University of Virginia Library

Banks Joins "500" Club

Ernie Banks, Mr. Cub, officially
became the ninth ballplayer in
baseball history to reach the 500
homer plateau yesterday as he
clubbed his third hoer this season
in a 4-3, eleven inning win over
Atlanta, But at least one individual,
club vice-president John Holland,
thinks Mr. Cub had already entered
the charmed 500 circle.

For the record, Banks poled his
499th, and second of the season,
against the Cincinnati Reds at
Wrigley Field Saturday. Sunday,
the 32,255 fans stood up and
shouted for No. 500 every time
Banks went to the plate. The
nearest he could come to satisfying
them was a triple. against
Atlanta he was two-for-five, also
hitting a triple.

"I have to resist trying to hit it
out of the park," said Banks, whose
first home run as a Cub came late in
September, 1953, off Gerry Staley
in St. Louis.

"I would sure like to please the
fans," he continued as he prepared
to face the Braves yesterday.
"Sometimes you feel you're not
doing enough for them and wish
you could do more."

Holland insists that Banks
became the ninth man in history to
reach the 500-homer plateau when
he clouted one Saturday.

"I always will believe that Ernie
hit one last June 30 in Montreal -
but it's not on the record," Holland
said.

"Everybody in the park but the
umpire thought the ball cleared the
centerfield fence. The umpire ruled
it a ground rule double on the
theory that the ball went under
instead of over the fence.

"The field was muddy - they
waited nearly two hours to start the
game - and Montreal executives as
well as our own people have told
me it was absolutely impossible for
the ball to go under the fence
unless somebody dug a ditch at that
particular spot.

"Some of my best friends are
umpires," continued Holland. "But
still I have the privilege of
expressing myself when I feel they
have blown a call. This hit by Ernie,
according to all the evidence, was a
homer and the call was missed.

Baseball Team Hosts Old Dominion Today At Two On Lambeth