Let's Play Two: The Legend of Mr. Cub, the Life of Ernie Banks - Hardcover

Ron Rapoport was a sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times for more than twenty years and also wrote for the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, and the Associated Press. He served as the sports commentator for NPR's Weekend Edition for two decades and has written a number of books about sports and entertainment. He lives in Santa Monica, CA.

"Rapoport has outdone himself, artfully redefining the Banks most of us think we knew."―Rick Kogan, The Chicago Tribune


"Well told...an extensively researched portrayal of the public figure as well as the lesser-known, private Banks."―The Washington Post


"Growing up, every kid I knew wanted to be Ernie Banks, Chicago's 'Mr. Cub.' But there was much more to Ernie than his MVP seasons or his famously sunny outward demeanor. Let's Play Two captures the best of Banks' playing moments, but also delves deeply into a man who did not seem to want you to know more than you could see. Rapoport, a legendary Chicago sportswriter, has written a fascinating, readable, and impeccably researched book about a man who was a Hall of Famer, but also a decided creature of his times."―Scott Turow

"This is a wonderful book worthy of all the energy and vitality Ernie Banks brought to his remarkable career. But it is also a revealing portrait of the often difficult life of a black ballplayer in America and the often lonely man imprisoned and isolated by his exuberant outer image."―Ken Burns


"Mr. Rapoport works diligently to penetrate the curtain of enthusiasm in which Banks wrapped himself.... [Let's Play Two] thoughtfully examines the role of race as it crossed Banks's life and career."―Wall Street Journal


"One of the better sports biographies of the century."―National Review


"Hooray! Ernie Banks now has the Hall-of-Fame biography he deserves thanks to Ron Rapoport. This well-researched, beautifully written book is everything a baseball fan could want. Cubs fans, of course, will want to buy two."―Jonathan Eig, the author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig and Ali: A Life

"Rapoport, a 20-year veteran sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, delivers what is sure to be the definitive biography of Chicago Cubs baseball player Ernie Banks...This marvelous look at the life of a beloved athlete should be essential reading for baseball fan."―Publishers Weekly (starred review)


"Ernie Banks crossed the bridge from a segregated nation and national pastime to a better place, smiling all the way. Although his smile was real, so were the scarring experiences he smiled through. He was more complicated and interesting than the human sunbeam he chose to resemble. With a reporter's diligence and a historian's sensibility, Ron Rapoport tells Banks's story, and that of the different nations at the two ends of the bridge."―George F. Will

"[An] excellent new biography of Banks."―The Hardball Times