Harry Caray was broadcasting a Cubs-Cardinals game for St. Louis’ KMOX in 1953 when Cubs rookie Ernie Banks hit the first of his 512 career home runs.
“I hit it off of Gerry Staley,” Banks recalled. “The next night before the game, Harry came down around the batting cage. He came up and introduced himself. I was still just a kid and I was very shy. Harry said with great enthusiasm: `Ernie Banks! Boy, you hit a tremendous pitch out of the ballpark last night. You are going to be a great hitter.’
“I said: `Well, thank you very much.’
“Harry was very complimentary. He told me I had quick wrists and he wished me well. I thought that was very nice. I didn’t have any idea about broadcasters and announcers then because I had come from the Kansas City Monarchs (of the old Negro leagues) and we had no announcers or broadcasts then.
“My old teammate and mentor with the Cubs, Gene Baker, later told me Harry Caray was the top broadcaster for the Cardinals. Gene said: `Do you know that KMOX has a range of 500 miles?’
“I said: `You mean they can hear it in Dallas (Banks’ hometown), too?’
“Gene said: `I don’t know about Dallas, but a lot of people can hear the games.’
“I was so naive, but I quickly learned about the power Harry had on the air as a broadcaster.”
Banks always has been viewed as a tremendous ambassador for baseball.
“Harry was even greater,” he said. “Watching Harry when he came around the batting cage, and the interest the players had in him, the interest the fans had in him showed me he was a very powerful man in baseball. Kids and seniors and men and women . . . his saying: `Holy Cow!’ was symbolic in the game of baseball.
“His technique and style and personality added a unique flavor to the game. With all the changes–expansion, free agency, the labor strikes, all of that–Harry went through it all with a very positive outlook on the game. Harry gave his views, but his views were always positive. What he said was from the heart.”
