Ernie Banks: Fashion Icon

Among the greatest baseball bar debates out there, once you get past stat debates (obp vs avg vs woba) and greatest player debates (CC, duh), you finally get to the one that matters: hat straight or hat jauntily askew.

Ladies and gentlemen, if we look closely at 1956 Topps Ernie Banks, I think the issue is definitively settled in favor of "jauntily askew."

Other than being an early card of one of the greatest players of all-time and an all around great guy, this is also proof that Mr. Banks was way ahead of the fashion curve. Admittedly, his hat is on straighter than the headgears of guys like CC Sabathia or Juan Pierre, but his hat is at least 10 degrees from straight. Therefore we can put Mr. Banks at the forefront of a trend that annoys high school teachers and baseball purists everywhere.

We must give Mr. Banks his due and recognize his influence in ALL spheres of the game, from hard hitting shortstops to fashionable placement of one's haberdashery. Well done, sir.

And here's the back, because '56s are awesome.

Tomorrow night: a long post thanking folks for helping me with sets and the CC collection!