Remembering Ernie Banks: The Scouting Report

Baseball suffered a tremendous loss this past weekend. Ernie Banks, endearingly known as Mr. Cub by Chicago and baseball fans, passed away at age 83. Ernie Banks was larger than the Cubs as he was one of the great ambassadors of the game. Seemingly never negative, Banks will probably always be remembered as sports’ most lovable loser, never winning a championship.

As a minor league site, it was hard to find a way to pay tribute to one of the greatest players to ever suit up in the annals of MLB lore simply because Banks never played minor league baseball. Banks got his start with the legendary Kansas City Monarchs, which was a far cry from anything resembling amateur or lower level baseball. After two year serving in the military, Banks returned to the Monarchs only to have his contract purchased by the Chicago Cubs in the late summer of 1953. By September of that same year, Banks became the first African American to play for one of the most storied franchises in the history of the game and the rest is, as they say, history.

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What we can do is take a look at Banks’ scouting report and see how accurate Hugh Wise was on that late July day. Based on his recommendation for the Cubs to sign Banks, it’s safe to say that Wise made the Cubs a very happy team.

HITTING: GOOD

Banks could always be counted on to hit for a decent average. He was a perennial .300 hitter in his early years and tailed off to a .270 hitter in his later career after knee injuries slowed him down and changed his game. His 2,583 hits are 86th all time.

RUNNING: GOOD

Probably the only thing Banks didn’t do well above average was stealing bases. He had a streak of seven consecutive years with 6 or more triples, so he had great awareness on the base paths. He finished his career with 50 stolen bases, which comes out to about two and a half per season.

FIELDING: VERY GOOD/ ARM: QUICK-STRONG VERY GOOD

Banks was a hard-hitting shortstop well before shortstops were known for power. He was also very versatile, playing a solid first base after knee injuries limited his range and forced him to move across the diamond later in his career. It wasn’t that he had the strongest arm in the game, but he was highly accurate with great range and soft hands. It was rare that his throw didn’t beat a baserunner down the first base line. Banks finished with a career .969 fielding percentage at shortstop, one of the toughest positions in baseball at a time when he annually led the league in games played and chances.

POWER: GOOD PLUS

Good plus good equals great. Ernie Banks redefined the shortstop position. He hit 40-plus home runs in five of six seasons, leading baseball twice in home runs. This was unheard of in the 1950s (and the 60s, 70 and 80s for that matter). Banks power enabled him to be the first National League player in history to win back-to-back MVP Awards in 1958 and 1959. The Cubs were a combined 146-162 over those two years, and they may have not won 50 games those seasons were in not for Banks. In fact, if the Cubs could have produce winning records of any sort, Banks could have been MVP four consecutive years behind 43, 47, 45, and 41 home run seasons. Banks wasn’t Good Plus, he was Amazing Plus.

ATTITUDE: VERY GOOD

This was what made Ernie Banks Mr. Cub and one of the most cherished personalities in the game well beyond his playing years. 2528 games played, 2 MVP Awards, 8 consecutive All-Star appearances and 12 all together, and ZERO postseason appearances. Banks had a career slash line of .274/.330/.500 with 2583 hits, 512 home runs and 1636 RBI and the Cubs couldn’t get him a division title once in 19 seasons. But it never affected him negatively. He was always smiling, always positive. He was the continual glimmer of hope for Cubs fans each and every season, and still was right up until his death.

“He had all these sayings, and they all rhymed,” former teammate Billy Williams told ESPN. “Every year, he had a new one at the start of the season. You know, ‘It’s going to be heavenly in ’70.’ He used to ask me, ‘Do you have change for three cents?’ It took me about five years to figure that one out. He used to say, ‘It will be cold. It will be hot. It will be weather, whether or not.’ It took me about five years to figure that one out, also. He used to walk by you with his hand out, then you’d go to shake his hand, and he’d pretend like he was blind and just walk past you. If you were on the team and you weren’t married, he was always trying to get you married. He’d ask, ‘Why aren’t you married?’ He was my roommate for six months, but we also traveled to the ballpark together almost every day. He could talk about anything. He read a little, but he was always abreast of what was going on in the world. He was a great conversationalist, even about things other than baseball.”

Whether he went by Mr. Cub or Mr. Sunshine, Ernie Banks played the game the way it should be. He genuinely loved winning, but was happy to lose because he was still playing baseball. Everyone remembers that he always said, “Let’s play two,” but if there was a double header to be played, he’d probably say “Let’s play three!”

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