The one and only Ernie Banks

1931-2015 Always remember the fingers at bat

Ernie a life well lived. I was too young to see Ernie Banks play his best at shortstop. He had the best pair of hands I remember seeing at first base. Every low throw was easily handled by Ernie. Researching about Ernie he played shortstop with few errors and had pretty good range. By all accounts a knee injury slowed him down. My dad told me that pitchers used to throw at his knees. But the injury came to Ernie Banks in basic training in the army during the Korean War. Ernie served in Germany I did not know that Ernie was a vet and think of the advantages we have today to repair knees. Derrick Rose recovery bears testimony of the change. 

What I was aware of were the nine years Ernie showed up and played two. Hurt, most of those years, he still came close to hitting 30 or more home runs and drive in close to a 100 RBIs. Ernie was the best PR man in baseball. Bill Veech, Phil Wrigley, Ernie Banks, Jack Brickhouse, and Harry Carey framed the “friendly confines.” Ernie coined the phrase and lived it. What makes a Cub fan a Cub fan Ernie had a lot to do with it. 

Ernie's high school did not have a baseball team. Ernie played football, basketball and track. He was good enough to play with the Harlem Globetrotters. Ernie's dad bought him a $3.00 glove and played catch with Ernie. Ernie played on a church fast pitch softball team. Did you know that Ernie was a Texan? He says he got soft hands from picking cotton. He dealt with racism by his desire to make others better. By every account that I read, Ernie made people feel like he had time to listen to their stories. It does seem unanimous that he was a nice guy. 

Ernie forced you if you were racist to see his humanity. He challenged you by just being Ernie. If Ernie is human, then my thinking about the African race is wrong. Today when you listen to people, you would think that nobody had a problem with race. It is always someone else. For me, I still remember the 60s, I remember me. It was a time when I was challenged in my thinking. The one constant reminder for me once is gentle man from Texas who thought the best thing in the world was playing game at Wrigley.

Ernie's positive attitude had to drive people nuts. Hardline winners in baseball are not nice guys. No baseball is designed to win anyway you can. True baseball leans to cheat and to make the umpire call the play. True baseball looks to get an advantage no matter what the costs. We get all out of sorts when somebody is cheating. The Cubs were good at this in the 19th century. Early in the 20th Century they had a double play combination that did not even talk to each other. They were winners, but nobody liked them. 

Nice guys, maybe not

Could there have been a greater contrast between Leo the lip and Ernie Banks? Leo Durocher played for the Yankees, Cardinals winning two world series. With the Yankees he played with the greatest teams in baseball history. "As long as I've got a chance to beat you I'm going to take it,” sums up the true morality in baseball. We have another quote, “Nice guys don’t finish last.” Then there is Ernie. As time moves on Ernie became more vocal. And the more you heard from this guy was the way he was a nice guy. Billy Williams who roomed with him, tells us that what you see and hear from Ernie is the real thing. Leo and Ernie could not be more opposite. Leo wanted to get rid of Ernie but, Ernie had already won the city. Maybe if Leo have been able to get rid of Ernie the Cubs may have won in 69. Ernie's RBI total was high, but his batting average was 50 points lower than his most valuable player years. Mr. Cub was destined to retire as a Cub. No, I think 1969 we can't blame on Ernie. Baseball has to be played well in August and September and the Cubs did not. While Leo wanted to get rid of Ernie, Ernie said that “Leo made me better and stretched me.” So Leo may have help Ernie hit 23 home runs and drive in 106 RBIs thereby helped an injured Ernie hit 500+ home runs. I see in Ernie's insights a competitor who looked at criticism as a way to improve. Every game he gave us what he could and in the end that is all a ball player can do. 

Now that he's gone, people will focus on his flaws. There is a shocker an athlete has flaws. Many have speculated that underneath the smile of Ernie was pain. Maybe, but Ernie went out of his home, genuinely enjoyed talking with people. He let us know how great it was to play baseball on a sunny day with the wind blowing out and maybe on that day it was a doubleheader. Keep walking

Remembering John Raymond Egly,

John Raymond Egly, 1929-2014
My father in law stands out as one who finished well. There is a long life, but one that was lived fully in light of physical injury and pain. He cared for others and enjoyed the blessings of life all the way to the end.  He was active in mind and wit and always encouraged others. 

The one thing that stands out with Ray was his ability to make others better. He was one of the most unique people that I have come across in my life. He had a strong sense of being a working guy, but that was just one layer. 
Ray was a fixer. He could and did just about fix anything that needed repair or building. He wasn't a putzer, no, he was a perfectionist. The work wasn't just put together; He made things better and he had an artistic flair to what he did. His home is a reflection of the can-do spirit all of his family had. They all had a hand in putting things into his home.
He was the chief electrician for Material Service for over 35 years.  I'm not sure that even describes his job as many things that he fixed were outside the world of electronics. He also used engineering, calculation and science with engine know how. How do you raise a barge that's been sunk and get it ready to work again? He could take a complicated problem and find a way to solve it right on sight. Immediately after the 1990 tornado, Bev was worried because she hadn’t heard from him. Switching on the news, there he was, on a front loader, assisting with the rescue operation.
There are many projects that he did for the grandkids and children show a long record of craftsmanship that he had. He loved to see historic places and furniture, to see how things were built. He was fascinated with the coal industry and geology at work. Like his brothers each took a great interest in the railroad and the engines and the mechanics that made it work.
He was well read and did his own analysis of life and news. In that sense I think he was a Renaissance man. He liked to travel and investigate family history and roots. 
He lived his own story; he took interest in the story of his family. He loved the west, he loved going to England and later to Malta. Throughout his life he took many holidays with his bride and took along as many little people as they could.
He loved work because it was in him to make things better. When it comes to family I think that's exactly what he did. He wanted to improve the place where his family worshipped so he put himself into the task of helping to make Larkin Baptist a better place  to worship and know the Lord.  The building, currently Stone Hill Bible Church, is one of the most beautiful churches in Joliet. That was John Raymond. He thought worship was more than a gymnasium, or in a storefront.
That was just another layer of Bompa. He was a man of class and dignity. He was the most honest man that I have known in my life. 
Ray was a man of faith. He taught me that faith isn't easy. People often talk as if faith is easy to do or believe, trust; but it isn't. To put your trust in Christ is an exceptional thing. He and I had great conversations and an ongoing dialogue about faith. Communicating his faith was hard and he would often ask Barb and I to share things with people. When he made decisions concerning faith, or service, or giving he did it with a whole heart.
I believed in his trapdoor theory on preaching, when it is time for the sermon to be done, it is time. He supported missions, and there is no doubt that what Barb and I did in Africa would not have been possible without his support. There were a lot of people who were helped and came to know the Lord as a result.
His humor was sharp and full of wit. He was good at recounting many of the family stories. He enjoyed the humor that was found in life. He had a twinkle in his eye and a smile that was very endearing.
I have a little experience here with the passing of my parents and other people in my life who have already gone to be with the Lord. Bompa, (thank you Becky for giving us that name), Dad, (or father) husband, friend will give hours a pleasant conversation for years to come. Maybe even a debate or two? We will continue to talk to him, will be sitting in our living room, or out in the backyard enjoying life underneath the shade trees. And his thoughts, conversations, directions and wisdom will enter into our minds and I just personally believe we will just end up talking to him again even before we go see him glory. I can't be the only one here who talks to people who has already passed on? It is rather fun to do.
Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Romans 15:2 Each one of us must please his neighbor for his good to build him up." This is what you saw in his life. His faith was in action. What he did was for our good and benefit. He had purpose to make us better.
The other night I wish you could've been there when family and friends and were around him, sharing stories prayers and even songs. He would have shooed us off. Ray, has certainly given us a legacy and he is someone to aspire to be like in so many ways. He for sure has given us a lot of things that we will laugh about.  He has set a very high bar for us to follow to be a man, husband, dad, and grandfather who loved and was loved. For the women in his family he was both strong and caring that made it possible for them to blossom.