{"id":3003,"date":"2015-04-21T16:45:35","date_gmt":"2015-04-21T16:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/jimdalrympleii\/mr-cub-chicago-baseball-legend-ernie-banks-dies-at-83"},"modified":"2015-04-21T16:45:35","modified_gmt":"2015-04-21T16:45:35","slug":"mr-cub-chicago-baseball-legend-ernie-banks-dies-at-83","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/archives\/3003","title":{"rendered":"“Mr. Cub,” Chicago Baseball Legend Ernie Banks, Dies At 83"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBanks was a legendary home run hitter and the first black baseball player on the Chicago Cubs.<\/b>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Chicago Cubs infielder Ernie Banks is pictured in 1967. (AP Photo\/Harold Filan) <\/span> AP<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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Ernie Banks, a legendary home run hitter and the first black baseball player on the Chicago Cubs, died Friday.<\/h2>\t
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Banks joined the Cubs in 1953 and went on to earn the nickname “Mr. Cub.” His career was marked by an array of successes over 19 seasons: he hit 512 home runs and 1,636 RBIs; he was an 11-time all star; and in 1977, he was inducted<\/a> into the Baseball Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Banks still holds Cubs records for the number games played and at-bats, among other things, ESPN reported<\/a>. He also still holds the record for the second most home runs in Cubs history.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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Ernie Banks connects with the ball for his 2,500th base hit of his major league career on Sept. 19, 1969, in Chicago. <\/span> AP<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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As the first black player on the Cubs, Banks was also a pioneer at a time when Baseball was still a predominately white sport.<\/h2>\t
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Prior to joining the MLB, he played in the Negro leagues<\/a>, joining the Kansas City Monarchs in 1950. He later spent two years in the army before joining the Cubs.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame slugger Ernie Banks in March 2014. <\/span> M. Spencer Green \/ AP<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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Banks grew to become a beloved figure in Chicago and elsewhere.<\/h2>\t
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Among other things, he was known for his “sunny disposition,” the Chicago Tribune<\/i> reported<\/a> Friday. In 2013, he received<\/a> the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama. <\/p>\n

Banks’ death was confirmed by his wife<\/a> and the Cubs<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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Willie Mays, right, of the New York Giants sprints to third base as Banks catches a ball in Chicago on May 22, 1957. <\/span> Harry Hall \/ AP<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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Chicago’s Wrigley Field displayed a tribute to Banks Friday on its marquee:<\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
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The Wrigley Field marquee pays tribute to Mr. Cub on this somber night.<\/p>\t\t— MLB (@MLB)\t\t<\/a>\t<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel posted<\/a> a tribute to Banks on Facebook calling him “one of Chicago’s greatest ambassadors.”<\/h2>\t
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Ernie Banks was more than a baseball player. He was one of Chicago’s greatest ambassadors. He loved this city as much as he loved — and lived for — the game of baseball. This year, during every Cubs game, you can bet that No.14 will be watching over his team. And if we’re lucky, it’ll be a beautiful day for not just one ballgame, but two. My deepest sympathy to his wife, Liz, family, and friends.<\/p><\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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Fans took to social media Friday to mourn Banks’ death, many of them using his catchphrase, “Let’s Play Two.”<\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
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So long, Ernie. I never met you, but the excitement and positivity you brought to the game was unparalleled. #ErnieBanks #LetsPlayTwo<\/p>\t\t— JimIngram01 (@Jim Ingram)\t\t<\/a>\t<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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Grew up in the days of WGN & TBS hearing of legends Henry Aaron and Mr. Cub Ernie Banks, sad to hear of his passing. RIP #MrCub<\/p>\t\t— hates_sleeves (@Jesse)\t\t<\/a>\t<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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Truly saddened to hear about the death of #ErnieBanks, but happy he’s playing ball upstairs with Ronnie 💞 #GoCubsGo<\/p>\t\t— BF_StarNews (@Brittany Feagans)\t\t<\/a>\t<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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Welcome to the Field of Dreams, Mr. Cub. #LetsPlay2<\/p>\t\t— LukeMock (@Luke Mock ⚾)\t\t<\/a>\t<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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Cap off to a legend… Ernie Banks. #letsplaytwo<\/p>\t\t— nickjoness (@Nick Jones)\t\t<\/a>\t<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>

Read more: http:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/jimdalrympleii\/mr-cub-chicago-baseball-legend-ernie-banks-dies-at-83<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Banks was a legendary home run hitter and the first black baseball player on the Chicago Cubs. View this image › Chicago Cubs infielder Ernie Banks is pictured in 1967. (AP Photo\/Harold Filan) AP Ernie Banks, a legendary home run hitter and the first black baseball player on the Chicago Cubs, died Friday. Banks joined … Continue reading “Mr. Cub,” Chicago Baseball Legend Ernie Banks, Dies At 83<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1725,681,1726,1727],"class_list":["post-3003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anxiety","tag-baseball","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-race"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/14295879419014-mr-cub-chicago-baseball-legend-ernie-banks-dies-a-2-29824-1422076547-11_dblbig.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}