Ernie Banks Greets Fans Saturday

Gabriel and Gilberto Hernandez were among those who got to pose for a photo with legendary Cubs slugger Ernie Banks when he made an appearance at Sports Authority in Niles Saturday.Gabriel, the younger of the two school-age brothers from Mount Prospect, even demonstrated his swing as they chatted with him and posed for photos.Behind them, Mike Mittelbrun of Mount Prospect, who grew up in Niles, and Mark Tabisz of Naperville were waiting with memorabilia for Banks to sign. "I'm a big fan of the Hall of Fame and of Ernie's," said Tabisz. "I've brought a bat signed by six Hall of Famers." He was about to collect Banks' signature as his seventh.Tony Gaudio of Niles had brought a photo of himself and Banks taken at an appearance 21 years ago. He hoped to ask Banks to sign it. At about 1:45 p.m., a store employee told at least five dozen people in line that they probably were not going to get to see Banks, as his appearance was only scheduled for 1 to 2 p.m. And when 2 p.m. came, Banks was whisked away, leaving the dozens disappointed. Several complained that Banks had spent 15 minutes talking to one fan, and that the line hadn't moved forward for at least 10 minutes. One family turned away said they had been waiting since 11:30 a.m. Store manager Tim Kogut said he didn't really have a comment on that, other than to say Banks used his own discretion as for how long to talk to people."He was talkative," Kogut said. "We had heard in the past that he likes to talk."Like Patch on FacebookRelated Topics: Baseball Hall of Fame, Sports Authority, Sports signing, and ernie banks