Ernie Banks (1977)


Date of Birth: 1/31/1931
Date of Death: 1/23/2015
Birthplace: Dallas, Texas
College: University of Chicago

Ernie Banks followed in his father's footsteps when he started to play baseball. Although his father never played in the major leagues, he played semi-pro ball in Texas.

Banks was an athlete in high school (basketball, football, track) but his school didn't have a baseball team so he played with a church team in the summers. Later, he played semi-pro ball in Amarillo, Texas.

Kansas City Monarchs

Banks started his professional baseball career in 1950 with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues. He was drafted into the army in 1951 but returned to the Monarchs in 1953.

Chicago Cubs

In September, 1953, Banks was signed by the Chicago Cubs and he played in 10 games with them that year. In 1954, his first full season in the major leagues, Banks batted .275 with 163 hits, 19 doubles, 19 home runs, and 79 RBIs in 154 games. The following season, he batted .295 in 154 games. He finished the 1955 season with 176 hits, 29 doubles, 44 home runs, and 117 RBIs.

Banks had another good season in 1956, batting .297 with 160 hits, 25 doubles, 28 home runs, and 85 RBIs in 139 games. He had a career high 34 doubles in 1957. That year, he also had 169 hits, 43 home runs, and 102 RBIs in 156 games.

Banks won back-to-back National League MVP awards in 1958 and 1959. He led the NL in home runs with 45 and RBIs with 129 in 1958. He led the league again in RBIs in 1959 with 143. He batted .313 in 1958 and .304 in 1959. He won the Sporting News Player of the Year award both seasons. In 1959, he also excelled defensively, leading the NL in assists with 519.

Banks again led the NL in home runs in 1960 with 41. That season, he won his only Gold Glove, winning it as a shortstop. Two years later, he was moved to first base and he ended up playing more games in his career at first base than at shortstop. In 1960, he led the NL in assists with 488, and he led all NL shortstops in double plays turned with 94.

Banks batted .278 in 1961. He had 142 hits, 22 doubles, 29 home runs, and 80 RBIs in 138 games. The next year, his batting average dropped to .269, but he still had a good offensive season with 164 hits, 20 doubles, 37 home runs, and 104 RBIs. Defensively, he again excelled, leading the NL in putouts with 1,462. He also led all NL first basemen in double plays turned with 134.

After a difficult 1963 season, when he batted just .227, Banks had a better season in 1964, finishing with a .264 batting average in 157 games. He had 156 hits, 29 doubles, 23 home runs, and 95 RBIs. He again played well defensively and he led the NL in putouts with 1,565.

Banks played in a career high 163 games in 1965. He batted .265 with 162 hits, 25 doubles, 28 home runs, and 106 RBIs. He once again led the NL in putouts wtih 1,682. In 1966, he batted .272 in 141 games.

In 1967, Banks batted .276 with 158 hits, 26 doubles, 23 home runs, and 95 RBIs in 151 games. He led the NL in putouts with 1,383. He won the Lou Gehrig Memorial award that season.

Banks had 136 hits, 27 doubles, 32 home runs, 83 RBIs, and a .246 batting average in 150 games in 1968. The following season was a similar one, with lower numbers in doubles (19) and home runs (23) but a higher batting average (.253) and more RBIs (106). He led the NL in putouts once more in 1969 with 1,419.

Banks only played in 72 games in 1970, batting just .252 that season. In 1971, his last season in the major leagues, Banks played in only 39 games and he batted .193.

Awards and MLB Records

  • NL MVP (2 times)
  • Sporting News Player of the Year (2 times)
  • Lou Gehrig Memorial award
  • Gold Glove
  • Led the NL in home runs (2 times)
  • Led the NL in RBIs (2 times)
  • Led the NL in assists (2 times)
  • Led the NL in putouts (5 times)

Career Statistics

Batting statistics for Banks in 16 full seasons (1954-1969) in the major leagues include:

  • 11 seasons with over 150 hits, with a high of 193 in 1958
  • 13 seasons with over 20 home runs, with a high of 47 in 1958
  • 8 seasons with over 100 RBIs, with a high of 143 in 1959

Career batting statistics for Banks include:

  • 2,528 games played
  • 2,583 hits
  • 407 doubles
  • 512 home runs
  • 1,636 RBIs
  • 1,236 strikeouts to 763 walks
  • .274 batting average
  • .330 on-base percentage
  • .830 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Banks at shortstop include:

  • 1,125 games played
  • 174 errors
  • 3,441 assists
  • 724 double plays
  • 2,087 putouts
  • .969 fielding percentage

Career fielding statistics for Banks at first base include:

  • 1,259 games played
  • 80 errors
  • 809 assists
  • 1,005 double plays
  • 12,005 putouts
  • .994 fielding percentage

Post Playing Career

After Banks retired as a major league player, he became a coach for the Cubs. He died on January 23, 2015, at the age of 83.

Banks was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977 on the first ballot with 83.8% of the vote.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Ernie Banks
ESPN - Ernie Banks
Baseball Reference - Ernie Banks

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