. Ernie spent 62 years in Chicago and around the Cubs franchise.

 

Ernie did leave Chicago for awhile, as he lived in California in parts of the 1990's. I think he moved back about 15 years ago.

 

Ernie hit 5 grand slams in one year, as many as Ryno hit in his entire career. He would flick those wrists and the ball would jump off his bat.

 

A gentleman in every way.

 

To be fair, Ryno batted 2nd for a big percentage of his career, so he had less chances with the bases loaded. But, Banks was more of a power hitter anyway, so it's not really all that shocking of a statistic.

[RynoRules]

[SouthSideRyan]

In doing some digging on baseball reference, it looks like the only other SS with a 40+ HR season is A-Rod.

 

Petrocelli had 1 40 HR season, but that's it.

[SouthSideRyan]

 

I don't know why, but this one makes me more sad than everything else.

[Splendid Splinter]

RIP Mr. Cub.

 

 

You guys know what this means right? Cubs are going to win it all this year.

 

 

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view/223451/angels-in-the-outfield-o.gif

 

[bukie]

I think it'd be kind of cool if they made opening day Cubs-Cards an afternoon double header, if that were possible.

[OleMissCub]

In doing some digging on baseball reference, it looks like the only other SS with a 40+ HR season is A-Rod.

 

Petrocelli had 1 40 HR season, but that's it.

 

Ah, definitely missed that. Talk about an outlier season that would put Bret Boone to shame, Petrocelli that year had a SLG% that was over 200 points higher than his previous season; dude jumped from 12 HR to 40 HR in a single year. His WAR that year was TWICE as good as any other season he had.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/petrori01.shtml

 

Looks like he has the sixth highest WAR jump in history

 

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2012/10/11/3261476/outlier-fluke-mlb-war-seasons-baseball-history

Edited January 24, 2015 by OleMissCub

[Can Of Corn]

I think it'd be kind of cool if they made opening day Cubs-Cards an afternoon double header, if that were possible.

 

That is a great idea.

 

To play 19 seasons in Wrigley's cold & wind and put up those numbers and have that positive attitude; it takes a tough person with true dedication to the game. R.I.P.

[NewUserName]

LOVE this photo.

 

[

 

btw, I just noticed something. Is Ernie's cap padded?

I wonder if he did it as a precursor to batting helmets. I noticed several shots on MLB network that it appears he is wearing a padded hat.

[NonProfitCow]

LOVE this photo.

 

[

 

btw, I just noticed something. Is Ernie's cap padded?

I wonder if he did it as a precursor to batting helmets. I noticed several shots on MLB network that it appears he is wearing a padded hat.

That's what I was thinking.

[NewUserName]

LOVE this photo.

 

[

 

btw, I just noticed something. Is Ernie's cap padded?

I wonder if he did it as a precursor to batting helmets. I noticed several shots on MLB network that it appears he is wearing a padded hat.

That's what I was thinking.

I am on my phone and don't know how to share a link, but I found a couple of recent articles that said he and Jackie Robinson wore hat liners as opposed to early batting helmets.

[NewUserName]

LOVE this photo.

 

[

 

btw, I just noticed something. Is Ernie's cap padded?

I wonder if he did it as a precursor to batting helmets. I noticed several shots on MLB network that it appears he is wearing a padded hat.

That's what I was thinking.

I am on my phone and don't know how to share a link, but I found a couple of recent articles that said he and Jackie Robinson wore hat liners as opposed to early batting helmets.

[Clem Fandango]

January 23, 2015

 

1 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 5 = 14

 

Rest in peace, Mr. Cub.

 

That's so cool.

 

More quirky number facts. Someone on Reddit pointed out the last time the Cubs won the pennant, Ernie Banks was 14 years old.

[Gmoney08]

Billy Williams said Ernie fell and hit his head 6 weeks ago. Billy couldnt get a hold of Ernie last week for the Cubs convention.

 

I wonder if the cause of death stems from hitting his head and thats why the attorney is saying its not natural causes.

[rawaction]

I think it'd be kind of cool if they made opening day Cubs-Cards an afternoon double header, if that were possible.

 

That is a great idea.

 

To play 19 seasons in Wrigley's cold & wind and put up those numbers and have that positive attitude; it takes a tough person with true dedication to the game. R.I.P.

 

Nah. Sept 17th, every year a scheduled DH. That was the day Ernie debuted as the Cubs first black player.