Is Ernie Banks Nuts?

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Thu, 04/12/2007 - 07:45 — Hollee Ford

For baseball fans, Ernie Banks is a household name. Hall of Famer Ernie Banks was a shortstop for the Chicago Cubs from 1953-1971. Recently my friend, Katie, and I had the chance to meet Ernie, a HUGE moment for the baseball fan in me. After quick introductions the conversation went something like this:

Ernie: Are you married?

Hollee & Katie: Yes

Ernie: So where are your husbands?

Hollee & Katie: In Dallas (we were in Phoenix at the time)

Ernie: Dallas! One thing I like about Dallas is that Kelleher, I want to get a copy of his book NUTS!.

Hollee & Katie: Funny you should mention Herb; we both work for Southwest Airlines. We will take care of getting you a copy of the book.

Ernie: reaches for his wallet to hand us his card

How cool! When Ernie Banks thinks of Dallas, he thinks of Herb Kelleher and Southwest Airlines. So Katie and I return to Dallas to share the news with Herb. He personally signs a book for Ernie with this note inside "I am certainly not sure why you admire me but you are certainly one of my heroes."

(Okay, we know a lot of you would LUV to have a Herb autograph too, but if Herb accommodated every request, his entire day would be spent signing books. We hope you understand.)

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Comments

So, Hollee,
It's a beautiful day at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field--let's play two!
Blog Boy

Brian Lusk — Thu, 04/12/2007 - 12:47

Hollee,

Congrats on meeting your hero. I am not a huge fan of baseball well yes only in October when its worth watching. Go Padres!!!

USS BLOG BOY

francisco.delgado — Thu, 04/12/2007 - 14:18

Hollee, what a great moment. Thanks for sharing it with us!

And Brian, there you go again......another Boeing time stamp....7:47......

Phil Willman — Thu, 04/12/2007 - 14:58

That's awesome Hollee!! Did you happen to get Ernie Banks' autograph for yourself? I'm a college student majoring in Management with a specialization in Marketing. I'm also doing a research paper on Southwest. Seems like you have some competitors out there with JetBlue and other discount airlines on the market.

Jenny Par — Thu, 04/12/2007 - 17:25

Phil,
I can almost picture Brian staring intently at the screen clock, (as he perhaps eats a seemingly endless supply of candy corn) waiting patiently for the clock to give him that special sequence of Boeing numbers. As the magic numbers appear he hits Post and laughs manically as he tosses one last Candy corn high into the air and catches it to join the countless others who have met their fate by his mighty mandibles.
Hollee,
Great Story, my wife still remembers the time she met Nolan Ryan and got his autograph on a baseball. I'm not allowed to play with it either.

Eric H — Thu, 04/12/2007 - 19:39

Okay Eric,
While I may be a maniac, I have never laughed maniacally.
Blog Boy

Brian Lusk — Thu, 04/12/2007 - 19:58

Eric,
I think you're on to something there.....I did notice a Brachs™ truck making a delivery at the back dock the other day......

And I'm waiting for him to come up with a way to post at 7:87....I'm sure as the Blog Boy Editor/Master/Top Dog/Head Cheese Guy, he'll figure it out.

Phil Willman — Thu, 04/12/2007 - 20:30

I have a question that has nothing to do with Ernie Banks (nice story, by the way), but I see you're in marketing and this is a recent post, so I'm hoping you'll pass it along to somebody who thinks about these things.

While shopping for flights recently, I noticed that the Alaska Airlines web site has a green address bar in my copy of Internet Explorer 7. This green address bar means the site has high security, and I see it on a bunch of major sites that I trust to take security seriously like eBay, PayPal, and Schwab.com. Now I see it on Alaska, but not on the Southwest site.

Is Southwest planning on upgrading its security so that I'll see a green address bar on your site as well? If so, when? If not, why not?

Thank you for your attention.

Paul — Fri, 04/13/2007 - 09:35

I had the opportunit y to meet Mr. Banks several years ago. He is a true gentleman and great ambassador of the game.
I hope you had your picture taken with him! Go Cubbies!

JoLyne — Fri, 04/13/2007 - 09:46

That's a different Paul above. Guess I'll need a nickname . . .

Paul — Sat, 04/14/2007 - 03:15

Hollee,

Did you watch the padres/dodgers game last night? It was a very entertaining and competitive game. Final score was Dodgers 9 Padres 1. Dodgers have won 7 out of 8 games and are #1 in the NL West. Go Dodgers!!!!! 8)

Jeramy Brian — Sat, 04/14/2007 - 17:33

Oops. My last message was meant for USS blog boy. 8)

Jeramy Brian — Sat, 04/14/2007 - 21:52

Today marks the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball and starting his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers. What a great accomplishment. He was a terrific athlete and human being. Thanks Jackie. Go Dodgers!!! 8)

Jeramy Brian — Sun, 04/15/2007 - 16:23

Jeramy,
Let me edit your last sentence. It should read Go Tigers!
;-P, ;-P

Call us today we'll be there tomorrow.
Ding! boy
Joe

Joe Friedmann — Tue, 04/17/2007 - 11:07

Ding Boy,
We hope you had a great birthday!
Bog Boy

Brian Lusk — Tue, 04/17/2007 - 12:35

"Bog" boy-
Yes, I did.
I am still waiting for my candycorn. Someone must have eaten it on the way.

A purchase will not increase you chances of winning.
Ding! boy
Joe

Joe Friedmann — Tue, 04/17/2007 - 13:20

Paul,

So I checked with our Online Marketing Team and this is what I found out...

southwest.com/SWABIZ are "White" status, which means it's an encrypted or secure site. Green is simply giving you more information about the certification of the site.

Red
The certificate is out of date, invalid, or has an error. For more information see About Certificate Errors.

Yellow
The authenticity of the certificate or certification authority that issued it cannot be verified. This might indicate a problem with the certification authority's website.

White
The certificate has normal validation. This means that communication between your browser and the website is encrypted. The certification authority makes no assertion about the business practices of the website.

Green
The certificate uses extended validation. This means that communication between your browser and website is encrypted and that the certification authority has confirmed the website is owned or operated by a business that is legally organized under the jurisdiction shown in the certificate and on the Security Status bar. The certification authority makes no assertion about the business practices of the website.

Hope that helps!

Hollee Ford — Tue, 04/17/2007 - 14:30

Is anyone else curious about the purchase of 30 Boeing 787's from an undisclosed buyer? Southwest is suppose to have some tricks up it's sleeves this year. Could this be one of them???????

just wondering — Fri, 04/20/2007 - 21:06

I would give anything if my husband could shake the hand of Ernie Banks. He is a true Die Hard Cub Fan (is there any other type?) If anyone knows how that could possibly happen please let me know!!

Becky Mascal — Mon, 07/30/2007 - 23:03

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