Ernie Banks in memoriam: Mr.Cub's home runs in detail and perspective.

Ernie Banks, Hopeful Mr. Cub, Dies at 83; His Mantra Was ‘Let’s Play 2’
By RICHARD GOLDSTEINJAN. 23, 2015  The New York Times

... the greatest power-hitting shortstop of the 20th century ...

most valuable player in the National League in 1958 and 1959, the first to win the (NL) award in consecutive years, although the Cubs finished tied for fifth place each time ...

... elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977, his first year of eligibility.

Banks became the Cubs’ first black player on Sept. 17, 1953, six years after Jackie Robinson broke the modern major league color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers...

Presidential Medal of Freedom ... 2013 ...

Banks was the ninth player in major league history to hit 500 home runs, and when he retired after the 1971 season, his 293 home runs as a shortstop and his 47 homers in 1958 were career and single-season records for that position, marks eclipsed by Alex Rodriguez.
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Positions: First Baseman and Shortstop
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 1", Weight: 180 lb.

Born: January 31, 1931 in Dallas, TX (Age 83.358)
High School: Booker T. Washington HS (Dallas, TX)
School: University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs in 1953.
Debut: September 17, 1953 (Age 22.229, 8,657th in MLB history)
Team: Cubs 1953-1971
Last Game: September 26, 1971 (Age 40.238)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame by BBWAA as Player in 1977 (321/383 ballots).

50% of games at SS, HR>=40:

Rk	Player	Year	HR	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Ernie Banks	1955	44	24	CHC	NL	154	646	596	98	176	29	9	117	45	6	72	2	0	3	16	9	3	.295	.345	.596	.941	*6
2	Ernie Banks	1957	43	26	CHC	NL	156	673	594	113	169	34	6	102	70	11	85	3	2	5	12	8	4	.285	.360	.579	.939	*65
3	Ernie Banks	1958	47	27	CHC	NL	154	682	617	119	193	23	11	129	52	12	87	4	1	8	14	4	4	.313	.366	.614	.980	*6
4	Ernie Banks	1959	45	28	CHC	NL	155	671	589	97	179	25	6	143	64	20	72	7	2	9	18	2	4	.304	.374	.596	.970	*6/H
5	Ernie Banks	1960	41	29	CHC	NL	156	678	597	94	162	32	7	117	71	28	69	4	0	6	14	1	3	.271	.350	.554	.904	*6
6	Rico Petrocelli	1969	40	26	BOS	AL	154	643	535	92	159	32	2	97	98	13	68	1	3	6	12	3	5	.297	.403	.589	.992	*6/5
7	Alex Rodriguez	1998	42	22	SEA	AL	161	748	686	123	213	35	5	124	45	0	121	10	3	4	12	46	13	.310	.360	.560	.919	*6/D
8	Alex Rodriguez	1999	42	23	SEA	AL	129	572	502	110	143	25	0	111	56	2	109	5	1	8	12	21	7	.285	.357	.586	.943	*6
9	Alex Rodriguez	2000	41	24	SEA	AL	148	672	554	134	175	34	2	132	100	5	121	7	0	11	10	15	4	.316	.420	.606	1.026	*6
10	Alex Rodriguez	2001	52	25	TEX	AL	162	732	632	133	201	34	1	135	75	6	131	16	0	9	17	18	3	.318	.399	.622	1.021	*6/D
11	Alex Rodriguez	2002	57	26	TEX	AL	162	725	624	125	187	27	2	142	87	12	122	10	0	4	14	9	4	.300	.392	.623	1.015	*6/H
12	Alex Rodriguez	2003	47	27	TEX	AL	161	715	607	124	181	30	6	118	87	10	126	15	0	6	16	17	3	.298	.396	.600	.995	*6/HD

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Generated 1/24/2015.

Banks had the first five of twelve occurrences, including four consecutive .  Rodriguez did it six consecutive after which he switched to third base to accommodate Derek Jeter after Rodriguez was traded from the Rangers to the Yankees.  In 2004 Rodriguez hit 36 home runs.

Let's see the impact of their home parks.

					home	home	home	road	road	road	dif	dif pct	team
Name	Year	HR	AB	AB/HR	HR	AB	AB/HR	HR	AB	AB/HR	AB/HR	AB/HR
Banks	1955	44	596	13.55	26	285	10.96	18	311	17.28	6.32	57.62%	Cubs
Banks	1957	43	594	13.81	25	280	11.20	18	314	17.44	6.24	55.75%	Cubs
Banks	1958	47	617	13.13	30	300	10.00	17	317	18.65	8.65	86.47%	Cubs
Banks	1959	45	589	13.09	24	287	11.96	21	302	14.38	2.42	20.26%	Cubs
Banks	1960	41	597	14.56	18	299	16.61	23	298	12.96	-3.65	-22.00%	Cubs
Banks	tot	512	9,420	18.40	290	4,734	16.32	222	4,686	21.11	4.78	29.31%	Cubs
Petrocelli	1969	40	535	13.38	22	259	11.77	18	276	15.33	3.56	30.24%	Red Sox
Rodriguez	1998	42	686	16.33	18	343	19.06	24	343	14.29	-4.76	-25.00%	Mariners
Rodriguez	1999	42	502	11.95	20	250	12.50	22	252	11.45	-1.05	-8.36%	Mariners
Rodriguez	2000	41	554	13.51	13	265	20.38	28	289	10.32	-10.06	-49.37%	Mariners
Rodriguez	2001	52	632	12.15	26	313	12.04	26	319	12.27	.23	1.92%	Rangers
Rodriguez	2002	57	624	10.95	34	313	9.21	23	311	13.52	4.32	46.88%	Rangers
Rodriguez	2003	47	607	12.91	26	309	11.88	21	298	14.19	2.31	19.40%	Rangers
	Year	HR	AB	AB/HR	HR	AB	AB/HR	HR	AB	AB/HR	AB/HR	AB/HR

The friendly confines of Wrigley Field in Chicago obviously helped Banks more than Fenway Park helped Rico Petrocelli (OPS+ 168 in 1969; Banks top: 156 in 1959) and more than the Texas home park helped Rodriguez, who was hurt by his Seattle home park.  So what?  Who doesn't love Ernie Banks?

Banks suddenly jumped from 19 home runs in his 1954 Rookie of the Year season to 44.

Does Rico Petrocelli make us stupid?  Monday, June 3, 2013

When Ricco suddenly jumped from 12 to 40 we all attributed it to his playing his home games in Fenway Park with that silly left field wall.

If we had given it a second thought we could have reasoned as follows.

How many HR could he have reasonably hit at home?  Let's say a whopping 25.  That would still leave 15 on the road.  Prior to that Ricco's previous high for an entire season had been 18.  So obviously something more than the Green Monster in Fenway Park was involved.
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After leading the league in home runs in 1960 Banks never led in anything ever again.  He played one more season at SS: 29 homers in 511 AB, All Star.  In 1962 Banks switched to first base and was replaced at SS by Andre Rodgers: 5 HR in 461 AB.

In ranking Jeter, why ignore Banks, Yount, Rodriguez?  Sunday, February 16, 2014

Ernie Banks, Robin Count and Alex Rodriguez were all MVP shortstops, Banks twice, before changing positions in the middle of their careers: Banks to first, Yount to center (another MVP), Rodriguez to third (two more MVP).

In all the adulation and evaluation of Derek Jeter, who has played the field only at shortstop, why not include the shortstop portions of those three careers?  ...

Let's compare the truncated shortstop careers of these players to Jeter...

Rodriguez and Banks are the best hitters.
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500 home run club through 1971, the last season for Ernie Banks:

Rk	Player	HR	From	To	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	Babe Ruth	714	1914	1935	19-40	2504	10622	8399	2174	2873	506	136	2214	2062		1330	43	113		2	123	117	.342	.474	.690	1.164	971/8H3	BOS-NYY-BSN
2	Willie Mays	646	1951	1971	20-40	2838	11948	10428	2003	3178	502	139	1856	1377	186	1431	42	8	90	235	333	98	.305	.385	.565	.951	*8H/39675	NYG-SFG
3	Hank Aaron	639	1954	1971	20-37	2715	11698	10447	1901	3272	562	95	1960	1098	255	1159	29	19	105	275	234	70	.313	.377	.569	.945	*9873/H45	MLN-ATL
4	Mickey Mantle	536	1951	1968	19-36	2401	9907	8102	1676	2415	344	72	1509	1733	126	1710	13	14	47	113	153	38	.298	.421	.557	.977	*8397H/645	NYY
5	Jimmie Foxx	534	1925	1945	17-37	2317	9676	8134	1751	2646	458	125	1922	1452		1311	13	71		69	87	73	.325	.428	.609	1.038	*35H2/7916	PHA-BOS-CHC-PHI
6	Ted Williams	521	1939	1960	20-41	2292	9788	7706	1798	2654	525	71	1839	2021	86	709	39	5	20	197	24	17	.344	.482	.634	1.116	*79H/1	BOS
7	Harmon Killebrew	515	1954	1971	18-35	1999	8260	6821	1148	1790	248	21	1380	1325	136	1418	45	0	67	200	18	15	.262	.383	.531	.914	537/H49	WSH-MIN
8	Ernie Banks	512	1953	1971	22-40	2528	10394	9421	1305	2583	407	90	1636	763	198	1236	70	45	96	229	50	53	.274	.330	.500	.830	36/H57	CHC
9	Eddie Mathews	512	1952	1968	20-36	2391	10100	8537	1509	2315	354	72	1453	1444	107	1487	26	36	58	123	68	39	.271	.376	.509	.885	*53/H7	BSN-MLN-ATL-HOU-DET
10	Mel Ott	511	1926	1947	17-38	2730	11348	9456	1859	2876	488	72	1860	1708		896	64	109		82	89		.304	.414	.533	.947	*95H8/74	NYG
11	Frank Robinson	503	1956	1971	20-35	2329	9900	8468	1598	2555	461	68	1554	1158	189	1241	176	14	85	232	196	71	.302	.393	.550	.944	*9738/H5	CIN-BAL

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Generated 1/24/2015.