He was a true Hall of Fame level player and, from what I hear, a very nice guy.
However, I'd like to quibble with the author of the posted article on a couple of statistical points:
Lest you think Banks was just another swatter aided and abetted by the park he first dubbed the Friendly Confines, be advised that he hit a mere 68 more home runs at home than on the road during his major league career. He also defied the traditional platoon splits: he retired with 2,584 hits, and two thirds of those came at the expense of right-handed pitchers, including about two thirds of his home runs.
A "mere" 68 more home runs more at home than on the road? Well, 68 is more HRs than Banks or anyone else ever hit in a single season without the aid of steroids, so it is a significant number.
Two thirds of his hits came against right-handed pitchers? Nothing strange about that, since I'd venture a guess that MORE THAN two thirds of his at-bats came against right-handed pitchers, simply because there are that many more right handers than left-handers and Banks played every day.
BTW, I didn't realize that Banks was the first black player ever to play for the Cubs. I was under the impression that Gene Baker held that honor, but I looked it up and Banks in fact made his first appearance three days before Baker. Banks and Baker went on to become the Cubs' "double play combination" for several years.
A +68 difference between home and road home run hitting is significant when your home park is as yummy to hit in as Wrigley Field has been. Home parks that friendly to hitters often (not necessarily always) produce a larger such differential; it tells you how good Ernie Banks was on the road and how little he actually let the road park affect him at the plate. Some power hitters have a larger split, some a smaller one; from the look of it I'd say Banks's split was pretty average but still surprising given his home park.
Banks retired with an average of 33 home runs per 162 games lifetime. The +68 would equal two seasons plus a couple of games in his case. Mel Ott's home/road home run split was +138; he averaged 30 home runs per 162 games lifetime, making his split equal to almost five seasons' worth of home runs.
I'm hardly an expert, of course, but I'd say that if you have two seasons or fewer worth of home bombs compared to road bombs, you're doing pretty damn good overall in the long ball department.
Lefthanded pitching came more into play in the 1960s, of course, but more came into the league that decade than in the 1950s. It's still rather striking that Banks continued to hit that well against righthanders, you don't find that kind of thing happening in today's game so often even allowing for how many more portsiders are in the game.
I watch now and wonder how many of today's non-switch hitters work at overcoming the platoon split and learn to work the pitchers who throw the same side as them the way they work the pitchers who throw opposite.
Gene Baker suffered an injury the season Banks made his debut so Banks got the honour. They were a solid double play combination for a good while; what film I've seen of the pair of them shows me two middle infielders with sharp instincts, good hands, and knew what they were doing out there almost before it had to be done.