Ernie Banks Auction: Late, Great Mr. Cub's Personal Treasures Available to Highest Bidder

If you're a Chicago Cubs fan with money to burn, you may want to check out the Ernie Banks auction this month. A dozen possessions of the late, great Mr. Cub are available for bidding in an online auction, and they could fetch more than a quarter of a million dollars.

They include prized pieces of Banks' baseball history, such as:

• The 1958 Babe Ruth Sultan of Swat batting crown (bid as of this writing: $38,000)
• His 1977 Hall of Fame Ring ($30,000)
• Banks' "MR CUB" license plates ($650 and $500 apiece)
• His Negro Leagues leather jacket ($375)

Banks died in January 2015 at the age of 83. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977. His number 14 was the first to be retired by the Cubs. Banks became the first African-American player to play for the Cubs on Sept. 17, 1953, at the age of 22. He went on to hit 512 home runs with 1,636 RBIs, was a two-time National League MVP and played in 11 All-Star games.

But if you're a true Cubs fan, you already knew that.

• Also on Patch: Ernie Banks 'Mr. Cub' Obituary

Heritage Auction is hosting the collectibles sale at the request of Regina Rice, Banks' longtime caretaker. Rice is still embroiled in a bitter battle over Banks' estate with the legendary slugger's estranged fourth wife, Elizabeth Banks.

The women first fought over what to do with Mr. Cub's body. Rice was going to cremate him and have his ashes spread over Wrigley Field, something the Hall of Fame ballplayer joked about for decades. Banks went to court and won the right to bury him.

Elizabeth Bank, and Ernie Banks' twin sons Jerry and Joey, maintain Rice took advantage of the ailing slugger in his golden years, persuading him to change his will mere months before his death. They say he suffered from dementia.

Also known as "Mr. Sunshine" for his optimism, Banks' last will contained this passage: “I am making no provisions under this will for wife or my children, not for a lack of love and affection for them and for reasons best known to them.”

Banks also has filed for divorce prior to his death, citing “extreme and repeated acts of mental cruelty” on the part of his estranged wife.

Despite this, a Cook County judge in granted Rice permission to auction the Ernie Banks collectibles — as long as Elizabeth Banks didn't object and received a full list of items to be sold.

Some speak to Banks' personal connections and his place in American history.

The inventory includes a connection to Democratic presidential Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton. Apparently, Mr. Cub wrote the Park Ridge, Illinois, native a letter of condolence upon the death of her mother in 2011. Clinton wrote a reply. The item, with a letter of provenance from the Bank estate, is listed with a $250 opening bid and is valued at more than $1,000.

A signed photograph of President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, and Ernie Banks holding a baseball bat, taken in the final year of Banks' life, is listed for $1,600 and is valued at more than $4,000.

Banks was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013. The Nordstrom necktie Banks' wore during the ceremony with President Obama is also up for auction. In the following video, where he's wearing that necktie, Banks reflects on the import of the award.

Another big-ticket item is Banks' personal replica of his statue that stands outside Wrigley Field:

If there is any honor greater than a bronze plaque in Cooperstown, it's a statue outside the ballpark where you earned that immortality. It was in 2008 that Mr. Cub became a permanent fixture outside the hallowed grounds of Wrigley Field, masterfully cast in life-sized bronze. Banks spoke eloquently at the dedication ceremony, in the humble and joyful manner that earned him nearly as many fans as his elite talents:

"I always thought to myself, 'I'm here at Wrigley Field, playing day games for the best fans in the world,' and I was satisfied. I was the only professional athlete who played his entire career in one city, Chicago. One mayor, Richard J. Daley. One owner, P.K. Wrigley. One park, Wrigley Field. And I played all my home games under one light, God's light. I was satisfied."

The online auction, conducted in two rounds, concludes on Aug. 27 and Aug. 28. Only people who've bid in the first round may bid in the second.

photo credit: Heritage Auction