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 #14, the only number to be retired by both teams. 47 different players have donned the number while playing in Chicago, and no more will for the rest of time.
With apologies to Ted Lyons, Bill Skowron, and Bill Melton, the winner here, and the man that #14 was retired for, is Paul Konerko. Konerko was traded to the White Sox on November 11, 1998 for center fielder Mike Cameron. In his second full season, he helped lead the surprising White Sox to their first Central Division title, their first post-season appearance since 1993. After tremendous struggles in 2003, Konerko won the Comeback Player of the Year award in 2004. He did himself better in 2005, winning the ALCS MVP, hitting a grand slam in Game 2 of the World Series, and catching the final putout at first base in Game 4, giving the White Sox their first World Series title since 1917. After the series, Konerko inked a 5-year deal that would keep him on the south side through at least 2010.
2008 saw Konerko make his 3rd post-season appearance for the Sox, the only player in history to do so. Konerko retired following the 2014 season, finishing his career as the White Sox all time leader in total bases and second all time in home runs, RBIs, and games played. In addition, he was a 6-time All Star and had served as team captain since 2006. His #14 was retired in 2015.
Nicknamed Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, played his entire 19 year career with the Cubs, earning back-to-back MVP honors in 1958 and 1959. When he retired following the 1971 season, he ranked 9th all-time in home runs, with 512. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977 and became a team ambassador, never seen without a smile on his face. Number 14 was retired in his honor in 1982, the first number ever retired by the Cubs.
Our Throwback Thursday feature continues, as we point the wayback machine back to the turn of the 21st century and put our focus on the offensive leaders of the decade of the 2000s. As a reminder, I’ve identified 518 games that I attended during this time period, when I would have been ages 25 through 34.
