We were saddened to hear of the recent passing of one of Baseball's All-Time greats - Ernie Banks. Not only was he an all-time great player- but he'll also be known as one of the games good guys.

When I started collecting the original Hartland  statues in the early 80's, Babe Ruth was the only player who had passed in their series of 18. With the passing of Banks, it leaves only 5 now alive (Mays, Aaron, Aparicio Colavito and Groat).

Just a quick personal remembrance of Banks and what a good guy he was. I once took my son to a Sports Memorabilia Show at an Armenian Church in New York in the late 80's. My son was about 10 at the time (he's now 36) and we had planned on getting autographs of several old time players (Mays, Spahn and Banks). The lines were fairly long and by the time we were going to get Mr. Banks autograph- his session was over. We were both dissappointed and the promoter of the show told us to wait a minute. Mr. Banks came back to sign a ball for my son and spent several munutes with his arm around his shoulders talking with him. To this day when I ask my son who is all-time favorite baseball player is - he says Ernie Banks - and of course, he never saw him play. It was that kind of comittment to the fans that made him one of the most popular players ever to play.

Rest in Peace, Ernie!