In 1929, uniform numbers appeared on the back of baseball jerseys for the first time, thanks to the Indians and the Yankees.  By 1937, numbers finally appeared across all uniforms, both home and away, across both major leagues.  Since that time, 81 distinct numbers have been worn by members of the White Sox, while the Cubs boast 76.

Today, we continue our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams with #31.  59 different players have donned #31 while playing in Chicago, 26 for the White Sox and 33 for the Cubs, who have retired it for two different players.

Greg Maddux wore #31 when he got his start with the Cubs in 1986.  Over the first seven years of his career, he became one of the shining stars of the National League, helping lead the team to the 1989 NL East title and winning the first of his 4 consecutive NL Cy Young awards in 1992.  Eleven seasons after before being allowed to leave as a free agent by GM Larry Himes, Maddux returned to the Cubs in 2004.  He defeated the Giants in August of that year to win his 300th game and, in July of 2005, he struck out his 3000th batter.  In 2006, with the Cubs far out of contention, he was traded to the Dodgers for their stretch run.

On the south side of town, Liam Hendriks burst on to the scene in 2021, wearing #31 as he took over the closer role for the eventual AL Central champs, leading the league with 38 saves and closing out the All Star Game for the American League.  He is signed for two more years, so this will either get cemented or I’ll look back at a horrible choice.  Time will tell.