#238 Gene Baker

Sure, Ernie Banks was the first African-American to play for the Chicago Cubs, but Gene Baker was the first African-American to wear a Cubs uni. He was called up shortly before Banks in September of 1953 but wasn't able to play because of an injury and watched his future DP partner take the field a few days prior to his debut.

Both Baker and Banks were shortstops but the Cubs moved Baker, older than Banks by 6 years, to second and in late '53/1954 they formed the first African-American DP combo in major league baseball. Baker played for the Cubs until he was traded to Pittsburgh early in the 1957 season, making the 1955 NL All Star squad along the way. With the Pirates he appeared in the 1960 World Series, something his pal Banks was never able to do.

But it was both before and after Gene Baker's active years that me made a larger impact. Coming out of St. Ambrose College in his native Davenport, Iowa and after a year in the military he played for the powerhouse Negro League Kansas City Monarchs until he caught the eye of the Cubs and was signed in 1949.

After he had retired as a player in 1961 he was named manager at Batavia, NY, the Pirates' Class D farm club thus becoming the first African-American to manage an affiliated minor league team. He later joined the coaching ranks in Pittsburgh and became the second African-American coach in the majors (Buck O'Neil preceded him by a year). 

And finally Baker became the first African-American to manage a big league club when he took over for Danny Murtaugh with the Pirates during a short suspension. He was a top scout for the Pirates in the Midwest for over 20 years. He died in 1999.

The Gene Baker card below is my original one. When I scanned it a few weeks back I saw that it was pretty shopworn, more so than the scan reveals. There is a nice sized crease, somewhat soft corners and it had lot of crud on it in addition to it being faded a bit. So I decided that Gene deserved a better representation and I found the one at the top on eBay for about a buck fifty shipped. 

It may be the last upgrade I'll do in the '59 set. 

#469 Hustler Banks Wins M.V.P. Award

Ernie Banks makes his third appearance on this blog. We've seen his regular card and his All Star card already. This Baseball Thrill subset entry commemorates his 1958 MVP award. As the card notes he won as a member of a 5th place Cub team. He repeated the same feat with a very similar season in 1959. He was the first NL player to win in back-to-back years.

As I like to do I dug around and found the original photograph that Topps used to produce this card. And again I found it on good ol' Corbis. The shot was taken on September 8, 1957 in a game the Cubs won in 10 over the Braves in Milwaukee. Ernie's run was the go-ahead tally in the 5-3 game. Here it is with the original caption:

Ernie Banks Sliding Safely Into HomeChicago Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks (center) slides into home scoring in the tenth inning off a pinch-hit single by Bob Will in a Chicago-Milwaukee Braves game at County Stadium. Braves centerfielder Hank Aaron fielded the ball and threw to catcher Del Crandall (right). The ball went through Crandall's legs allowing Banks to score. The Cubs defeated the Braves in 10 innings. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 8, 1957.

And here is the Corbis original cropped to include only the action that Topps used:

#147 Cubs' Clubbers

Here we have Dale Long and Walt Moryn, a couple of Cubs who were coming off nice seasons but, while not quite at the end of their careers, could see it from where they were standing. Both had very respectable numbers, hitting over 100 big league dingers and batting around .266.

Dale Long's '59 card is cued up for posting. Walt Moran has one as well. Both are much better cards than this spot filling 'special'. I wish Topps had carried their design for the regular cards through to these specials. Have the circle show the background instead of cropping the players (poorly) onto a color background.

Oh, the other guy on this card? The one in the middle? I've seen him somewhere recently I think.

#350 Ernie Banks

Ernie Banks, Mr. Cub. Hall of Famer, baseball ambassador, revered by Chicagoans and pretty much everyone else who was a baseball fan during his era. I could spend a lot of time reviewing Ernie's on-the-field accomplishments but you can see them easily enough over on Baseball Reference or any number of other sites. Here is a list from BR's Bullpen page:

• 11-time All-Star (1955-1962, 1965, 1967 & 1969)
• 2-time NL MVP (1958 & 1959)
• NL Gold Glove Winner (1960/SS)
• NL Slugging Percentage Leader (1958)
• NL At Bats Leader (1958)
• NL Total Bases Leader (1958)
• 2-time NL Home Runs Leader (1958 & 1960)
• 2-time NL RBI Leader (1958 & 1959)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 13 (1955-1962, 1964, 1965 & 1967-1969)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 7 (1955, 1957-1960, 1962 & 1968)
• 40-Home Run Seasons: 5 (1955 & 1957-1960)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 8 (1955, 1957-1960, 1962, 1965 & 1969)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 2 (1957 & 1958)
• Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1977

A few lesser known facts.... Ernie played for the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs before signing with the Cubs. He held the record for playing consecutive games at the start of his career (424.. since broken by Hideki Matsui)... he held the record for grand slams in a season as noted on his Topps card cartoon... he was the first black player for the Cubs and made up one half of the majors' first black dp combo when he was paired with secondbaseman Gene Baker... he finished second to Wally Moon in the Rookie of the Year NL balloting but ahead of Hank Aaron (4th).... he has a web page (pretty sparse) and released a wine that benefits his foundation... he has a statue in his honor outside Wrigley Field (see below).

Ernie's card in this set is one of my favorites. Nice picture, more than a routine portrait. I think it captures him pretty well. Green isn't a Cub color but it seems to show off his uni and expression. My copy has some soft corners but it's pretty darn nice overall, at least in the context of my non-graded collection.

I usually avoid editorializing but I'll make an exception here. I was reading (maybe a card blog?) the other day and the writer was implying that perhaps Ernie's numbers didn't really warrant making him a first ballot H-O-F guy. Maybe, maybe not, when it comes to pure numbers. But in my mind the Hall is more than numbers, or it should be. My favorite writer growing up was the Detroit Free Press' Joe Falls who had a column in the Sporting News for as long as I was a reader. He once wrote that he determined Hall worthiness by asking himself  "If I was writing a history of baseball would I have to include this player?". That may not be a perfect way to do it but I always think of it when the yearly Hall debate rolls around. I'll take it a step farther. If I have to include the guy in the opening chapters, he's a first ballot guy.

Ernie Banks would absolutely have to be included in a baseball history book and would have to have a whole chapter to himself. He was more than a great player he drew people to him and made being a baseball fan more rewarding. Look at more than numbers. Look at Ernie Banks and you'll want to say "Let's Play Two!"

Here are my sons, James and Brooks (who just had to toss in his Astros cap) at the Ernie Banks statute during Christmas week of 2010.