Chicago Cubs: Top home run hitters of all-time

Chicago Cubs Top Home Run Hitters – No. 2: Ernie Banks (512)

Few players in Major League history were as good as Ernie Banks. He played his entire career with the Cubs and generated some phenomenal career stats.

His 512 home runs are not only the second best total for any Chicago Cubs player, but it is tied for the 23rd-highest mark in baseball history.

Except for his brief ten-game stint with the club in 1953 and his fade away season in 1971, Banks never hit fewer than 12 dingers.

From 1957 through 1960, he had one of the greatest four-year runs any player has ever put together. In that stretch, he blasted 176 home runs, knocked in 491, scored another 423, pounded 114 doubles, hit .293, and slugged .586.

That is a great career for many players – let alone a brief snapshot.

The fact he was a power-hitting shortstop, in an era in which that was very rare, is just another reason he is an all-time great. His biggest power years, including his MVP seasons, came as a shortstop

Like his teammates Santo and Williams, you could count on Banks to play every day. Until his last two seasons, Banks never played less than 130 games, and he played over 150 games in 12 campaigns. He led the league in games played six times.

He produced at least 41 homers five times and had more than 100 RBI eight times.

He was named to 11 All-Star games, and he won the NL MVP in 1958 and 1959. He finished in the top five vote getters for that award on for other occasions.

Banks is in the top 50 all-time in games, at-bats, total bases, home runs, and runs batted in. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977, in his first year of eligibility, gaining 83.8 percent of the votes.

Arguments could be made between five players as to who was the greatest Chicago Cub, but it is hard not to consider Banks the very best. He put together an amazing career and will be forever Mr. Cub.