What years did Ernie Banks play?

Ernie Banks played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1971.

Was Ernie Banks a pitcher?

No. Ernie Banks was a position player (First Baseman).

How many home runs did Ernie Banks hit?

Ernie Banks hit 512 career home runs with 2583 hits.

Is Ernie Banks in the Hall of Fame?

Yes. Ernie Banks was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.

Ernie Banks

First Baseman · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1953-1971)

⭐ Hall of Fame 1977

AVG .274

HR 512

RBI 1,636

H 2,583

OPS .830

PIV 30,636

Position: First Baseman
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 180 lb
Born: 1/31/1931 in Dallas, TX, USA
Died: 1/23/2015 in Chicago, IL, USA
MLB Debut: 1953-09-17
Last Game: 1971-09-26
Hall of Fame: Inducted 1977 (BBWAA)
Awards: 11× All-Star · 2× MVP · Gold Glove

Full name: Ernest Banks

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
4.0	4.0	0	0	0	0	0	1.0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000

Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
2,528	9,421	1,305	2,583	407	90	512	1,636	50	763	1,236	.274	.330	.500	.830	30,636

Career AVG .274 vs. league average .252 across their career seasons — +8.7% above league average.

Career OBP .330 vs. league average .320 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .500 vs. league average .380 across their career seasons — +31.4% above league average.

Career OPS .830 vs. league average .700 across their career seasons — +18.5% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1953	CHN	NL	10	35	3	11	1	1	2	6	0	4	5	.314	—	—	—	—	0.0
1954	CHN	NL	154	593	70	163	19	7	19	79	6	40	50	.275	.261 (+5%)	.333 (-2%)	.390 (+9%)	.723 (+4%)	380.2
1955	CHN	NL	154	596	98	176	29	9	44	117	9	45	72	.295	.258 (+14%)	.332 (+4%)	.393 (+51%)	.726 (+30%)	3291.6
1956	CHN	NL	139	538	82	160	25	8	28	85	6	52	62	.297	.258 (+15%)	.331 (+8%)	.397 (+33%)	.728 (+22%)	2227.8
1957	CHN	NL	156	594	113	169	34	6	43	102	8	70	85	.285	.257 (+10%)	.323 (+11%)	.391 (+48%)	.715 (+31%)	3662.1
1958	CHN	NL	154	617	119	193	23	11	47	129	4	52	87	.313	.257 (+21%)	.324 (+13%)	.394 (+56%)	.719 (+36%)	4295.3
1959	CHN	NL	155	589	97	179	25	6	45	143	2	64	72	.304	.256 (+18%)	.323 (+15%)	.392 (+52%)	.715 (+35%)	4137.9
1960	CHN	NL	156	597	94	162	32	7	41	117	1	71	69	.271	.255 (+6%)	.323 (+8%)	.387 (+43%)	.711 (+27%)	3124.5
1961	CHN	NL	138	511	75	142	22	4	29	80	1	54	75	.278	.258 (+8%)	.328 (+5%)	.399 (+27%)	.727 (+17%)	1657.4
1962	CHN	NL	154	610	87	164	20	6	37	104	5	30	71	.269	.257 (+4%)	.326 (-6%)	.393 (+28%)	.719 (+12%)	1177.2
1963	CHN	NL	130	432	41	98	20	1	18	64	0	39	73	.227	.246 (-8%)	.308 (-6%)	.371 (+8%)	.680 (+2%)	57.4
1964	CHN	NL	157	591	67	156	29	6	23	95	1	36	84	.264	.250 (+5%)	.312 (-2%)	.377 (+19%)	.690 (+10%)	871.7
1965	CHN	NL	163	612	79	162	25	3	28	106	3	55	64	.265	.245 (+8%)	.310 (+5%)	.371 (+22%)	.682 (+14%)	1635.5
1966	CHN	NL	141	511	52	139	23	7	15	75	0	29	59	.272	.248 (+9%)	.309 (+2%)	.376 (+15%)	.685 (+9%)	715.1
1967	CHN	NL	151	573	68	158	26	4	23	95	2	27	93	.276	.242 (+14%)	.306 (+1%)	.357 (+27%)	.663 (+15%)	1385.9
1968	CHN	NL	150	552	71	136	27	0	32	83	2	27	67	.246	.236 (+4%)	.298 (-4%)	.340 (+38%)	.638 (+18%)	1545.9
1969	CHN	NL	155	565	60	143	19	2	23	106	0	42	101	.253	.248 (+2%)	.320 (-3%)	.369 (+13%)	.689 (+5%)	416.5
1970	CHN	NL	72	222	25	56	6	2	12	44	0	20	33	.252	.253 (-1%)	.325 (-4%)	.385 (+19%)	.711 (+9%)	267.6
1971	CHN	NL	39	83	4	16	2	0	3	6	0	6	14	.193	.249 (-23%)	.316 (-22%)	.365 (-11%)	.682 (-16%)	-213.4
Career · 19 seasons			2,528	9,421	1,305	2,583	407	90	512	1,636	50	763	1,236	.274	—	—	—	—	30,636

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (2528 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	1285	4734	722	1372	290	909	.290
Away	1243	4686	584	1211	222	727	.258

Last 10 Games — Batting

Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO
1971-09-26	CHC	PHI	L	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
1971-09-25	CHC	PHI	W	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	0
1971-09-24	CHC	PHI	L	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1971-09-10	CHC	STL	L	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1971-09-06	CHC	PIT	L	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
1971-09-05	CHC	STL	L	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1971-08-29	CHC	ATL	L	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1971-08-25	CHC	CIN	L	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
1971-08-24	CHC	CIN	L	3	1	1	0	1	1	1	1
1971-08-15	CHC	CIN	L	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	1259	1226	12005	809	80	1005
3B	69	65	82	99	6	13
OF	23	23	32	6	1	0
SS	1125	1111	2087	3441	174	724

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1953	CHN	SS	10	0	19	33	1	9
1954	CHN	SS	154	154	312	475	34	105
1955	CHN	SS	154	154	290	482	22	102
1956	CHN	SS	139	139	279	357	25	92
1957	CHN	3B	58	58	73	87	3	12
1957	CHN	SS	100	98	168	261	11	59
1958	CHN	SS	154	154	292	468	32	100
1959	CHN	SS	154	154	271	519	12	95
1960	CHN	SS	156	156	283	488	18	94
1961	CHN	1B	7	7	68	6	1	8
1961	CHN	OF	23	23	32	6	1	0
1961	CHN	SS	104	102	173	358	19	68
1962	CHN	1B	149	148	1458	106	11	134
1962	CHN	3B	3	2	4	1	0	1
1963	CHN	1B	125	117	1178	78	9	97
1964	CHN	1B	157	153	1565	132	10	122
1965	CHN	1B	162	161	1682	93	15	143
1966	CHN	1B	130	127	1178	81	10	88
1966	CHN	3B	8	5	5	11	3	0
1967	CHN	1B	147	146	1383	91	10	111
1968	CHN	1B	147	145	1379	88	6	118
1969	CHN	1B	153	147	1419	87	4	116
1970	CHN	1B	62	57	528	35	4	53
1971	CHN	1B	20	18	167	12	0	15

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position	Games
First Base	1258
Third Base	69
Shortstop	1125
Left Field	23

Awards & Honors

Year	Award	Notes
1967	Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
1960	Gold Glove	SS
1960	TSN All-Star	SS
1959	Most Valuable Player
1959	TSN All-Star	SS
1959	TSN Player of the Year
1958	Most Valuable Player
1958	TSN All-Star	SS
1958	TSN Player of the Year
1955	TSN All-Star	SS

Award Voting History

Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1969	Most Valuable Player	NL	12th	15.0	336	0
1968	Most Valuable Player	NL	13th	14.0	280	0
1967	Most Valuable Player	NL	14th	22.0	280	0
1962	Most Valuable Player	NL	18th	5.0	280	0
1960	Most Valuable Player	NL	4th	100.0	336	0
1959	Most Valuable Player	NL	1st	232.0	336	10
1958	Most Valuable Player	NL	1st	283.0	336	16
1957	Most Valuable Player	NL	6th	60.0	336	0
1956	Most Valuable Player	NL	28th	2.0	336	0
1955	Most Valuable Player	NL	3rd	195.0	336	6
1954	Most Valuable Player	NL	16th	14.0	336	0
1954	Rookie of the Year	NL	2nd	4.0	24	4

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Ernie Banks (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Ernie Banks

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Frequently Asked Questions about Ernie Banks

What years did Ernie Banks play?: Ernie Banks played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1971.
Was Ernie Banks a pitcher?: No. Ernie Banks was a position player (First Baseman).
How many home runs did Ernie Banks hit?: Ernie Banks hit 512 career home runs with 2583 hits.
Is Ernie Banks in the Hall of Fame?: Yes. Ernie Banks was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.