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 #37. 74 different players have donned #37 while playing in Chicago, 27 for the White Sox and 47 for the Cubs.
Selected in the fourth round of the 1985 draft, Bobby Thigpen made his major league debut for the White Sox just over a year later, wearing #58. He switched to his more familiar #37 the following year, as he moved in to the closer role full time, replacing Bob James, and racked up 16 saves while also putting up a 7-5 record with a 2.73 ERA. In 1988, he broke the team record for saves, with 34, while leading the league with 59 games finished. He duplicated the effort in 1989 with another 34 saves, though with a 2-6 record and a 3.76 ERA.
Thigpen’s 1990 season was one for the record books. He earned his first All Star nod while on his way to setting the major league record with 57 saves, while also leading the league with 77 games and 73 games finished. On September 30, he earned his 57th save while throwing the final pitch at Comiskey Park. After the 1990 season, Thigpen joined other major league all stars on a tour of Japan where, unfortunately, he would suffer a back injury that would plague him for the remainder of his career.
In 1991, he still managed to earn 30 saves, but his ERA jumped up to 3.49. In 1992, he set a career high with a 4.75 ERA while earning only 22 saves, losing his grip on the closer role to both Scott Radinsky and Roberto Hernandez. His 1993 was even worse, as his ERA jumped to 5.71 and he managed only 1 save in 25 appearances before an August 10 trade to the Phillies for former teammate Jose DeLeon. He left as the franchise’s all time leader with 201 saves, a position he still holds today.
On the north side of town, pitcher Travis Wood was acquired by the Cubs, along with Dave Sappelt and Ronald Torreyes, in exchange for Sean Marshall. Wearing #37, Wood was called up to the major league club in early May of 2012, replacing Chris Volstad, who started the season 0–6. Wood went 6-13 with a 4.27 ERA in his first year as a Cub. In 2013, Wood became the first Cub since Mordecai Brown to start a season with 9 straight quality starts and, on May 30, he hit his first career grand slam, leading to his first All-Star selection.
Wood struggled in 2014, with a 5.03 ERA in 31 starts, though he did hit his 9th career home run. After struggling in the rotation to start the 2015 season, Wood was moved to the bullpen, where he fared much better, posting a 2.95 ERA and 4 saves in relief. Continuing to work out of the bullpen in 2016, Wood posted a 4-0 record with a 2.95 ERA in 77 appearances. In Game 2 of the NLDS, Wood hit a home run off of Giants’ reliever George Kontos, becoming just the second relief pitcher to homer in a postseason game., after Rosy Ryan in Game 3 of the 1924 World Series. Wood appeared in 3 games of the 2016 World Series, giving up 2 hits and a run in 1 2/3 innings. Following the season, he became a free agent.
Our Throwback Thursday feature continues, as we once again point the wayback machine back to the 1980s, finally putting our focus on the defensive leaders of that decade. As a reminder, I’ve identified a mere 14 games that I attended during this time period, when I would have been ages 5 through 14.
