Tag / Ken Patterson

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By The Numbers – 21

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 #21.  69 different players have donned #21 while playing in Chicago, 26 for the White Sox and 43 for the Cubs.

Near the end of the spring training in 1992, Sammy Sosa, along with Ken Patterson, was acquired from the White Sox for a fading George Bell.  Wearing #21, Sosa blossomed with the Cubs, going from 8 home runs and 25 RBIs in his first season to 33 home runs and 93 RBIs in his second, becoming the first 30-30 player in Cubs history.  Sosa continued to hit for power and speed in 1994, but he also upped his batting average to .300 for the first time.  Sosa was named to his first All-Star team in 1995, on his way to 36 home runs and 119 RBIs.  In 1996, Sosa continued his success, hitting .273 with 40 home runs and 100 RBIs.  1997, however, saw a decline in Sosa, who batted just .251 and posted a paltry .300 on-base percentage while leading the league with 174 strikeouts, despite hitting 36 home runs and driving in 119 runs.

A bulked-up Sammy Sosa arrived in camp in 1998, looking to turn things around, and turn them around he did.  While the surprising Cubs were in contention for the first time in nearly a decade, Sosa put on a home run barrage of historic proportions.  In the month of June, Sosa launched 20 home runs, drove in 47, and slugged .842 while pulling himself into the home run chase with Mark McGwire.  Sosa hit his 62nd home run on September 13, passing Roger Maris, and finished the season with 66, 4 behind McGwire’s then-record 70.  Sosa replicated that performance in 1999, hitting 63 home runs, again trailing McGwire, who hit 65.  Sosa finally led the league in home runs in 2000, though with “only” 50.  He managed another season for the ages in 2001, as he hit 64 home runs, becoming the first player to hit 60 or more home runs three times, and setting career highs in runs scored, RBIs, walks, OBP, slugging percentage, and batting average.  He notched his second career home run crown in 2002, adding 49 to his ledger.

Things started to turn for Sosa in 2003, despite the Cubs driving towards their first division title since 1989.  He went on the disabled list for the first time since 1996 in May and, when he returned, he was ejected, and ultimately suspended, for using a corked bat in the June 3 game against the Devil Rays.  He finished the season with 40 home runs, his lowest total since 1997, as the Cubs famously blew a 3-1 lead in the NLCS despite being 5 outs away from the pennant in Game 6.  The following May, he landed on the disabled list again following a violent sneeze at PETCO Park.  After returning from the DL, Sosa struck out 98 times the rest of the way, while hitting .238 and posting an OPS of .749.  For the entire year, Sosa hit .253, his worst average since 1997, with only 35 home runs and 80 RBIs, his lowest total since 1994.  When the Cubs fell out of contention for the NL Central title after losing 7 of their final 9 games, Sosa was given the day off for the final game of the season.  Unfortunately, he was spotted leaving Wrigley Field before the game even started while his teammates took out their frustrations with their “leader” my smashing his boombox with their bats.  That January, with the declined performance and the growing suspicion of PED use on their minds along with the end of the 2004 season, the Cubs decided to move on, trading Sosa to the Orioles for Jerry Hairston Jr. and Mike Fontenot.

On the South Side, Todd Frazier wore #21 after being acquired from the Reds in a three-team deal prior to the 2016 season.  On July 11, Frazier placed second in the Home Run Derby, losing to Giancarlo Stanton in the final round.  Frazier finished the year with career highs in home runs, runs batted in and walks despite hitting a career low .225 batting average in 158 games.  With the White Sox throwing in the towel and entering a full-fledged rebuild in 2017, Frazier was traded to the Yankees at the deadline.

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#71 – George Bell

Name: George Bell

Rank: 71

Position: DH

Years With White Sox: 1992-1993

George Bell came to the White Sox following the 1991 season in a trade with the Cubs for Sammy Sosa and Ken Patterson.  Bell posted a steady, if unspectacular, season for the White Sox in 1991, finishing the year with 25 home runs and a .255 average, driving in 112.

Things started to go south for Bell in 1993, as a knee injury limited his effectiveness and his playing time.  Splitting time at DH with Bo Jackson, Bell appeared in only 102 games, with only 13 home runs and a career low .217 average.  Despite the White Sox facing Bell’s former team, the Blue Jays, in the ALCS, Bell did not make an appearance.  He was released following the season and quickly announced his retirement.

Bell’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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#211 – Ken Patterson

kpattersonName: Ken Patterson

Rank: 211

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1988-1991

Ken Patterson was acquired by the White Sox in the August 1987 trade that sent Jerry Royster to the Yankees.  He made his major league debut on July 8, 1988, his 24th birthday, in a 10-7 White Sox loss to the Red Sox.  He spent 5 days with the White Sox before returning to Vancouver.  When Ricky Horton was traded to the Dodgers in late August, Patterson was recalled to take his place in the bullpen.  All told, he appeared in 9 games for the 88 White Sox, finishing with a 4.79 ERA.

Patterson made the team out of spring training in 1989 when Jack McDowell was sent back to Triple A for more seasoning.  Patterson would join him on May 21st, when he was sent back down after early struggles with the White Sox.  He returned in early June and stuck with the club for the remainder of the year, appearing in 50 games despite an uncanny inability to get left handers out.  Through August 20, the left handed hurler had “limited” left handed hitters to a .303 average.

Patterson returned to the White Sox bullpen in 1990, where he became the long man, a role he did not particularly care for.  “I don’t like it,” he said in the middle of a stretch that saw him pitch once in 16 days.  “I accept it.  But I don`t like it.”  He eventually moved to a left handed specialist role and, as the White Sox closed down Comiskey Park with a surprising 94 win season, he finished the year with a 3.39 ERA in 43 games.

In 1991, Patterson got off to an auspicious start, getting the first mock standing ovation during  the first game at New Comiskey Park after striking out Pete Incaviglia in the fourth inning.  The previous 7 batters he had faced had all reached base safely in a 16-0 thumping at the hands of the Tigers.  Patterson rebounded, however, and put together arguably his best season as a pro.  He went 3-0 with a career low 2.83 ERA in 43 games.

Despite coming off of his best season, Patterson was in a competition to earn a bullpen spot in 1992.  It was not to be, however.  With spring training winding down, Patterson was packaged along with Sammy Sosa and sent across town to the Cubs in exchange for George Bell.

Patterson’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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#278 – Jerry Royster

Jerry Royster (1987 White Sox) 2

Name: Jerry Royster

Rank: 278

Position: 3B/LF

Year With White Sox: 1987

Veteran infielder Jerry Royster joined the White Sox as a free agent in January of 1987.  “My biggest concern when I took over the team wasn’t our starters as much as our depth,” said then-Sox general manager Larry Himes. “With the previous acquisitions of Hill and Manrique, Jerry solidifies our infield. We can cover ourselves at all positions for 162 games.”

Royster moved into the starting lineup, platooning with Steve Lyons, in late June when manager Jim Fregosi sent Tim Hulett back to Triple A.  He put up a .240 average in 55 games through late August.

On August 26, his time with the White Sox came to an end when he was traded to the Yankees, along with minor leaguer Mike Soper, in exchange for lefty reliever Ken Patterson and a minor league player to be named later.

Interesting note on career minor leaguer Soper, an infielder who, at the time of this trade, had been part of a White Sox-Yankees trade three times over the previous two years.

Royster’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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#386 – Sammy Sosa

Name: Sammy Sosa

Rank: 386

Position: RF

Years With White Sox: 1989-1991

Before he and Mark McGwire helped heal the remaining wounds from the ’94 strike by smashing Roger Maris’ home run record, before becoming, again with McGwire, the poster boy for performance enhancing drugs and watching his Hall of Fame chances go up in smoke, Sammy Sosa spent 2 1/2 seasons frustrating the Chicago White Sox.

Acquired with Wilson Alvarez and Scott Fletcher at the trade deadline in 1989 in the deal that sent Harold Baines to Texas, Sosa started off strong, hitting .273 with 3 HR to close out the ’89 season.  In 1990, his first full season in the major leagues, his average slipped to .233 and he finished 4th in the AL with 150 strikeouts.

Following the 1990 season, GM Larry Himes, who engineered the trade with Texas, was fired, leaving Sosa without a guardian in the organization.  Unfortunately for Sosa, his 1991 season was even worse, with his average dropping again to .203 and being sent back to Triple A Vancouver for additional seasoning.  In his “autobiography”, aptly titled Sosa: An Autobiography, Sosa blames hitting coach Walt Hriniak for most of his problems with the White Sox and takes no responsibility for his lack of production.

Following the ’91 season, Himes was hired as the Cubs new GM, and near the end of the following spring training in 1992, Sosa was sent to the Northside along with Ken Patterson for a fading George Bell, where his career skyrocketed and then plummeted back down to Earth. But that is a story for a different time.

Sosa’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →