IP 610
ERA 4.751
WHIP 1.531
BB/9 4.456
SO/9 6.315
  • Full name Willie Anthony Banks
  • Born 02/27/1969 in Jersey City, NJ
  • Profile Ht.: 6'1" / Wt.: 200 / Bats: R / Throws: R
  • School Saint Anthony
  • Debut 07/31/1991
  • Drafted in the 1st round (3rd overall) by the Minnesota Twins in 1987 (signed for $160,000).
    View Draft Report
    Banks, who has been compared to Bob Gibson by a number of scouts, is rated No. 1 among high school players by the Major League Scouting Bureau — in large part because he’s a superior athlete. He was a starting guard for the New Jersey state high school basketball champions (rated No. 13 nationally by USA Today) this winter, throws in excess of 90 mph, “and could,” according to his high school coach Mike Hogan, “be the best shortstop in the area — if he wanted to be.” Banks is not a poor student, but his signability is less in question than either Dan Opperman or Mike Mussina, both top students who have signed letters of intent to attend Texas and Stanford, respectively.

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