Ernie Banks
Ernie Banks
Ernest "Ernie" Banks, nicknamed "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine", was an American professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseballas a shortstop and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs between 1953 and 1971. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977, and was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth31 January 1931
CityDallas, TX
CountryUnited States of America
Just follow Buck O'Neil. This man is a leader, he's a genius. He understands people. He understands life. He will keep this going. He never gives up on situations he believes in. He's not discouraged about any of this. He believes he came along at the right time and is doing the right thing. He started the Negro League Museum in Kansas City. That was his goal, his mission, and many people resented that. But he stayed on course with his situations. All of us should learn from this man. He's an ambassador, he's a humanitarian. We should follow him and see what he has to say.
Buffett invited me to a golf tournament in Omaha and I went to play in it, and we became friends. And he invited me to his stockholders meeting.
Yes, he is. Being with him and seeing him play in this city and being around him to see how he played, he hustled, his love for the game, the way he responded to people was a big inspiration to me.
People ask me a lot about the values I got from playing for the Cubs for so many years. The value I got out of it was patience. A lot of people these days are not very patient.
Mr. Wrigley believed in this: Put all your eggs in one basket and watch the basket. They don't do that today. This is the old-fashioned way I'm talking about. He carried it on to his business. Do one thing and stay with it.
The Cubs are gonna shine in sixty-nine.
During my time, there might have been one pitcher or two that were top pitchers on a team. Teams that won maybe had three, but today they have a lot of depth. They have a lot of long relievers, short relievers, and the strategy is different.
It would be a lot different for me because there is a lot of information that you need to know about as a player. How pitchers are pitching you, how defenses are playing, certain situations about certain pitchers.
It's a kind of philosophy of my own life, to create the energy enough to keep on going.
I learned from Mr. Wrigley, early in my career, that loyalty wins and it creates friendships. I saw it work for him in his business.
Did you hear that? I didn't hear anything. Put that question another way.
Another friend hired me to open doors for him in the moving and relocation business. I did that for 10 years, am still doing it. And I do some work for the Cubs, in community relations.
That's a real void in my life. I see a lot of people who struggled and went to jail and the dogs were after them. I'd look them in the eyes and say, 'God almighty, I wish I'd have been there.'
Awards mean a lot, but they don't say it all. The people in baseball mean more to me than statistics.