Ernest "Ernie" Banks was nicknamed "Mr. Cub” while he was a Major League Baseball (MLB) shortstop and first baseman for 19 seasons, 1953 through 1971. As you can imagine, he spent his entire MLB career with the Chicago Cubs. He was voted a National League (NL) All-Star for 11 seasons, playing in 14 All-Star Games.
Mr. Cub made his first MLB All-Star Game appearance in 1955. Ernie received back-to-back National League Most Valuable Player awards in 1958 and 1959. He hit an impressive .313 with 47 home runs (HR) and 129 runs batted in (RBI) in 1958. The next season he hit .304 with 45 HR and 143 RBI.
For eight years Banks played the shortstop position, but in 1961 he was transferred to left field followed by a final position change to first base. Even though the Cubs manager felt that Ernie was beginning to lose his edge by the mid ‘60’s, Ernie was so popular among the ever optimistic Cub fandom, that the manager felt that he was unable to remove Banks from the lineup. So the year I was born, Banks became a player-coach. From 1967 through 1971, the Cubs organization would work with this All-star and keep him as part of the team. Finally, after 17 years in the Majors, he hit his 500th career home run. For you math wizards out there, that is averaging nearly 29 HR’s a year. At 40 years of age, Ernie retires as a player. In 1972, he joined the Cubs coaching staff.
Some of Banks more notable accomplishments:
- Golden Glove Award in 1960
- NL home run champion in 1958 and 1960
- NL RBI Champion in 1958 and 1960
- His #14 Jersey is retired with the Chicago Cubs
- In 1999, Ernie Banks was named to the MLB All-Century Team.
- Inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame, in 1977, with 83.8% agreement on his first ballot.
- In 2013, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contribution to sports.
- Over 19 seasons, Ernie average about $35,000 year salary, with total earnings in baseball of $680,500.
- Banks averaged only 1 error every 9.4 games played, a majority of those came early in his career while at the very difficult position of shortstop
As of this date and according to one website, only
- 123 Geocachers in the state of TN have more cache finds then his career hits of 2,583.
- 237 Geocachers in the great state of TN have more cache finds than his career RBI’s of 1636.
- 749 Geocachers in the state of TN have more cache finds then his career HR’s of 512.
About the cache, easy access, and on a dry day I would say accessible by all. ON a wet day, it gets pretty muddy in this area of the park. Nothing tricky about the location; may be tough to find for some, easier for others. Just remember, when it was placed it was working fine. It was too tiny to include a pen or other writing utensil, but you will need something clever to extract this one. Also return it to the exact location so that others can have a chance as well.
This cache has been placed with approval from the local property owner, but remember to exercise good judgment, if the location is being utilized please come back another day. Afterall, the cache is not going anywhere! You don't need to be inside the fence to obtain the prize, so the owner has requested that you stay on the exterior of the fence.
Now, let's go caching boys! (girls, men, women, etc....)