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Ernest Banks
Chicago Cubs
First Base
Born: January 31, 1931, Dallas, TX
Signed: Signed by the Chicago Cubs a free agent in 1953
Major League Teams: Chicago Cubs 1953-1971
Died: January 23, 2015, Chicago, IL (age 83)
Hall of Fame Induction: 1977
Known by most simply as "Mr. Cub," Ernie Banks enjoyed a 19-year playing career and encapsulated everything that a baseball player should aspire to be. His genuine appreciation and affection for the game was unrivaled. Banks was the runner-up to Wally Moon (#247) in 1954 for the National League Rookie of the Year Award and he won the league's MVP honors in 1958 and 1959. An 11-time All-Star, Banks hit 512 career home runs and tallied 1,636 career RBIs. He excelled defensively at both shortstop (1953-1961) and first base (1962-1971). When he hit his 500th career home run on May 12, 1970, he became just the ninth member to join that exclusive club.
During his Hall of Fame induction speech in 1977, he repeated his famous quote, "There's sunshine, fresh air, and the team's behind us. Let's play two."
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.
February 29, 2020 from King of Prussia, PA - Card #79
Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sportscard & Memorabilia Show held on the bottom floor of the Valley Forge Casino on the final day of February. This was our first baseball card show of 2020 and the fourth show we've attended in Valley Forge since March 2019. I did a post over at The Phillies Room with a few pictures of Doug taken with some of the show's autograph guests. We ended up adding 23 cards to our set.
I had my eye on the Banks card too along with the Tug McGraw (#533) rookie card as it's a card I've wanted for as long as I could remember. The Banks card was marked at $80 and the McGraw card was marked at $30, so I asked John if he'd take $100 for the pair. John obliged and the cards were ours. To date, this represents the most I've spent on a card for our set and I realize we have several even bigger cards that we'll need to eventually track down.
The Card
I always thought this was an interesting photo to use for a card, especially for someone as well known as Banks - full profile and close up. Only the ends of the red "C" on Banks' hat are visible. On the back, Banks' 376 career home runs through the 1964 season are celebrated with a cub holding up the number. He had been fifth on the active list until Duke Snider retired following the 1964 season. Ahead of Banks, and still active, were Mickey Mantle (#350) with 454, Willie Mays (#250) with 453 and Eddie Mathews (#500) with 445.
When Banks retired following the 1971 season, he was again fourth on the active home run leaders list, behind Mays with 646, Hank Aaron (#170) with 639, and Harmon Killebrew (#400) with 515. Banks, at card #58, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of four Cubs in the set.
Cubs Team Set
1965 Season
Banks was 34 in 1965 and playing in his 12th full major league season. He again made the All-Star team and he had two more appearances yet to come in his career. In 163 games, a career high for him, Banks hit .265 with 28 home runs and 106 RBIs. He was second on the team in both those primary power categories as Ron Santo (#110) had 33 home runs and Billy Williams (#220) had 108 RBIs. He started all but three of the Cubs' games at first base with George Altman (#528), Len Gabrielson (#14) and John Boccabella getting the other three rare starts at first when Banks was on the bench to start those games.
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First Mainstream Card: 1954 Topps #94
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (20): 1954-1971, 1973, 1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Decades' Best #DB3
1,890 - Banks non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/20/20.
When I wrote about Banks' card for my 1956 Topps blog, there were 1,563 different Banks non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett database in late January 2016. In the four years since, 327 cards have been added! That's an average of almost 82 new and different Banks cards per year, which is kind of hard to believe.
Sources:
1956 Topps Blog
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year. Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.
Prior Card: #509 Red Sox Rookie Stars
Next Card: #511 Ron Locke - New York Mets
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