Quotes from Ernie Banks

It's a great day for a ball game; let's play two!

Loyalty and friendship, which is to me the same, created all the wealth that I've ever thought I'd have.

When I wake up in the morning, I feel like a billionaire without paying taxes.

The only way to prove that you're a good sport is to lose.

But it all comes down to friendship, treating people right.

You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace.

I learned from Mr. Wrigley, early in my career, that loyalty wins and it creates friendships. I saw it work for him in his business.

I own stock, and I also insure my car with Geico.

People ask me a lot about the values I got from playing for the Cubs for so many years. The value I got out of it was patience. A lot of people these days are not very patient.

Let's play two

Mr. Wrigley believed in this: Put all your eggs in one basket and watch the basket. They don't do that today. This is the old-fashioned way I'm talking about. He carried it on to his business. Do one thing and stay with it.

I'd like to get to the last game of the World Series at Wrigley Field and hit three homers. That was what I always wanted to do.

I wanted to finish my career with one team, in one city, one mayor, one park, one owner. I did that. The Wrigleys owned the team. We played all of our home games at Wrigley Field during the daytime. So my career was very unique, and I am proud of it.

It was about 105 degrees in Chicago. And that's a time when everybody gets tired. I came into the clubhouse, and everybody was sitting around, and I said, 'Beautiful day. Let's play two!' And everybody looked at me like I was crazy. There were a couple of writers around, and they wrote that, and it stayed with me.

It would be a lot different for me because there is a lot of information that you need to know about as a player. How pitchers are pitching you, how defenses are playing, certain situations about certain pitchers.

I don't think it's up to black athletes to get involved in political or racial issues.

Some people feel that because you are black you will never be treated fairly, and that you should voice your opinions, be militant about them. I don't feel this way. You can't convince a fool against his will.

I guess my critics say, 'He must be crazy. Nothing can be that beautiful.' But when you think that there are so many people around the world who have nothing, you realize how lucky you are to be making a living in the big leagues.

You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace.

I didn't understand anything about playing baseball. I started playing, and it was enjoyable. Most of my life, I played with older people on my team, in my league. I learned a lot about life. Every day in my life, I learned something new from somebody.

Playing for the Kansas City Monarchs was like my school, my learning, my world. It was my whole life.

It's a beautiful day for a ballgame... Let's play two!

It's a great day for a ball game; let's play two!

The measure of a man is in the lives he's touched.