Online Pretty News: Ernie Banks

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Attorney: Cubs great Ernie Banks died of heart attack

AP 5:18 p.m. EST January 25, 2015

Ernie Banks, shown here before a 2003 game, died of a heart attack, a family attorney said Sunday.(Photo: TED S. WARREN, Associated Press)

CHICAGO (AP) Chicago Cubs great Ernie Banks died after a heart attack, an attorney representing the Hall of Famer's family said Sunday.

With Banks' widow standing nearby at a news conference at a downtown hotel, Mark Bogen said Banks had the heart attack Friday in Chicago and died later that day. He did not provide any other details.

"I want you to know that he was very beloved and he is going to be dearly missed by family, friends and all his fans," Liz Banks said.

The Cubs and Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office announced that the statue of Banks that has stood outside Wrigley Field since 2008 will be placed in Chicago's Daley Plaza this week, remaining there from Wednesday morning through Saturday. The statute has long been a popular spot for fans to take photographs and after Banks' death many went to the ballpark to put flowers near it only to discover that the statute had been removed recently during the Wrigley field renovation project.

In news release, Emanuel and Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said placing the statue at Daley Plaza was a fitting way to allow fans to pay their respects.

"We are bringing the statue to Daley Plaza to honor not just one of the best ballplayers of all time, but a great man who made our city proud from the day we first met him in 1953" when Banks broke into the major leagues, the mayor said.

Bogen said the family is still planning a funeral and that details would soon be released.

Banks spent his entire 19-year career with the Cubs. He hit 512 home runs, was twice voted the National League's Most Valuable Player, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He was the team's first black player and is still considered the greatest Cubs player by many and the club's most beloved player.

That has been evident in the days since Banks' death. In tribute after tribute, people from around the city and the nation have praised Banks not just for his play, but for his remarkably sunny disposition during his career and in the years since he retired.

"Ernie Banks was a great player and an even better person," Ricketts said in a statement. "He was a kind gentle man who loved his fans as much as they loved him."

GALLERY: Ernie Banks, through the years

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Last SlideNext Slide

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2015/01/25/family-attorney-cubs-great-ernie-banks-died-of-heart-attack/22315243/

Cubs legend Ernie Banks died of heart attack

The lawyer for the family of Chicago Cubs great Ernie Banks said Sunday that the legendary player died Friday after suffering a heart attack, just a week short of his 84th birthday.

A public service for Banks likely will be Wednesday at Daley Plaza, sources said.

Banks passed away Friday at 83 after a storied 19-year playing career and 40-plus years as an ambassador for baseball and the city of Chicago. At a news conference Sunday, his widow, Liz, spoke briefly and introduced family attorney Mark Bogen, who read a short statement and declined to take questions.

Known worldwide as "Mr. Cub," Banks became the Cubs first African-American player on Sept. 17, 1953, and went on to become a two-time National League Most Valuable Player. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1977. In 2013, he received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his goodwill. At the time, he equated the medal to the Nobel Peace Prize.

Bogen praised Banks for his contributions inside and outside of baseball, including support for the military, gay rights, kids with disabilities and numerous charities.

"Ernie Banks was a wonderful husband, a great father and grandfather," Bogen said.

"One of his favorite quotes was, 'Life is a song. Sing it. Life is a game. Play it. Life is a challenge. Meet it. Life is a dream. Realize it.'"

The family also started a Facebook page called Ernie Banks Remembered.

"He loved people and wanted to hear their stories," Bogen said.

The statue of Banks that was removed last fall from outside Wrigley Field has returned to Chicago to be used for the public memorial, said Brent Harris, proprietor of the Kalamazoo shop where the statue was being refurbished. New bolts were added in order for the statue to be mounted in Daley Plaza this week from Wednesday morning through Saturday. In 2008, Banks became the first player in Cubs history to be honored with a statue at Wrigley.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel called Banks a friend who was a great ambassador for the city.

"We are bringing Ernie's statue to Daley Plaza to honor not just one of the best ballplayers of all time, but a great man who made our city proud from the day we first met him in 1953," Emanuel said.

Tom Ricketts, chairman of the Cubs, said Banks loved his fans as much as they loved him.

"We couldn't think of a better way to honor Ernie than to allow those fans a way to pay their final respects to this great man," Ricketts said.

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-ernie-banks-presser-met-20150125-story.html