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Banks was a legendary home run hitter and the first black baseball player on the Chicago Cubs.
Chicago Cubs infielder Ernie Banks is pictured in 1967. (AP Photo/Harold Filan)
AP
Banks joined the Cubs in 1953 and went on to earn the nickname "Mr. Cub." His career was marked by an array of successes over 19 seasons: he hit 512 home runs and 1,636 RBIs; he was an 11-time all star; and in 1977, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Banks still holds Cubs records for the number games played and at-bats, among other things, ESPN reported. He also still holds the record for the second most home runs in Cubs history.
Ernie Banks connects with the ball for his 2,500th base hit of his major league career on Sept. 19, 1969, in Chicago.
AP
Prior to joining the MLB, he played in the Negro leagues, joining the Kansas City Monarchs in 1950. He later spent two years in the army before joining the Cubs.
Over the years, photographers for the magazine have captured the greatest moments in sports.
"There was a decision made through the company to restructure various departments, including at Sports Illustrated," Sports Illustrated director of photography Brad Smith told the National Press Photographers Association. "Unfortunately economic circumstances are such that it has cut the six staff photographers."
Robert Beck, Simon Bruty, Bill Frakes, David E. Klutho, John W. McDonough, and Al Tielemans were told of the decision on Thursday.
The magazine has been known for it's iconic sports photography. Following are a sampling of the work staff photographers have done through the years:
Babe Ruth in 1935.
Jerry Cooke/Sports Illustrated / Getty Images
John G. Zimmerman/ Sports Illustrated / Getty Images
The Seahawks running back is locked in an expensive battle with the NFL that is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. The NFL’s struggle with how to punish players for non-football behavior.
Christian Petersen / Getty Images
At least Marshawn Lynch is consistent.
Marshawn Lynch again is being fined for grabbing his crotch after scoring a monster touchdown during the NFC Championship game and will be fined once again for refusing to speak to the media after a game. This time, he'll pay $20,000 for the "obscene gesture" and the NFL is threatening to fine him "significantly more" than the $50,000 Lynch has already paid twice for ignoring media obligations.
His teammate, Chris Matthews, was fined $11,050 for what the league says was an "obscene gesture" that mimicked Lynch's signature crotch grab. However, Lynch and Williams say the latter was fined only for shaking Lynch's hand after a touchdown. Lynch then tweeted that he "feels embarrassed to work for a particular organization that fined a teammate of mine for shaking my hand after a touchdown."
The NFL has spent much of the 2014 season scrambling to update policies after they've been revealed as weak and inconsistent, and the revised policies will benefit the players, teams, and leagues. But as the 2015 Super Bowl comes to conclude the NFL's craziest season, the NFL's predilection for highly subjective discipline at the hands of its commissioner remains evident in non-football fines.
Marshawn Lynch's $100,000 fine for two combined incidents in which he refused to speak to the media stands as the highest fine during the 2014 season for a player who was not also suspended. Put simply, only players who used performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) or assaulted their loves ones and subsequently lost weeks of their salary paid the league more than Lynch.
Is a player's refusal to speak to reporters really worthy of a higher fine than a blindside block ($22,050) or a horse collar tackle ($16,537)?
At the beginning of the season, the NFL releases its list of standard fines for on-field football violations. The amounts hover around three increments: $8,268, $16,537, and $22,050. How the NFL decided on those is unclear. Reflecting on the league's wonky personal conduct policy and PED/illegal substance policy, it seems the on-field football fines were once the NFL's strongest showing of consistent punishment.
When Ray Rice was initially disciplined for his domestic assault incident last February, he was handed a two-game suspension and a $58,000 fine. Shortly after, when TMZ released a full surveillance video from the elevator, Rice was suspended from the league indefinitely and Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted that they had gotten Rice's suspension wrong. As a result, the personal conduct policy under which Rice was punished has been highly revised, and players are now sent to the paid-leave purgatory known as the Commissioner's Exempt List.
Ronald Martinez / Getty Images
Other notable fines this season include Wes Welker's $50,000 fine for taking ecstasy, and Josh Gordon's $81,746 fine for testing positive for trace amounts of marijuana for the second time in his career. These fines, and the subsequent suspensions, prompted the league to finally make a distinction between recreational drugs and PEDs.
Ezra Shaw / Getty Images
The NFL also hired a forensic analysis firm to review video and digital evidence related to deflate-gate.
Jim Rogash / Getty Images
The National Football League on Friday said that a preliminary investigation found that the New England Patriots user under-inflated footballs during the first half of their AFC Championship victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
"While the evidence thus far supports the conclusion that footballs that were under-inflated were used by the Patriots in the first half, the footballs were properly inflated for the second half and confirmed at the conclusion of the game to have remained properly inflated," the league said in a news release, its first on deflate-gate.
The NFL also said the investigation is being led by NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Pash and attorney Ted Wells of the law firm of Paul Weiss. Wells was brought on to offer an independent perspective, according to the release.
As part of the investigation, the NFL has already conducted 40 interviews, including Patriots personnel and game officials. The NFL has also hired Renaissance Associates, an investigatory firm with forensic expertise, to review electronic information obtained during the probe.
The statement did not provide a timeline for when the investigation will conclude.
LINK: Tom Brady: “I Didn’t Alter The Ball In Any Way”
LINK: Tom Brady On Deflategate: “This Isn’t ISIS”
