Let's Play Two

The Legend of Mr. Cub, the Life of Ernie Banks

By: Ron Rapoport

Narrated by: Charley Steiner

Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

The definitive and revealing biography of Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks, one of America's most iconic, beloved, and misunderstood baseball players, by acclaimed journalist Ron Rapoport.

Ernie Banks, the first-ballot Hall of Famer and All-Century Team shortstop, played in 14 All-Star Games, won two MVPs, and twice led the Major Leagues in home runs and runs batted in. He outslugged Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Mickey Mantle when they were in their prime, but while they made repeated World Series appearances in the 1950s and 60s, Banks spent his entire career with the woebegone Chicago Cubs, who didn't win a pennant in his adult lifetime.

Today, Banks is remembered best for his signature phrase, "Let's play two", which has entered the American lexicon and exemplifies the enthusiasm that endeared him to fans everywhere. But Banks' public display of good cheer was a mask that hid a deeply conflicted, melancholy, and often quite lonely man. Despite the poverty and racism he endured as a young man, he was among the star players of baseball's early days of integration who were reluctant to speak out about civil rights. Being known as one of the greatest players never to reach the World Series also took its toll. At one point, Banks even saw a psychiatrist to see if that would help. It didn't. Yet Banks smiled through it all, enduring the scorn of Cubs manager Leo Durocher as an aging superstar and never uttering a single complaint.

Let's Play Two is based on numerous conversations with Banks and on interviews with more than 100 of his family members, teammates, friends, and associates as well as oral histories, court records, and thousands of other documents and sources. Together, they explain how Banks was so different from the caricature he created for the public. The audiobook tells of Banks' early life in segregated Dallas, his years in the Negro Leagues, and his difficult life after retirement; and it features compelling portraits of Buck O'Neil, Philip K. Wrigley, the Bleacher Bums, the doomed pennant race of 1969, and much more from a long-lost baseball era.

©2019 Ron Rapoport (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Rapoport's years of rapport with Banks manifests itself in the completion of a previously unfinished project, now much richer than the original intent because of updated perspective. In his acknowledgements, Rapoport, a former L.A. Times and L.A. Daily News columnist, writes that those who helped him finish this knew Banks as a 'joyful, melancholy, humble, complicated, companionable, lonely man...[who] remained imprisoned in an image of one simplistic dimension.'"—Tom Hoffarth, Los Angeles Times

"Well told...an extensively researched portrayal\nof the public figure as well as the lesser-known, private Banks."—The Washington Post

"Growing up, every kid I knew wanted to be Ernie Banks, Chicago's 'Mr. Cub.' But there was much more to Ernie than his MVP seasons or his famously sunny outward demeanor. Let's Play Two captures the best of Banks' playing moments, but also delves deeply into a man who did not seem to want you to know more than you could see. Rapoport, a legendary Chicago sportswriter, has written a fascinating, readable, and impeccably researched book about a man who was a Hall of Famer, but also a decided creature of his times."—Scott Turow

A Great Story, A must read for Ernie Banks fans

I thought I knew everything there was to know about my childhood hero, but Ron Rapoport's book is so thoroughly researched and well written, so readable and fascinating, that I felt as if I was just introduced to Ernie Banks for the first time.

I loved the many anecdotes about Ernie's personality quirks (both positive and negative), his photographic memory and ability to relate to perfect strangers, remembering minor details about their lives many years later, and his resiliency in confronting racism, jealousy from his legendary manager, and being on a team that never played in October. In my opinion, "Let's Play Two" is one of the best baseball biographies of all time, and it leaves the reader with a deeper understanding of Ernie Banks' greatness, as a ballplayer and a man. The countless number of interviews with people involved in virtually every phase of Ernie's life gives a whole new perspective on a man we all thought we've known so well.

Charley Steiner does an outstanding job as the narrator because he is obviously not merely reading words on a page, he clearly understood the author's story and conveyed it with great passion.

‘Mostly about Ernie Banks

This book is unlike others in that it freely indulges players and coaches complete biographies in some cases, and comprehensively retells many stories of the era that don’t always have a connection to Mr. Banks. Nonetheless there’s a lot of Mr. Cub in this book along with all of that other interesting baseball history. To me this shows how hard the author had to work for accurate material on Ernie Banks - quite the challenge, so we applaud you Mr. Rapoport. And Charlie Steiner’s presentation is certainly a nice touch.

Really Disappointing

I grew up watching Ernie at Wrigley field and was so looking forward to this book. What a total disappointment. There is way too much written about everything else going on during his time on the Cubs. While some references to the history that shaped his career is necessary, there is no need to spend hours talking about his family, Leo Durocher, etc. Charley Steiner is a really great Sports Announcer, but book narrator, not so much