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 #10. 65 different players have donned #16 while playing in Chicago, 26 for the White Sox and 22 for the Cubs, who retired the number in 2003.
Alexei Ramirez signed with the White Sox on December 21, 2007 after defecting from Cuba. He made his major league debut the following March 31, wearing #10 while going 0-4 against the Indians while playing center field. When Juan Uribe went down with an injury in May, Ramirez settled in at second base. On September 19, Ramirez hit his 3rd grand slam of the year, tying the major league rookie record. 10 days later, he grabbed the record for himself, hitting his 4th slam against Gary Glover to push the White Sox to an 8-2 victory and the tiebreaking game 163. He finished the regular season with .290 average and a career high 21 home runs. During the ALDS, he hit .250 in the 4 game series against the Rays, with 2 RBI. Once the season came to an end, Ramirez placed second in Rookie of the Year voting, behind Evan Longoria.
With Orlando Cabrera gone, Ramirez shifted over to shortstop for the 2009 season. On July 23, he fielded the final out in Mark Buehrle’s perfect game. He ended the year with a .277 average, 15 home runs, and 68 RBI. 2010 saw Ramirez earn his first Silver Slugger award, thanks to 18 home runs, 70 RBI, and a .282 average. In 2011, his average dropped somewhat, but he remained consistent, hitting .269 with 15 home runs and 70 RBI. Ramirez saw his power numbers slip in 2012, dropping to 9 home runs, but the rest of his game remained consistent with a .265 average and 73 RBIs, though he did set a new career high with 20 stolen bases. His power fell off even further in 2013, finishing with only 6 home runs and 48 RBI, but he logged his highest average, .284, since his rookie year. He also set a new career high with 30 stolen bases.
2014 may have been the finest season of his career. On May 5, he notched his 1000th career hit, off Justin Grimm and the Cubs. In July, he earned his first All Star selection and, after the season, his second Silver Slugger award. He finished with a .273 average, 15 home runs, and 74 RBIs. Ramirez struggled for much of the first half in 2015. He rebounded in the second half, but still finished the year with the lowest batting average, .249, and OPS, .642, of his career. Following the season, the White Sox declined his option for 2016, making him a free agent.
Ron Santo spent 14 of his 15 big league seasons with the Cubs, switching to #10 during his rookie season of 1960. He earned 9 All Star game appearances and 5 Gold Gloves and followed his playing career with a long broadcasting stint with the team. The Cubs retired number 10 in his honor in 2003 and he was posthumously elected to the Hall of Fame in 2012.
To paraphrase from a famous movie, the one constant through all the years has been baseball. With a little more than a month until regular season baseball, we continue our look at the all-time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. Today, we take a deeper dive into the San Francisco Giants.
