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A look at Cubs trades in the pre-expansion era: 1953

Al Yellon created Bleed Cubbie Blue and has been its managing editor since 2005. He's also written three books about the Cubs, the latest is "Chicago Cubs Firsts."

The biggest Cubs news of 1953, though they didn’t know it at the time, was the MLB debut of a skinny, 22-year-old shortstop named Ernie Banks on Sept. 19. Banks would go 0-for-4 in that debut game, which the Cubs lost 16-4. Eventually he’d homer a couple of times that September, beginning a Hall of Fame career.

That didn’t help the team, which went 65-89, avoiding a 90-loss season only by winning the season’s last two games.