Description
Book SynopsisErnie Banks, the first-ballot Hall of Famer and All-Century Team shortstop, played in fourteen All-Star Games, won two MVPs and a Gold Glove Award, and twice led the Major Leagues in home runs and runs batted in. His signature phrase, Let''s play two, has entered the American lexicon and exemplifies an enthusiasm and optimism that endeared him to fans everywhere.
But Banks''s public display of good cheer was also a mask that hid a deeply conflicted and complex man. He spent his entire career with the Chicago Cubs, who fielded some of baseball''s worst teams, and became one of the greatest players never to reach the World Series. He endured poverty and racism as a young man, and the scorn of Cubs manager Leo Durocher as an aging superstar. Yet Banks smiled through it all, never complaining and never saying a negative word about his circumstances or the people around him.
Based on numerous conversations with Banks, and on more than a hundred interviews with family, teamm
