Ernie Banks. Mr. Cub. Arguably the most beloved player ever to wear a Cubs jersey. Banks played shortstop and first base for the Chicago Cubs for 19 seasons.

Some of his team records still stand. He played 2,528 games, got 9,421 at-bats, got 4,706 total bases and 1,009 extra-base hits. His 512 home runs place him at number 21 on the list of home-run hitters. In 1955, he hit five grand slam home runs, an MLB record which he held for more than 30 years.

Banks became only the third player in a Chicago hat to hit more than 40 home runs in a season, and he went on to do it in each of five years between 1955 and 1960. No Cubs player did it again until Billy Williams hit 42 in 1970. Banks is 26^th on the list of career RBI’s with 1,636.

Since he played with the Chicago Cubs, he holds a record that a player of his caliber that played with another team might not be able to attain: Ernie Banks played 2,528 games without a single post-season appearance. That is an unbroken MLB record.

Banks won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1958 and 1959. Banks was dominant at the plate in 1958, leading the league in home runs, RBI’s, total bases and extra base hits. He drove in a 143 runs in 1959, 18 more than any other player in the major leagues. That was a career high for him. And he continued his power hitting into 1960, leading the major leagues in home runs at 41. Also that year, he broke the team record by hitting 232 career home runs.

Knee injuries started to slow him down around them. Consequently, he did not rack up some of the career statistics that an observer might have projected for him. Banks did continue as a power player, though.

On the field, Banks left his mark. At shortstop, he committed a lot of errors but had great range. As his knee problems continued to affect his play, he was moved across the infield to first base and became an excellent defensive player there. Possibly because he played the best years of his career at short, he is remembered as a shortstop and was inducted into the Hall of Fame at that position. But in actuality, he played more games at first (1,259) than he ever played at shortstop (1,125).

Ernie Banks is a major player in the integration of baseball, too. Before joining the Cubs in 1953, he signed with the Kansas City Monarchs of the old Negro League in 1950. He was the first African-American player to play for the Chicago Cubs, starting three days before his African-American teammate, Gene Baker.

Banks played his entire MLB career with the guys in the Chicago jerseys, from his debut in 1953 through 1971. During those 19 seasons, he was elected to the All-Star team no fewer than 14 times. He earned two affectionate nicknames, “Mr. Cub” and “Mr. Sunshine.” And he became well-known for a positive, enthusiastic outlook on life and a love of baseball. “It’s a beautiful day for a ball game,” he famously said. “Let’s play two.”

Ernie Banks continues to be beloved by Chicago Cubs fans, many years after his retirement. When the Chicago Cubs retired his jersey in 1982, he was the first Cubs player to be so honored. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977 on the first ballot. And in 2008, a statue of him was unveiled in front of Wrigley Field. It depicts Banks in his batting stance on a pedestal bearing the inscription “Let’s play two.”