Happy trails to one of the true baseball greats on and off the field. Ernie Banks was as universally admired as perhaps anyone who has ever played the game.
The great disappointment, not just for Cubs fans, but for virtually anyone who enjoys sports and a great storyline, will be that “Mr. Cub” won’t be on hand to enjoy what appears to be a renaissance that’s about to take place at Wrigley. I know I would have loved to be a witness to see Ernie throw out the ceremonial first pitch the next time the Cubs make the playoffs, which might not be far away. That would have been awesome.
Nevertheless, when a man lives for more than eight decades and it’s apparent that no one ever had a bad thing to say about him, that’s quite a life. I hope Ernie Banks gets to play two every day in his field of dreams.