Ernie Banks

My theme is, 'The spirit of friendship is the balance of life.' Not money. Not the World Series. It's friendship. The relationships I have with people, that's enough to keep me happy. ”

It's a kind of philosophy of my own life, to create the energy enough to keep on going. ”

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

I meet a lot of people that grew up with my career and have retired, and I just want to talk to them. I like to get a feeling from them, a feeling of the old times. ”

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. ”

When you do things to try to help people and share things, it really comes back to you. I try to do that. ”

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. ”

The riches of the game are in the thrills, not the money. ”

I hit a home run in my first game, and they told me to go into the stands and pass my cap around. I made six dollars in nickels, dimes, and quarters. ”

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. ”