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Let's play two : the legend of Mr. Cub, the life of Ernie Banks / Ron Rapoport.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Hachette Books, 2019Edition: First editionDescription: ix, 454 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780316318631
  • 0316318639
Other title:
  • Legend of Mr. Cub : the life of Ernie Banks
  • Let us play two
Subject(s):
Contents:
Prologue: Omaha -- A blessed child. 1717 Fairmount ; Booker T ; On the road ; Leaving home -- Apprenticeship. Monarchs of all they surveyed ; Army life ; "Going to Chicago, sorry I can't take you" -- Ernie Banks and Mr. Cub. North side, South side ; The master builder ; Future shock ; MVP! MVP! ; The slough of despond ; The once and future Cub ; Let's play two ; The rock of the family ; Bright college days ; "He was why we fell in love with the game" ; The lull before the storm -- Himself. Taking over ; "Daddy, where were you?" ; Teammates ; And yet so far ; The most unpopular man in Chicago ; "This is not an eighth-place team" -- The best of times, the worst of times. "Change the flag!" ; Bleacher bums ; In the world ; "Break out the champagne" ; A bunch of old men ; Questions and answers ; Riding the pines ; Sunday in America ; Coda -- Being Ernie Banks. Man at work ; Family ties ; "How's your wife?" ; Rounding third ; Epilogue: Graceland.
Summary: "The definitive and revealing biography of Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks, one of America's most iconic, beloved, and misunderstood baseball players, by acclaimed journalist Ron Rapoport"-- Provided by publisher.Summary: Ernie Banks played in fourteen All-Star Games, won two MVPs, and twice led the Major Leagues in home runs and runs batted in... but he spent his entire career with the Chicago Cubs, who didn't win a pennant in his adult lifetime. His enthusiasm endeared him to the fans, but his public display of good cheer was a mask that hid a deeply conflicted, melancholy, and often quite lonely man. Rapoport tells of Banks's early life in segregated Dallas, his years in the Negro Leagues, and his difficult life after retirement, creating a revealing biography of "Mr Cub". -- adapted from jacket
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Biography Banks, E. R219 Available 33111009136991
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The definitive and revealing biography of Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks, one of America's most iconic, beloved, and misunderstood baseball players, by acclaimed journalist Ron Rapoport.
Ernie Banks, the first-ballot Hall of Famer and All-Century Team shortstop, played in fourteen All-Star Games, won two MVPs, and twice led the Major Leagues in home runs and runs batted in. He outslugged Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Mickey Mantle when they were in their prime, but while they made repeated World Series appearances in the 1950s and 60s, Banks spent his entire career with the woebegone Chicago Cubs, who didn't win a pennant in his adult lifetime.

Today, Banks is remembered best for his signature phrase, "Let's play two," which has entered the American lexicon and exemplifies the enthusiasm that endeared him to fans everywhere. But Banks's public display of good cheer was a mask that hid a deeply conflicted, melancholy, and often quite lonely man. Despite the poverty and racism he endured as a young man, he was among the star players of baseball's early days of integration who were reluctant to speak out about Civil Rights. Being known as one of the greatest players never to reach the World Series also took its toll. At one point, Banks even saw a psychiatrist to see if that would help. It didn't. Yet Banks smiled through it all, enduring the scorn of Cubs manager Leo Durocher as an aging superstar and never uttering a single complaint.

Let's Play Two is based on numerous conversations with Banks and on interviews with more than a hundred of his family members, teammates, friends, and associates as well as oral histories, court records, and thousands of other documents and sources. Together, they explain how Banks was so different from the caricature he created for the public. The book tells of Banks's early life in segregated Dallas, his years in the Negro Leagues, and his difficult life after retirement; and features compelling portraits of Buck O'Neil, Philip K. Wrigley, the Bleacher Bums, the doomed pennant race of 1969, and much more from a long-lost baseball era.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Prologue: Omaha -- A blessed child. 1717 Fairmount ; Booker T ; On the road ; Leaving home -- Apprenticeship. Monarchs of all they surveyed ; Army life ; "Going to Chicago, sorry I can't take you" -- Ernie Banks and Mr. Cub. North side, South side ; The master builder ; Future shock ; MVP! MVP! ; The slough of despond ; The once and future Cub ; Let's play two ; The rock of the family ; Bright college days ; "He was why we fell in love with the game" ; The lull before the storm -- Himself. Taking over ; "Daddy, where were you?" ; Teammates ; And yet so far ; The most unpopular man in Chicago ; "This is not an eighth-place team" -- The best of times, the worst of times. "Change the flag!" ; Bleacher bums ; In the world ; "Break out the champagne" ; A bunch of old men ; Questions and answers ; Riding the pines ; Sunday in America ; Coda -- Being Ernie Banks. Man at work ; Family ties ; "How's your wife?" ; Rounding third ; Epilogue: Graceland.

"The definitive and revealing biography of Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks, one of America's most iconic, beloved, and misunderstood baseball players, by acclaimed journalist Ron Rapoport"-- Provided by publisher.

Ernie Banks played in fourteen All-Star Games, won two MVPs, and twice led the Major Leagues in home runs and runs batted in... but he spent his entire career with the Chicago Cubs, who didn't win a pennant in his adult lifetime. His enthusiasm endeared him to the fans, but his public display of good cheer was a mask that hid a deeply conflicted, melancholy, and often quite lonely man. Rapoport tells of Banks's early life in segregated Dallas, his years in the Negro Leagues, and his difficult life after retirement, creating a revealing biography of "Mr Cub". -- adapted from jacket

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