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 #20. 85 different players have donned #20 while playing in Chicago, 30 for the White Sox and 55 for the Cubs.
Carlos Quentin was acquired by the White Sox in a December 2007 trade with the Diamondbacks for Chris Carter, earning the nickname “The Carlos Quentin” after general manager Kenny Williams was quoted saying that the team’s goals for the winter meetings were to “acquire Carlos Quentin, and not a guy like him but actually Carlos Quentin.” Quentin played immediate dividends, breaking through in a big way for the 2008 White Sox. He was leading the American League in home runs and was third in slugging percentage, OPS, and RBIs when he broke his wrist slamming his bat following a strikeout against Cliff Lee, causing him to miss the last 6 weeks of the season. The injury likely cost him the MVP award, and certainly impacted the White Sox, as their battle with the Twins for the AL Central title came down to 163rd game and left the starting rotation is disarray before playing, and eventually losing to, the Rays in the ALDS.
Quentin continued to struggle with injuries for the remainder of his White Sox career, never appearing in more than 131 games. A shoulder injury ended his 2011 season, and his White Sox career, at the end of August. That December, just over 4 years since he was acquired, Quentin was shipped to the Padres, for Simon Castro and Pedro Hernandez.
On the north side of town, Corey Patterson switched to #20 when he was recalled to the Cubs in 2001, appearing in 51 games and hitting only .221. He became a full time player in 2002, hitting .253 in 153 games and slugging 14 home runs while driving in 54. He was breaking out in 2003, becoming the threat the Cubs had hoped he would be, with a .839 OPS, a .298 average, and 13 and 55 for the power numbers when a torn ACL ended his season on July 6. He returned in 2004, playing 157 games and hitting .266, but was never quite the same player as before the injury. 2005 was not a good season for Patterson, as he saw himself demoted in July following an 8-game losing streak. Following the season, he was traded to the Orioles.
In the past, we’ve looked at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. This offseason, we will take our first ever look at those leaders against all 30 clubs. We continue today with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
