Card # 10
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Helmar This Great Game
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Player |
Position |
Team |
Ernie BANKS (HOF)
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Batting stance
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Chicago Cubs
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Top Auction Price |
Total Sold |
Avg # Bids |
Avg # Bidders |
Last Sold |
$ 62.10
|
13
|
7
|
5
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June 21, 2023
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About the Player
A short bio from the Helmar “This Great Game” card back: Didn’t play his first game of organized baseball until he was 17 years old. Five years later, Mr. Banks was playing shortstop for the Cubs. Plays the deepest shortstop in the league, since his strong throwing arm allows Ernie to get the baseball to first in time. One of ten children from the Banks family of Dallas, Ernie played with younger brother Benjamin with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League, where he was spotted by Chicago scouts playing the infield and smacking home runs.
About the Series
This series marks a step in a new direction for Helmar. For the first time we take a serious look at baseball in the 1950's and then, perhaps, the 1960's. The game found itself changing dramatically in this post WWII era, influenced by both the larger society and technological innovation. The color barrier may have been officially broken in 1947 but the acceptance of black players by the big league clubs came slowly, if surely. Reliable and inexpensive air transportation paved the way for geographic expansion. The game, which had been centered in the East and Midwest, found new opportunities along the West Coast.
The very center of the baseball world through the decade was New York City. New York teams competed in every World Series through the decade except for 1959. In many of those years both teams competing were from the city. Interestingly, New York also became the center of the art world at the same time. Migration after WWII brought many creatives to the Big Apple and movements such as abstract, modernism, surrealism and avant-garde.
Studying the era has inspired Helmar to use bold, often surreal colors in this series. We hope that you will join us as we explore this era of change.
Card size: 3' x 4'
Individually Numbered 1-20
Related Cards in the Series
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