FanHouse ErnieBanks

This story is a few days old, but I didn't hear anything about it until today, so it's new to me. A suburban Chicago man named William Hermes was recently arrested after he sold 1.5 grams of cocaine to an undercover police officer. As is normally the case when police arrest somebody for selling drugs, any money found on the person is assumed to have been made by selling drugs, and the police confiscate it. Which is exactly what they did when they found over $1,400 in Hermes' pocket.

The only way to keep your money if you've been arrested is if you prove to the police that you got it another way, which is what Hermes did. Though it's not exactly a story police are used to hearing in these cases.

"He told the officers he was a baseball card collector and that he had just sold an Ernie Banks rookie card," Day said. "It certainly was the most interesting story I have heard under these circumstances, but we had to check it out."

And it did check out, Day said. Police contacted the card buyer who confirmed the transaction. Police followed that up with a visit to the purchaser, who showed them the card and the receipt provided by Hermes.

"The card deal was legitimate, so we gave him the money back," Day said. "The best thing about it was I got to see the card."

Ahh yes, Ernie Banks and cocaine. The two just go together don't they? After all, wasn't it Banks who once said "It's a beautiful day for a bump! Let's do two!"

ESPN Sunday Night Baseball analyst and baseball Hall-of-Famer Joe Morgan isn't exactly the most beloved figure in baseball or the blogosphere. I mean, the man has a blog dedicated to rooting out the idiocy in the sports media coverage of the game named after him (I live for the day I write something stupid enough for FJM to attack me).

The reason for this is that Joe says a lot of things that are poorly-informed or just outright incorrect. The latest instance took place on Sunday night while Joe was working the Cubs/White Sox game.

In the fifth inning, when Eric Patterson hit a two-run homer into the wire basket that overhangs the right field wall, Morgan referred to the basket as "Banks Boulevard," and then went on to talk about how many Ernie Banks homers ended up in the Wrigley bleacher baskets back in the day - the implication being, of course, that many of Ernie's 512 career homers were cheapies, and that he would have hit considerably fewer without the help of those right- and left-field baskets.

It turns out that "Banks Boulevard" is a phrase that Joe has been using for a while when describing the nets at Wrigley Field, and that he maintains that's what "everybody" referred to them as while he played.

Just one slight problem: the baskets weren't put in at Wrigley Field until 1970, and Banks retired after the 1971 season. How many of Ernie's 512 career homers came at Wrigley during that span? Seven, including his 500th which was hit well into the seats.

This discrepancy has caused Cubs blogs and fans to threaten boycotting ESPN until Morgan issues an apology, and though I find that to be incredibly idiotic, I still offer my full support for the movement. I'll do anything that could possibly lead to not having to deal with Joe anymore.

(Arm bash to Walkoff Walk)

It's not every day that a White Sox player passes the most famous, most respected Chicago Cub of all-time on the career home runs list. But that's just what Jim Thome did last night, when he hit his 513th home run. In doing so, he moved past Ernie Banks (and Eddie Matthews) into sole possession of 19th place on the all-time list.

Being a Cubs fan, this is sort of where I expect a bunch of North Side goons to bemoan the fact that Thome just superceded Mr. Cub. This is sort of where I expect my fellow fans to toss a beer on themselves, and a beer at the nearest White Sox fan. Parrrrtay! Of sadness! Unfortuantely, it's kinda hard to be mad when Thome says things like this:

"I mean, Mr. Cub. I grew up a Cubs fan," he said before Friday night's game with Baltimore was called after a long rain delay. "As your career goes on, you don't fathom being in a list like that. I guess you have to be very lucky and blessed to play a long time. But again, those things are great. When you win, it's even better."

Thome received a congratulatory message from Banks, although they have not yet talked. He hopes they will meet on the next Sox trip to Los Angeles, where Banks now lives.

Can't ... get mad ... at Jim Thome. Damn you, Jim! Stop being so lovable!

One of my favorite things about Cubs fans is the way they've treated Sammy Sosa over the last 10 years. For years when Sammy was playing on the north side of Chicago, Cubs fans adored him. Everywhere you looked you saw somebody in a #21 Sosa jersey. He was a God.

Then towards the end of the 2004 season, things started going wrong. The Cubs had followed up their 2003 collapse in the NLCS with a bottom of the NL Central performance, and the fans turned on Sosa. It was the last season he'd play for the Cubs, and the way Cubs fans talk about Sosa now kills me. Go up to any Cubs fan right now and ask him about Sosa, and they'll tell you everything they hate about the guy, and how they never really liked him that much to begin with. (Or they'll tell you they can't even remember who your talking about. cough EAMONN cough)

So I guess all those summer afternoons bowing to him never took place. Anywho, with the recent dedication of a statue for Ernie Banks at Wrigley Field, there's been a discussion as to when, if ever, there will be a statue built in Sosa's honor. Ernie Banks has gone on record saying he thinks there should be one, and Sammy thinks there will be as well.

On Saturday night I was in Wrigleyville on my way to a bar to celebrate a friend's birthday. As I got off at the Addison stop of the red line stop so many Cubs fans take to see their favorite team played, I walked along outside of Wrigley Field on my way to the bar. As I was walking by the stadium, I came across the as of yet unveiled statue of Ernie Banks.

The statue was wrapped up for the most part, except for Ernie's feet and the statue's base. It didn't take me long to notice something wrong with the statue. The statue was inscribed with Banks' legendary "Let's play two!" mantra, but there was one tiny little problem. It didn't say "Let's Play Two" it said "Lets Play Two." My first reaction, of course, was to chuckle and think to myself that only the Cubs could screw up a monument to one of their all-time greats, and then I wondered how on earth nobody else had noticed this mistake.

Then the team unveiled the statue on Monday, and well, people noticed.

At least half the people I asked leaned toward the inscription, mouthed it-Lets play two, lets play two, lets play two-then shook their heads, no.

"That's just a nitpicky thing about English," said a guy named Brian when I pointed it out. He declined to give his last name on the grounds that he didn't want to be on the record insulting the Cubs.

Even if Julian Tavarez doesn't know who Ernie Banks is, every Cub fan does. That's "Mr. Cub," the man whose enthusiasm for the ancient rite of Wrigley daytime doubleheaders spawned a catchphrase used the league over ("Let's play two!").

So it's only fitting that perhaps the greatest player -- or at least the most beloved -- in Cubs history is going to get the lasting recognition he deserves. By Opening Day 2008, the Cubs will have built an Ernie Banks statue outside Wrigley Field, similar to the ubiquitous Michael Jordan statue at the United Center.

The statue's location is as of yet unknown, but you'd have to think it will likely go somewhere near the Harry Caray statue currently at Wrigley, which is good, because Harry gets drunk and lonely over there. Ernie can keep him some company.

So congrats, Mr. Cub. Here's to a lasting legacy, whether that Tavarez dude realizes it or not.

Previously on the FanHouse:
Julian Tavarez: 'Who's Ernie Banks?'