Ernie Banks

“It's a great day for a ball game; let's play two!”

“The Cubs are due in sixty-two.”

“But it all comes down to friendship, treating people right.”

“I'd like to get to the last game of the World Series at Wrigley Field and hit three homers. That was what I always wanted to do.”

“Playing for the Kansas City Monarchs was like my school, my learning, my world. It was my whole life.”

“I hit a home run in my first game, and they told me to go into the stands and pass my cap around. I made six dollars in nickels, dimes, and quarters.”

“Some people feel that because you are black you will never be treated fairly, and that you should voice your opinions, be militant about them. I don't feel this way. You can't convince a fool against his will.”

“No, I think the pitching today has more depth.”

“You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace.”

“We lived near a supermarket, and whatever they threw away, we would get it, and my mother would make soup. Or she would get a big can of lard, a big can of meal, a big can of flour, a big can of beans, and fix the same meal for months.”

“I don't try to hit home runs. I just try to meet the ball and get base hits.”

“Mr. Wrigley believed in this: Put all your eggs in one basket and watch the basket. They don't do that today. This is the old-fashioned way I'm talking about. He carried it on to his business. Do one thing and stay with it.”

“It would be a lot different for me because there is a lot of information that you need to know about as a player. How pitchers are pitching you, how defenses are playing, certain situations about certain pitchers.”

“My long-range mission is to be the first athlete to win the Nobel Prize.”

“I learned from Mr. Wrigley, early in my career, that loyalty wins and it creates friendships. I saw it work for him in his business.”

“The riches of the game are in the thrills, not the money.”

“Another friend hired me to open doors for him in the moving and relocation business. I did that for 10 years, am still doing it. And I do some work for the Cubs, in community relations.”

“It's a beautiful day for a ballgame... Let's play two!”

“I guess my critics say, 'He must be crazy. Nothing can be that beautiful.' But when you think that there are so many people around the world who have nothing, you realize how lucky you are to be making a living in the big leagues.”

“Work? I never worked a day in my life. I always loved what I was doing, had a passion for it.”