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 #19. 83 different players have donned #19 while playing in Chicago, 32 for the White Sox, one of whom had it retired in his honor, and 51 for the Cubs.
With a new ownership group in place and looking to make a quick splash, the White Sox purchased Greg Luzinski from the Phillies on March 30, 1981. Coming off a disappointing season, the Chicago-area native, wearing his familiar #19, responded well to the change, hitting .265 with 21 home runs in the strike-shortened season. He earned Comeback Player of the Year honors, beating out teammate Bill Almon by 5 votes, and finished 23rd in MVP voting. Luzinski had another strong year in 1982, raising his average to .292, his highest total since 1977, while hitting 18 home runs and driving in 102 runs.
In 1983, Luzinski was a powerful cog in leading the White Sox to their first division title. He launched the 8th, 9th, and 10th rooftop home runs in Comiskey Park history between June 26 and August 28. While his average dropped to .255, he hit 32 home runs and drove in 95, good enough to finish 17th in MVP voting. Like the rest of his teammates, he struggled during the ALCS against the Orioles, hitting only .133 in the 4-game series. Unfortunately, those struggles carried over in to 1984. His average dropped again, down to .238, and his power output fell as well, finishing the year with only 13 home runs, his lowest total since 1974, and 58 RBIs. He did manage to hit his fourth rooftop blast on July 3 against the Tigers. He became a free agent following the year and decided to retire.
On the north side of town, Matt Murton donned #19 when he made his major league debut for the Cubs on July 8, 2005. He appeared in 51 games for the Cubs, hitting .321 with a .908 OPS. That helped earn him the starting nod in left field for 2006, where he managed to post a .297 batting average with 13 home runs and 62 RBIs. Despite his success, Murton saw his playing time diminish in 2007 after the Cubs signed Cliff Floyd, even getting sent back to Triple A in June. He returned in late July, and finished the year with a .281 average and a .791 OPS in only 94 games. His playing time was diminished ever further in 2008, appearing in only 19 games before being traded, 4 years to the day of his major league debut, to the A’s, as part of the haul for Rich Harden.
It’s been six years since we last took a look at the offensive stat leaders per season for the all the games I’ve attended since 1984. While there hasn’t been a whole lot of movement for most of the categories in the last six seasons, I figured the time was right to take another look. So, without further ado, here’s the updated list. We start, as always, with everyone’s favorite offensive stat:
