When Ernie Banks became the first shortstop to win back-to-back National League MVP awards in 1958 and 1959, Tigers manager Jimmy Dykes remarked, "Without him, the Cubs would finish in Albuquerque!" So valuable was the 14-time All-Star to the Cubs that he was the first of the franchise’s six retired numbers. Banks's love of baseball was so pure that his catchphrase became "It's a beautiful day for a ballgame... Let's play two!" based on his wish to play a doubleheader every day in his self-described "friendly confines of Wrigley Field."