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Historical Matchups:
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| STATS |
- SS-1B/1954-1971
- .274 BA
- 512 HR
- 1,636 RBI
- Led NL in HR 1958, 60
- Led NL in RBI 1958-59
- Gold Glove in 1960
- NL MVP in 1958-59
- Hall of Fame 1977
- Complete Banks profile
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- SS-3B/1981-
- .278 BA
- 402 HR
- 1,571 RBI
- Most consecutive games, all time
- Gold Glove in 1991-92
- AL MVP in 1983, 91
- AL Rookie of the Year 1982
- Complete Ripken profile
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| SUMMARY |
| Chicago might be Michael Jordan's town now, but from 1953 through 1971, Ernie Banks -- affectionately dubbed 'Mr. Cub' -- was Chicago.
Cubs fans, not having much else to cheer about, rallied behind their power-hitting shortstop. Like Hank Aaron, Banks was deceptively slim for a power hitter but lethal with the bat. In 1958, he became the first shortstop ever to slug 40 homers in a season -- a feat he accomplished twice more before he hung up his spikes. Banks was never lucky enough to play on a pennant winner, but he worked hard on the field and went about his business with a smile on his face and made sure he had time to fraternize with his adoring public. |
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Forever enshrined in baseball history as the man who broke Lou Gehrig's unbreakable record of 2,130 consecutive games played,
Cal Ripken is one of the greatest athletes to have ever put on a uniform. Originally drafted as a pitcher, Ripken has hit more home runs than any shortstop in history, owns the highest single-season fielding percentage for a shortstop, and at 6'4" is the tallest man ever to have played short. The first player to win the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player Awards in consecutive seasons, Ripken has started in 16 consecutive All-Star Games. In 1999, at the of 39, he overcame two trips to the disabled list (remarkably, the first two of his career) and the death of his father to set career highs with a .340 batting average and .584 slugging percentage. |
| HITTING |
| Banks stood with a slight slouch, wiggling his bat before every pitch. Most of his power came from his wrists; teammate Jim Brosnan later remarked, 'His swing was so smooth, almost effortless, that you didn't notice the last movement of his wrists before he hit the ball, how quick it was.' Using a light, 31-ounce bat, Banks socked 512 homers in his career while hitting a respectable .274. Without much protection in a mediocre Cubs lineup, Banks led the league in RBI in both 1959 and 1960, recording two consecutive MVP seasons. |
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A low-ball hitter with above-average power, Ripken's ten consecutive twenty-homer seasons are the most ever for a shortstop. Thanks in part to a lighting-quick bat Ripken has become one of the better two-strike hitters in all of baseball. His in-depth studies of opposing pitchers' tendencies have helped Cal tone down his aggressiveness at the plate,turning him into one of the more selective and patient hitters in the league. A force to be reckoned with no matter who surrounds him in the lineup, Ripken in 1991 became one of only three players to win an MVP Award while playing on a sub-.500 ballclub. |
| DEFENSE |
| Erratic was the only way to describe a young Ernie Banks in the field. But after averaging 28 errors a year over his first four seasons, Banks' hard work with the glove during the off-season finally paid off in 1959. Slicing his miscues in the field down to 12, Banks set an NL record (since broken) for the fewest errors by a shortstop during a single season. Weak legs forced a move to first before the 1966 campaign; Ernie went on to lead first basemen in assists five times. |
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Cal Ripken owns or shares 12 AL/ML records for shortstops, including the major-league record for the fewest errors in a single-season (3) set in 1990. Ripken compensated for a lack of range with perfect positioning. Despite Ripken's two Gold Gloves at short, Birds skipper Davey Johnson (citing Cal's weakened arm and range) permanently moved Cal to third base prior to the 1997 campaign; Ripken teamed with new O's shortstop Mike Bordick to make the Orioles' infield one of the best defensive units in the game, playing a major part in the club's first division title in 14 seasons. |
| BASERUNNING |
| At bat Ernie Banks might have been lethal, but on the basepaths he was a disaster waiting to happen. Even though he had above-average speed, Ernie was gunned down nearly fifty percent of the time. In his career, he swiped a paltry 53 bags in 103 attempts. |
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Ripken uses scouting reports of pitchers' tendencies with runners on base to get good jumps off of first. An aggressive baserunner, he's become one of the best big men in the league when it comes to breaking up the double play. |
| LEADERSHIP |
| Best remembered for his 'let's play two' cry, Ernie was the definition of class on the baseball diamond for 19 seasons. The smiling Banks was the object of worship by young Cubs fans who pushed the organization to give Banks his own day in 1959, an honor which Ernie humbly turned down. In 1971, Banks became the first Cub to have his number retired. |
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Some observers believed that Ripken's strong-willed pursuit of 'The Streak' came at the expense of the team and of his own stamina. Ripken believed, however, that he was just doing his job; if he was healthy enough to play, he wanted to be in the lineup. At the end of the 1998 season, Ripken chose to end 'The Streak' himself rather than forcing the team to make the difficult decision for him. |
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