If anyone had a key to the City of Chicago, it would have been the late, great Ernie Banks. Easily the most popular player in the storied history of the Chicago Cubs, Banks earned the nickname “Mr. Cub” during the course of his 19-year, Hall of Fame career for the Windy City ball club. An 11-time MLB All-Star, Banks started in professional baseball as a 19-year-old shortstop for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro leagues. After a two-year stint in the Army, Banks returned to the Monarchs, who sold his contract to the Chicago Cubs in 1953. His major league debut occurred on September 17th that season marking the first appearance of an African-American player for the franchise. The fun was just getting started.
Though Banks came up as a shortstop, which is the position he played while winning back-to-back National League MVP awards in 1958 and ‘59, he actually played more games at first base. Standing 6’ 1” tall and weighing 180 pounds, the lanky Banks didn’t look like your typical home run slugger, but 512 round-trippers later, no one questioned his power-hitting capabilities. Durability was another of Banks’ trademarks as he played in 2,528 games, averaging 133 per season. In fact, it’s one of four Cubs’ team records he still holds along with at-bats (9,421), extra-base hits (1,009) and total bases (4,706). Adversely, having played for the snake-bit Cubs, he also holds the major league record for most games played without a postseason appearance. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977, his first year of eligibility. He was also one of just three shortstops, along with Honus Wagner and Cal Ripken Jr., to be named to Major League Baseball’s All-Century team in 1999.
As many knowledgeable flannel collectors are aware, Ernie Banks is considered the third rarest 500 HR Club member jersey to obtain behind only Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx in completely original, unaltered condition. Incredibly, it is widely believed that more Babe Ruth jerseys exist than those of Banks. One theory as to their extreme scarcity is that several of the handful of known original Banks jerseys were tragically dismantled by various card companies for use on “swatch” cards in recent decades. Among the few surviving original, unaltered Banks jerseys known, the offered 1968 Cubs home example here ranks near the very top. Completely unknown to the collecting community it has rested quietly for more than 40 years in the possession of a Cubs-loving family by the name of the Bermans. Chicagoans who at one time lived right across the street from Wrigley Field, the family’s second son, Jeff, acquired the jersey directly from Banks in 1974. Mr. Cub handed it to the then 21-year-old as a token of his appreciation for coaching Ernie’s fraternal twin boys, Jerry and Joey, in basketball at a local Boys’ Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, which is where the Cubs used to play their spring training games. Berman then gifted the jersey four years later to his nephew, Randy “Boomer” Berman, on the latter’s actual birthday: Dec. 14, 1978. Accompanying documentation from Boomer Berman details how he acquired it from his Uncle Jeff and the fact that it has stayed in his possession ever since.
The impeccably preserved 1968 jersey’s technical details are breathtaking. In a season in which Banks ripped 32 more home runs and knocked in 83 runs, it’s an especially coveted gamer that’s been photo-matched several times over. Boasting a Wilson size 40 tag sewn on the left front tail positioned to the right of a second Wilson tag on the bottom of the jersey front indicating “1968 SET 1.” Inside the rear collar is a sewn-on strip tag reading "14-68-1-40" in black chain stitch indicating the jersey number, year of issue, set number and size. The embroidered circular Cubs’ logo is sewn onto the chest while Banks number “14” is sewn on the reverse in blue tackle twill. A Cubbie Bear patch appears on the left sleeve and a special “1818 Illinois Sesquicentennial 1968” patch from that season celebrating the state’s 150th year in existence remains on the right sleeve. Puckering around the patches indicates that they are all original and have never been removed, thus the jersey was never recycled with the Cubs’ minor leagues affiliates. Some noticeable pilling is evident on the back of the jersey. With regard to quality, condition, rarity and provenance, we unequivocally rank this among the finest game worn flannels our firm has ever handled. It is worth noting that this jersey was framed for a significant portion of time but has since been liberated for this particular sale.
Includes LOA from Randy “Boomer” Berman. Additional LOA from MEARS (Graded A10).