MVP Profile: Ernie Banks, 1959

Shortstop, Chicago Cubs

Age: 28

6^th season with Cubs

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’1”    Weight: 180 

Prior to 1959:

Banks, a native of Dallas, Texas, was the son of a Negro League catcher. He starred in football and basketball at Booker T. Washington High School, which did not have a baseball team, so he played softball instead to develop a similar skill set. Shy and introverted, Banks signed to play baseball with a traveling team during the summers after his sophomore and junior years. Catching the attention of the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs, he signed following his high school graduation in 1950 and performed well at shortstop. After a stint in the Army, Banks signed with the Cubs, who bought his contract from the Monarchs. Moving directly to the major league club, he played in the last ten games for the Cubs in 1953 and took over at shortstop in ’54. He was selected as an All-Star for the first time in 1955, a season in which he totaled 44 home runs (a record 5 of them grand slams) and 117 RBIs. After playing in 424 straight games, an infection in his right hand sidelined him for part of the ’56 season and his numbers dropped accordingly. But he was back over forty home runs in 1957 (43) and a hundred RBIs (102) while playing in every contest. In 1958 Banks led the NL in home runs (47), RBIs (129), slugging percentage (.614), and total bases (379), while batting .313 with 193 hits and 119 runs scored. He was named league MVP for the first time despite playing for a fifth-place Cubs team.

1959 Season Summary

Appeared in 155 games

SS – 154, PH – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 671 [8]

At Bats – 589 [10]

Runs – 97 [8]

Hits – 179 [7]

Doubles – 25 [19]

Triples – 6 [15, tied with six others]

Home Runs – 45 [2]

RBI – 143 [1]

Bases on Balls – 64 [14]

Int. BB – 20 [1]

Strikeouts – 72 [20]

Stolen Bases – 2

Caught Stealing – 4

Average - .304 [10]

OBP - .374 [11, tied with Don Hoak]

Slugging Pct. - .596 [2]

Total Bases – 351 [3]

GDP – 18 [6, tied with Don Hoak]

Hit by Pitches – 7 [2, tied with George Altman]

Sac Hits – 2

Sac Flies – 9 [2, tied with Frank Robinson & Hank Aaron]

 

League-leading RBIs were +18 ahead of runner-up Frank Robinson

League-leading int. bases on balls drawn were +3 ahead of runner-up Hank Aaron

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 11, 3B – 4, HR – 23, RBI - 76, AVG. – 302, SLG - 588, OBP - .361

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 4 AB) at St. Louis 9/21

Longest hitting streak – 13 games

HR at home – 24

HR on road – 21

Most home runs, game – 2 (in 5 AB) at San Francisco 4/14, (in 3 AB) at Milwaukee 7/29

Multi-HR games – 2

Most RBIs, game – 5 vs. Cincinnati 5/13, vs. St. Louis 9/13

Pinch-hitting – 0 for 1 (.000)

Fielding 

Chances – 802

Put Outs – 271

Assists – 519

Errors – 12

DP – 95

Pct. - .985 

Awards & Honors:

NL MVP: BBWAA

All-Star (started for NL at SS in both games)

Top 5 in NL MVP Voting:

Ernie Banks, ChiC.: 232 points - 10 of 21 first place votes, 69% share

Eddie Mathews, MilB: 189 points – 5 first place votes, 56% share

Hank Aaron, MilB: 174 points – 2 first place votes, 52% share

Wally Moon, LAD: 161 points – 4 first place votes, 48% share

Sam Jones, SF: 130 points – 39% share

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Cubs went 74-80 to finish tied for fifth place in the NL with the Cincinnati Reds, 13 games behind the pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers, while leading the league in batter strikeouts (911). The Cubs played .500 ball in June and July and were only 4 games out on July 29, but a subsequent seven-game losing streak dropped them back into the second division, where they stayed despite Banks’ heroics.

Aftermath of ‘58:

Banks had his fourth straight 40-home run season in 1960 (a league-leading 41) and placed fourth in league MVP voting. Sure-handed at shortstop but without much range, Banks was moved to first base full time in 1962, following a trial in left field in ‘61. Despite issues with injuries and illness, he played until age 40 in 1971, ending up with a total of 512 home runs, 2583 hits, and a .274 lifetime batting average. He had 30 or more home runs in seven seasons and reached 100 RBIs eight times. With a pleasant and friendly personality, Banks was highly popular with Cubs fans, a team he played with for all his 19 NL seasons (without ever seeing postseason action), and his #14 was retired by the club. The player known as “Mr. Cub” was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977. Banks died in 2015 at the age of 83.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.