Ernie Banks Died

[Sammy Sofa]

i'm so glad i never had to listen to brickhouse.

 

Madness.

 

That Harry's statue was the first statue outside of Wrigley sucks, too. Everything about him just seems to personify complacent, only wanna get drunk, meatball fans.

[Guest]

i don't think there's any correlation between complacency and meatballism. same goes for drunkenness. and drunkenness and complacency together.

 

meatballs love fire and passion and grit and 100% effort above all else. that's what makes the meatballs.

[Sammy Sofa]

No, I'm talking about a certain type of meatball. There are many sub-meat and sub-ball breakdowns.

[imb]

You listen to those early games for the first years with the Cubs and you can hear him start out strong, but then he just gets tanked as the game goes on and he ends up sounding like post-stroke/heart attacks/God knows what else-Harry.

 

And it owned

[Sammy Sofa]

PUT HIM IN HELL.

[XZero771679666304]

You listen to those early games for the first years with the Cubs and you can hear him start out strong, but then he just gets tanked as the game goes on and he ends up sounding like post-stroke/heart attacks/God knows what else-Harry.

 

And it owned

 

I hate to agree with mojo on this, but Harry really was just a hot mess for the last 5-10 years, getting progressively worse each year. It wasn't charming by the end, it was embarrassing. Hearing his broadcasts now evokes some warm childhood nostalgia for sure, but listening to him in the 90's just made me wish for it to end.

 

What Harry was during that time was a perfectly apt embodiment of the whole "lovable losers" identity. It may sound like heresy to some people, but there it is.

[Sammy Sofa]

What Harry was during that time was a perfectly apt embodiment of the whole "lovable losers" identity. It may sound like heresy to some people, but there it is.

 

Pretty much. Hearing that sloppy wreck just seems to personify the whole "who gives a [expletive]?" attitude the franchise had for too long.

 

Yeah, Santo was a spaz, but it works if you have a pro like Hughes to handle it. Harry just had King Prick sucking his butt.

[jersey cubs fan]

You listen to those early games for the first years with the Cubs and you can hear him start out strong, but then he just gets tanked as the game goes on and he ends up sounding like post-stroke/heart attacks/God knows what else-Harry.

 

And it owned

 

I hate to agree with mojo on this, but Harry really was just a hot mess for the last 5-10 years, getting progressively worse each year. It wasn't charming by the end, it was embarrassing. Hearing his broadcasts now evokes some warm childhood nostalgia for sure, but listening to him in the 90's just made me wish for it to end.

 

What Harry was during that time was a perfectly apt embodiment of the whole "lovable losers" identity. It may sound like heresy to some people, but there it is.

 

Everything about the Cubs in the 90's made me wish for it to end. That wasn't Harry's fault.

[XZero771679666304]

You listen to those early games for the first years with the Cubs and you can hear him start out strong, but then he just gets tanked as the game goes on and he ends up sounding like post-stroke/heart attacks/God knows what else-Harry.

 

And it owned

 

I hate to agree with mojo on this, but Harry really was just a hot mess for the last 5-10 years, getting progressively worse each year. It wasn't charming by the end, it was embarrassing. Hearing his broadcasts now evokes some warm childhood nostalgia for sure, but listening to him in the 90's just made me wish for it to end.

 

What Harry was during that time was a perfectly apt embodiment of the whole "lovable losers" identity. It may sound like heresy to some people, but there it is.

 

Everything about the Cubs in the 90's made me wish for it to end. That wasn't Harry's fault.

 

Oh, I wasn't blaming it on him by any means. But he didn't help, either. That he was such a mess just echoed the abysmal product on the field. It was a comprehensive disaster of a decade. The only glimmer of light in the 90's was Sosa, and that was at the end.

[jersey cubs fan]

I get why people who first noticed Harry in the 90s wouldn't think much of him. But he was great before his mind went and a big part of following the 2 successful 80s seasons.

 

 

I don't get people being worked up about the lovable losers thing. I think you can have a good time getting drunk at the game while still being invested heavily in the success of the team. Harry didn't lack for disappointment in bad Cubs teams. Hell, I'd say Len Kasper has been much more of a "it's perfectly okay if they lose" announcer than Harry.

[XZero771679666304]

I get why people who first noticed Harry in the 90s wouldn't think much of him. But he was great before his mind went and a big part of following the 2 successful 80s seasons.

 

 

I don't get people being worked up about the lovable losers thing. I think you can have a good time getting drunk at the game while still being invested heavily in the success of the team. Harry didn't lack for disappointment in bad Cubs teams. Hell, I'd say Len Kasper has been much more of a "it's perfectly okay if they lose" announcer than Harry.

 

I noticed Harry before the 90's, but knowing what he was before makes what he became seem even worse. 89/90 was the tail end of "good Harry".

 

As far as Kasper goes, I think the only thing tempering his disappointment has been that he was on board with "the process". If it were a no light at the end of the tunnel scenario like the 90's was, I think his attitude would have been much different over the past few years. Even so, I've heard a ton of disappointment and frustration from Len, but he's a pro, so he stifled a lot of it, imo.

[Sammy Sofa]

I get why people who first noticed Harry in the 90s wouldn't think much of him. But he was great before his mind went and a big part of following the 2 successful 80s seasons.

 

 

I don't get people being worked up about the lovable losers thing. I think you can have a good time getting drunk at the game while still being invested heavily in the success of the team. Harry didn't lack for disappointment in bad Cubs teams. Hell, I'd say Len Kasper has been much more of a "it's perfectly okay if they lose" announcer than Harry.

 

I noticed Harry before the 90's, but knowing what he was before makes what he became seem even worse. 89/90 was the tail end of "good Harry".

 

I think he was slipping way before that; the replays of the awesome '84 run is where you can really hear him getting hammered and sloppy as the games go on.

 

Most of the 80's he was just white noise and as a kid I didn't know any better/give a [expletive] who was calling the game, especially since I really only watched Cubs games. By '91 I was watching a ton of baseball and it was obvious how terrible he was. Like you said, hearing how good he was before he came to the Cubs, especially with the Cardinals, just makes it sad how shitty he was for most of his time with the Cubs.

[Sammy Sofa]

I get why people who first noticed Harry in the 90s wouldn't think much of him. But he was great before his mind went and a big part of following the 2 successful 80s seasons.

 

 

I don't get people being worked up about the lovable losers thing. I think you can have a good time getting drunk at the game while still being invested heavily in the success of the team. Harry didn't lack for disappointment in bad Cubs teams. Hell, I'd say Len Kasper has been much more of a "it's perfectly okay if they lose" announcer than Harry.

 

It's more the myth/perception that Harry and his traditions are like these "epitome of Chicago and the Cubs" hallmarks and how the meatballs so readily embraced that. As an older kid I just assumed this mushmouthed lunatic had been around with the Cubs forever and that's why they tolerated him.

[Guest]

Apologies if I missed this, but it's worth posting twice either way. Doug Glanville on Ernie: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12221497/what-learned-chicago-cubs-legend-hall-famer-ernie-banks

[Sammy Sofa]

Ernie's on the cover of the regional SI.

[Guest]

Apologies if I missed this, but it's worth posting twice either way. Doug Glanville on Ernie: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12221497/what-learned-chicago-cubs-legend-hall-famer-ernie-banks

I like the TV team enough, but I really wish they would have hired Glanville to do descriptive commentary.

[NonProfitCow]

Anyone watching the funeral on MLB Network? Billy just spoke, pretty funny. Fergie up next.

[Cubswin11]

The Cubs are stepping in to pay the $35,000 for Banks' funeral services/expenses after his family didn't pay and the funeral home sued/filed a claim over not paying.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/cubs-agree-to-cover-ernie-banks--funeral-expenses-180224418.html

[Backtobanks]

The Cubs are stepping in to pay the $35,000 for Banks' funeral services/expenses after his family didn't pay and the funeral home sued/filed a claim over not paying.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/cubs-agree-to-cover-ernie-banks--funeral-expenses-180224418.html

 

Unfortunately it looks like all of the people in his personal life never understood the goodwill that Ernie espoused all of his life.

[Gmoney08]

Only 16,000 left in his estate. Makes you wonder if his caregiver who is claiming to be in his will instead of his wife was ripping him off for money or something.

[Backtobanks]

Only 16,000 left in his estate. Makes you wonder if his caregiver who is claiming to be in his will instead of his wife was ripping him off for money or something.

 

As great a ballplayer and person as he was, you do have to think he was the perfect person to be taken advantage of in his later life. He was friendly, trusting, not very well-educated, famous, and elderly.

[Guest]

Only 16,000 left in his estate. Makes you wonder if his caregiver who is claiming to be in his will instead of his wife was ripping him off for money or something.

 

As great a ballplayer and person as he was, you do have to think he was the perfect person to be taken advantage of in his later life. He was friendly, trusting, not very well-educated, famous, and elderly.

I just wonder what kind of debts he may have racked up. I'm almost positive he lived in the Trump- so he certainly must have assets. Could he be way under water on a mortgage there?

[Sammy Sofa]

I remember reading stuff about how he had done alright investment-wise after his playing days and had made a few million. Guess that didn't go as well as reported.