Ernie Banks has been a part of the sporting life in Chicago since forever. If you were a child of the '50s and '60s, he was the ultimate superstar, both on and off the field. That hasn't changed now that Mr. Banks has hit the magic age of 80.
As we saw during the Sammy Sosa era, there might be other players who thrill fans at Wrigley Field, but there will be only one "Mr. Cub."
Yet his story remained largely untold—until now. A new book, "Ernie Banks and The Summer of '69" (Triumph Books), explores the player and the man.
The author, the Tribune's Phil Rogers, traces Mr. Banks' roots as a young player growing up in Dallas who eventually got plucked from the Negro Leagues by the Cubs. He looks at the people who had the greatest influences on his career—namely the legendary Buck O'Neil.
This is a book on more than just Mr. Banks, however. Mr. Rogers weaves in the '69 season to tell the complete story. He details an examination of the Cubs' infamous collapse with a stinging assessment of manager Leo Durocher.
It's a good read, and even if you think you know Chicago sports, you'll learn a thing or two from Mr. Rogers' book. Here's a Q/A I did with him:
How much cooperation from Mr. Banks did you receive for the book? What was is it like dealing with him?
Mr. Rogers: Before agreeing to do the book, I discussed the idea with Ernie and the publisher, Mitch Rogatz of Triumph. It’s an unauthorized biography but I didn’t want to do it if Ernie wasn’t behind it. He can be a hard guy to read, and I’m never sure he quite believed we were really doing a book. It was difficult getting close to him, but I did spend time with him, including one memorable event he invited me to. I think he enjoyed the process and respected the research I’d done on his life and career. It was amazing to watch him with people. They love him as much now as when he played.
You didn't grow up here and never had the connection to Mr. Banks that many of us did as kids. How did that impact your approach to the book?
I grew up in Dallas, as did Ernie, and I think that gave me some perspective on his childhood and background. Many of the specifics of the 1969 season were new to me, and it was fun to cover fresh ground. I also tried to picture what the city of Chicago was like in the 1950s and ‘60s, when Ernie played. Maybe the lack of personal investment made it easier to see the divided Chicago (white/black) that Ernie found himself tossed into when his contract was sold from the Monarchs to the Cubs. I loved researching the city’s history, which I think was important in trying to write the book as something of a period piece.
Instead of writing a straight biography from birth through 80th birthday, why did you decide to construct the book around the 1969 season?
That’s easy. I copied Jane Leavy’s approach from her great biography on Sandy Koufax, in which she bounced between Koufax’s life/career and his perfect game over the Cubs. I love that book and I think it showed me the value of writing style. While it wasn’t the very end of his career, in many ways ’69 was the climax of Ernie’s career, so it was a natural prism to use in telling Ernie’s story. I think his dignity, his enthusiasm and his incredible talent all showed through in that season, in particular with his handling the difficulties of life with Leo Durocher.
The book is much more than just about Mr. Banks. You write a lot about the people in the Negro Leagues who influenced him such as Buck O'Neil. What did you learn about them?
One of the best experiences from writing the book was getting to know Monte Irvin, who was the most generous in helping me understand what it was like to be a black baseball player in that era. He provided great perspective on many subjects, including Ernie. I wish I had written this book 10 years ago, when O’Neil and many others were still alive. Thank goodness for Joe Posnanski and others who worked hard to preserve the legacy of O’Neil and others. I think one of the truest things Ernie told me was that he really didn’t want to come to the Cubs; he was having too much fun traveling the country with O’Neil and the Monarchs.
Leo Durocher is a central figure in the book. You came down hard on him for the way he managed in 1969. Why?
Well, the difference between the Mets and the Cubs was largely the difference between the great job Gil Hodges did with the Mets and the lousy job Durocher did with the Cubs. But the inexcusable thing about Durocher in ’69 is that he allowed his personal life to impact his judgment about baseball. Digging through old newspapers I counted seven different times he left the team between spring training and August, and I think almost all of those were because he wanted to spend time with his girlfriend/fiancé/wife. And Ken Holtzman tells a story that shows why players would have a hard time respecting him. It’s amazing to me he got away with what he did, but neither players nor most reporters confronted him.
Were you able to figure out what Mr. Durocher had against Mr. Banks?
Jealousy, I think. Leo was used to being the story and he felt upstaged by his aging first baseman. Durocher was pretty open about that in his autobiography, which I drew from.
People my age (51) remember Mr. Banks at the end of his career when bad knees made him a slow first baseman. Remind us how he good he was during his prime in the late 50s?
That’s the easiest question, and the biggest reason I’m happy that I wrote this book. I think a lot of his greatness has been overshadowed by his smile and his unusual personality. When he won his back-to-back MVPs, Willie Mays finished second one year (1958) and Henry Aaron finished third the other year (‘59). In his best six years, he was every bit as great as those guys, and he played shortstop, making him arguably even more valuable than two of the all-time greats. Ernie’s legacy would be bigger if he had played on better teams but mostly I think it’s been reduced by spending the second half of his career at first. In his prime, he was the young Alex Rodriguez, with more joy and less selfishness. Or Starlin Castro, with 40-homer power. How great of a player would we think Castro was if he hit 45 homers, played every game all season and made only 12 errors? That’s how great Ernie was.
Michael G. wrote:
Excellent interview Ed. Growing up a Sox fan in Chicago in the late 60's, even I could not help but being caught up in the Cubs pennant fever of '69. And everybody by and large were rooting so hard for the Cubs to do it in '69 for Ernie. He truly was the face of the franchise. And everybody wanted Ernie to get to a World Series before his career ended.
And like you Ed, I only remember Banks as an aging power hitting 1B'man. And I remember the older kids in the neighborhood telling me Banks was an All-Star SS at the beginning of his career. So I asked my Dad what his recollections of Banks the shortstop were and he said "Banks was every bit as good a fielder as his southside counterpart (Aparicio), which was sacrilege to say at the time, but he thought Banks played outstanding SS for the Cubs, but they were mired in the 2nd division all those years and the Sox got all the press for their annual frantic pennant chases with the hated Yankees."
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