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Known as "Mr. Cubª," Ernie Banks, 73, remains one of the greats in modern baseball history. He won two consecutive National League Most Valuable Player awards, broke the record for the most home runs by a shortstop (512) and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.
Tuesday, Banks visited DePuy in Warsaw to thank DePuy and its employees for giving him a new lease on life. He and his wife, Liz, had lunch with employees, spoke to a group of 600 employees and toured DePuy before heading for Fort Wayne to throw out the first pitch in the Wizards game.
DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. used the opportunity to launch its "Resume Play" campaign, designed to promote Mobile-bearing Rotating Platform knee technology. Banks received two of DePuy's rotating platform knees. RP knee implants provide a range of motion that is most like the natural knee, helping to achieve greater flexibility in the joint.
DePuy was the first to develop RP technology and is the only manufacturer that has received FDA approval to market mobile-bearing knees in the United States.
Gordon Van Ummersen, vice president of marketing at DePuy, introduced Dr. Wayne Goldstein, the Chicago orthopedic surgeon who replaced Banks' knees.
Goldstein said in addition to providing greater mobility, the new knees "will last perhaps a decade longer." He said, "Ernie put off surgery a little longer than he should. When he came to me, he was barely able to walk around and couldn't navigate to do simple things."
Goldstein, a major supporter of RP technology, said, "I can absolutely prove that what you make here (DePuy) is the best in the world."
Banks spent three days in the hospital, followed by six weeks living in a rehabilitation facility and six more weeks of therapy after returning home. Liz became "Nurse Liz" and played a key role in his rehabilitation by asking therapists to stretch Ernie's abilities and encouraging him to do more in therapy.
A big fan of the Cubs and Ernie, Goldstein noticed late in Ernie's career that he was becoming less mobile. So much so that when Ernie complained of stiffness in his knees in 1962, the Cubs moved him from short stop to first base until he reitred . Ernie admits that his knees were a big factor in deciding to retire from the game. Today, he says, "I might still be playing if I'd got new knees when they first started to fail."
Banks admitted he waited too long. "I couldn't dance with Liz and play golf and other people were telling me I was moving around too slow and needed surgery. Now I'm back in the game again and have a whole new life. I can't thank Dr. Goldstein and DePuy enough for giving me this new life. I've been impressed by the friendliness of everyone here and I'm looking forward to meeting some of the people who made my knees on the tour."
Liz Banks is one of Ernie's biggest supporters. After much discussion about him getting new knees, she had set up surgery in California (they reside in both Chicago and California). "When Ernie called and said that Dr. Goldstein was going to do the surgery the next day in Chicago, I was shocked. In California, the replacement would have been a plain knee. The new rotating knee is phenomenal."
Nurse Liz wanted Ernie to "Get back all of his mobility." He exceeded everyone's expectations and now has 98 percent mobility in both knees.
Liz added, "Women also need surgery. The technology is there - don't wait."
Ernie, a self-proclaimed optimist raised in Dallas, first started playing professional baseball in the Negro Leagues with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1950. After two years in the Army, he returned home to the Monarchs, where the Chicago Cubs signed him in 1953. He said, " Going to Chicago and the Cubs lifted my life - it gave me added enthusiasm. But by 1969, my last chance to get in the World Series, we were losing to the Mets and my quality of life was declining."
Ernie demonstrated his mobility several times, including dancing with Liz before a final standing ovation.
