Picture-perfect
A sample of sports photos from our archives features some of the top athletic figures in chicago history
Ernie Banks arrived at the Chicago Sun-Times office unannounced. He came with a request. He asked to see photographs that had been taken of him during his 19-year career as a Cub.
''I remember the cheers,'' he said, ''but I don't remember what it all looked like.''
As he settled onto a hard chair in the photo department, Banks slowly opened the file folders containing hundreds of pictures showing him after his arrival in Chicago. A 1958 picture has him at home, admiring his Most Valuable Player trophy. Another photo shows him playing catch with his twin sons. One picture has Ernie with his father. The caption on the back, written by a photographer, reads: ''Proudest dad in town is Eddie Banks as he examines son Ernie's war club.''
Banks smiled as he looked at the pictures, often stopping to tell the stories behind them. The photographs in the Sun-Times' files were his record, his scrapbook. Of triumphs and defeats. Of good times and bad. They also form a scrapbook of Chicago and of Chicago's great love -- sports.
On our 60th anniversary, we'd like to share that scrapbook with you.