In the spring of 1964, Anahis Hartz became fast friends with Chicago Cubs’ star Ernie Banks while working at a hematology oncology lab and performing blood monitoring for Banks. When Cubs' coach Verlon Rube Walker was later struck with Leukemia, Dr. and Mrs. Hartz became more involved with the Cubs’ organization, ultimately becoming co-founders of a leukemia research foundation named “Rube Walker Leukemia Research Center.” Banks worked with Mrs. Hartz for the benefit of the foundation and he and his family were often guests at the Hartz’s house and even visited their lake home. Before moving to California, Banks gave Mrs. Hartz one of his Cubs uniforms. Banks stated that he wore the uniform during the 1969 pennant race. Until September of 2015, the uniform remained in the same garment bag in which Banks delivered it.
In 1969, the first season after the National League was split into two divisions (East and West), the Cubs finished with a regular-season record of 92–70, eight games behind the eventual World Series Champion New York Mets in the newly established National League East. The ill-fated season saw the Cubs in first place for 155 days until mid-September when they dropped 17 out of 25 games. Through it all, Banks – a.k.a. “Mr. Cub” – played steady defense at first base and consistent hitting at the plate. Even at the age of 39, he was still providing plenty of offensive fireworks for Chicago as he collected 143 hits including 23 home runs and knocked in 106 runs.
Presented here is Banks’ Chicago Cubs road jersey from that roller-coaster of a season. As most advanced flannel collectors know, Banks is considered the third rarest 500 HR Club member jersey to obtain behind Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx in completely original, unaltered condition. Remarkably, 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 1969 Cubs road example, previously unknown to the hobby, ranks near the top.
Impeccably preserved, the jersey’s technical details include a Wilson size 40 tag sewn on the front tail above a black chain stitched “1969.” Inside the collar is a strip tag reading "14-69-3-40" in chain stitch indicating the jersey number, year of issue, set number and size. “CHICAGO” is sewn directly onto the chest in blue tackle twill letters while Banks trademark number “14” is sewn on the left breast area and on the reverse, also in blue tackle twill. An embroidered Cubbie Bear patch appears on the left sleeve and its original MLB 100th Anniversary patch remains on the right sleeve. With regard to quality, condition, rarity and provenance, we undeniably rank this among the finest game-worn flannels our firm has ever handled. It’s important to note that SCP Auctions sold a 1969 Ernie Banks Cubs home jersey (Set 1) from the Bill Riddell Estate Collection in its 2014 Fall Premier auction for $151,652, while a 1969 home Set 2 example (sporting a replaced MLB Anniversary patch) sold at auction in 2012 for $169,000.
Includes a Letter of Provenance from the Hartz family.
MEARS LOA.