"So Much More Than Just Mr. Cub": Fergie Jenkins, Ron Rapoport, and Bob Kendrick on the Complicated Career of Ernie Banks

Black Diamonds

SiriusXM

History, Baseball, Black History, Sports, Negro Leagues, Documentary, Equality, Society & Culture, Civil Rights

4.8 • 617 Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2021

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Bob Kendrick is joined by biographer Ron Rapoport, as well as archived interviews with Ernie Banks himself, to discuss the lasting impact of the Negro Leagues career of the man who became Mr. Cub. Hear stories of Buck O'Neil's mentorship in Kansas City (0:51), Ernie's humble beginnings and a one-in-a-lifetime scouting discovery by Cool Papa Bell in Dallas (5:49), the battle to convince Ernie to leave Kansas City for Chicago in 1953 (12:15), his isolation in segregated Chicago and how it shaped his persona (15:12), and the birth of Mr. Cub (17:54). Then Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins joins Bob (29:42) to share his favorite memories of his late teammate.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Before he was Mr. Cove, he was a Kansas City monarch.
0:11.0	What do we know about Ernie, smiling, optimistic, sunny?
0:15.0	It's a beautiful day for a ballgame.
0:17.0	Whenever you saw Ernie, you smiled, and that was his persona. That was what we all knew about.
0:22.2	Once he started talking, I realized very quickly, there was another Ernie Banks.
0:26.6	This is the story of the man who was so much more than just Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks.
0:38.8	Jarvis, fires away.
0:42.3	That's a fly ball, beat the left, back, back. That's it!
0:43.7	That's it!
0:44.7	He did it.
0:46.8	Ernie Banks, got number 500.
0:51.0	When Buck O'Neill passed away in 2006, an All-Star delegation of notables were present for both his private funeral services and his memorial service.
1:07.6	One of those individuals was his surrogate son, the late great Ernie Banks.
1:15.0	And this is what Ernie Banks had to say about Buck O'Neill.
1:19.0	Just follow Buck O'Neill.
1:21.5	This man is a leader.
1:23.9	He's a genius.
1:25.5	He understands people.
1:27.7	He understands life. He understands life.
1:29.7	He will keep this going.
1:31.6	He never gives up on situations he believes in.
1:34.8	He's not discouraged about any of this.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from SiriusXM, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of SiriusXM and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.