Cubs by the Numbers

ALL-TIME #29 ROSTER
Player	Years
Bobby Mattick	1938
Kirby Higbe	1938
Barney Olsen	1941
Emil Kush	1946–49
Preston Ward	1950, 1953
Ray Blades (coach)	1953
John Andre	1955
Tom Poholsky	1957
Taylor Phillips	1958
Harry Bright	1965
Byron Browne	1965–67
George Altman	1967
Clarence Jones	1968
Don Young	1969
Tommy Davis	1970
Brock Davis	1970–71
Al Montreuil	1972
Dave Rosello	1973–74
Jim Tyrone	1975
Mike Sember	1978
Steve Davis	1979
Scot Thompson	1981
Bobby Molinaro	1982
Ty Waller	1982
Tom Veryzer	1983–84
Steve Lake	1986
Chico Walker	1986–87
Doug Dascenzo	1988–92
Jose Guzman	1993–94
Robin Jennings	1997, 1999
Jeff Huson	2000
Robert Machado	2001
Fred McGriff	2001–02
Lenny Harris	2003
Josh Paul	2003
Andy Pratt	2004
Rey Ordonez	2004
Ben Grieve	2004
Mike Fontenot	2005
Angel Pagan	2006–07
Jeff Samardzija	2008–14
Mike Baxter	2015
Rafael Soriano	2015

Mathematically, #29 is a prime number, but far from a prime time number. It’s odd by definition—i.e., it’s not an even number—but #29 is “odd” in that it’s not a “special” number, not divisible by 5 or 10, not a double digit number like 44, not having any particular quality that would make anyone really desire to wear it. In short, #29 is generic—the kind of jersey most players are happy to get mainly because it represents the Chicago Cubs, as opposed to Iowa Cubs.

Even the longest wearer of the number, Jeff Samardzija, came across it by accident when he was promoted from—you got it—Iowa in 2008. A two-sport star at Notre Dame better known for his football exploits as an All-American and all-time leading receiver for the Fighting Irish, he was a two-time finalist for the Fred Biletnikoff Award, given to the country’s best college wide receiver. But he chose hardball. His Notre Dame baseball numbers weren’t as gaudy as on the gridiron, but his 21–6 career mark and 3.82 ERA got him drafted by the Cubs in the fifth round of the 2006 draft. Two years later he replaced the injured Kerry Wood on the Cubs roster—and in the bullpen—but the big question, at least in these pages, was what number would Shark wear?

His original #50 (worn in spring training) had been taken by pitching coach Larry Rothschild after Rich Harden had requisitioned Rothschild’s #40, the number Harden had worn in Oakland. If Samardzija thought about #45, his number on the Notre Dame baseball team, it was out because fellow Cubs hurler Sean Marshall already had that. No one would have faulted the Valparaiso, Indiana product if he’d gone with #83, his wide receiver number with the Fighting Irish. But he took #29, left vacant when Angel Pagan (2006–07) went to the Mets.

That’s Samardzija’s uniform number deal. His pitching numbers proved harder to gauge. He spent parts of four years in the Cubs bullpen, pitching 53 times between 2008–10, and then appearing 75 times for the 2011 Cubs, tying for the team lead with Carlos Marmol. And then amid hope and promise, he became a starter. In two-plus years in the rotation, Samardzija was good, not great. The team surrounding him often left plenty to be desired, but he certainly was desired by other clubs. The 2014 A’s, eyes focused on October instead of a questionable future, sent super prospect Addison Russell, plus Dan Straily, Billy McKinney, and cash for Samardzija and Jason Hammel’s 2–7 record aside, he was among the top 10 in the NL in ERA, strikeouts, and innings at the time of the trade. (Oakland would get back some prospects from the White Sox by trading him five months after the Cubs did.)

Samardzija had the chance to wear a Cubs uniform again even after the trade to the A’s, but the MLB No Fun Police deemed him ineligible for his first All-Star Game in 2014 because the All-Star rosters were made before he was shipped to Oakland. So he went to the game, was introduced with the National Leaguers, and tipped a generic hat that said, “All-Star Game.” Wouldn’t be surprised if he’d been handed a gray can simply marked “Beer” to drink after the game.

Before Samardzija, only two Cubs wore the number for more than three seasons. The player who wore it in exactly three seasons—Byron Browne (1965–67)—played only one full year, 1966, and had 5 and 19 at-bats in ’65 and ’67, respectively. Browne is more notable for being part of one of the landmark events in baseball history. And it doesn’t have anything to do with the outfielder’s three years as a Cub, or his seasons as an Astro or a Cardinal. On October 7, 1969, a transaction involving seven players (eventually nine) sent Tim McCarver, Joe Hoerner, and Browne from St. Louis to Philadelphia for Dick Allen, Jerry Johnson, and Cookie Rojas. One other player involved in the trade refused to change teams. Curt Flood sued MLB to eliminate the reserve clause that had forever bound a player to the team that held his contract. Flood lost the case, and his career, but it paved the way for arbitration, free agency, and massive multi-year contracts. Browne played in Philadelphia with little complaint, but flashy Willie Montanez, sent to Philly to take Flood’s place in the deal, ate up a lot of Browne’s playing time. Browne ended his career in Philadelphia in ’72.

Dimunitive but determined Doug Dascenzo respresented the little guy at the plate, and occasionally, on the mound.

Emil Kush wore #20 and #22 in his brief appearances for his hometown Cubs before heading off to war for three years. Upon returning from World War II, Kush donned #29 and wore it for the last four years of his career. He went 9–2 in 1946 and 8–3 in ’47. He had a 3.48 career ERA in 150 Cubs games, primarily in relief.

The Cub who wore #29 the longest was Doug Dascenzo, who sported it for parts of five seasons (1988–92). Dascenzo was only 5-foot-8, 160, had no power (three homers in 1,070 at-bats as a Cub), but he played competent defense and could steal a base now and again (47 steals in the blue pinstripes). Yet his biggest claim to fame as a North Sider was his four pitching appearances in 1990 and 1991, in games the Cubs lost 19–8, 13–5, 14–6, and 13–4. Little Doug had a nice breaking pitch and allowed no runs in a career total of five innings, giving up three hits—all singles—walking two, and striking out two. He almost made you wonder how he might pitch in games where the Cubs weren’t trailing by eight runs or more.

Over the long history of uniform numbers worn by Cubs, no one else has worn #29 for more than two seasons. The most notoriety gained by a #29 was probably garnered by Don Young, who wore #23 in a brief call-up at age nineteen in 1965, and then was handed #29 and the starting center fielder’s job in 1969 when Adolfo Phillips flopped. Young wasn’t much of a hitter—.218 lifetime—and his forte was supposed to be his defense. But on July 8, 1969, in the ninth inning of a game against the Mets in front of 37,278 at Shea Stadium, Young let two fly balls—a bloop by Ken Boswell and a long fly by Donn Clendenon—drop; he wasn’t charged with any errors, but had he caught the balls, the Cubs would have won, 3–1. Instead, the Mets won, 4–3, and after the game Young was publicly reamed out by his manager, Leo Durocher, and third baseman Ron Santo. The reserved young man took it to heart, would play only 32 games the second half of the year, and virtually vanished from public view after that. Cubs fans wanting complete team autographed balls from the star-crossed ’69 team eventually located him working as a building custodian in Colorado.

Apart from these players, #29 was mostly assigned to the “last guy on the roster,” players such as Taylor Phillips (1958); Harry Bright (1965); Mike Sember (1978); Steve Davis (1979); Bobby Molinaro (1982); Ty Waller (1982); Robin Jennings (1997, 1999); Jeff Huson (2000); Robert Machado (2001), who later became the only Cub #72; Josh Paul (2003); Andy Pratt (2004); and Mike Baxter (2015). The number also went to veteran players acquired in-season: George Altman (1967); Clarence Jones (1968), who had worn #27 in 1967 but found it taken by Phil Regan upon his ’68 recall; Tommy Davis (1970); Steve Lake (1986), like Jones, losing a number (#16, to future Red Sox manager Terry Francona) when recalled from a minor league stint; Rey Ordonez (2004); and Ben Grieve (2004).

No Cub wore #29 to open the 2016 season, so as of this writing, the most recent—but he won’t be the last—to don the digits was Rafael Soriano (2015). The former big-time, big-money closer’s brief summer fling in Chicago ended with a 6.35 ERA. He did go 2–0 while getting $2 million or so in a pro-rated contract. But you knew where this was going the moment he put on #29.

MOST OBSCURE CUB TO WEAR #29: Al Montreuil (1972). As a Cajun from Louisiana, Montreuil should have had his name pronounced “Mon-TROY” (or a reasonable facsimile thereof), but beloved Cubs TV announcer Jack Brickhouse insisted that the second baseman’s name was pronounced “Montréal,” like the Canadian city. It made no sense, yet it wasn’t a question for long. Montreuil, at 5-foot-5, 128 pounds, one of the smallest players in Cubs history, went 1-for-11 in five games (three starts) and then was carried on a stiff wind back to the minors.

GUY YOU NEVER THOUGHT OF AS A CUB WHO WORE #29: Fred McGriff (2001–02). After Mark Grace left under less-than-ideal circumstances following the 2000 season, the Cubs thought Hee Seop Choi would be ready to take over first base. He wasn’t. So they went into the season with Matt Stairs, Ron Coomer, and Julio Zuleta manning the position. When they were suddenly thrust into contention, management set its sights on the longtime Brave and Padre McGriff, then playing for his hometown team in Tampa. He let it be known he wasn’t sure if he wanted to leave his family (leading some fans to dub him “The Family Man”), and it took until nearly the non-waiver deadline to finish the deal. Taking the field to a standing ovation at Wrigley on July 29, he had an RBI single in his Cubs debut against St. Louis, but otherwise McGriff was underwhelming as the Cubs faded and finished third. McGriff complained about all the day games, leading to yet another fan nickname: “The Prince of Darkness.” His uninspiring manner and poor 2002 season turned most fans against him, especially when it was learned that interim manager Bruce Kimm was continuing to play him—retarding the development of Choi—solely so McGriff could post another 30 HR, 100 RBI season. After he accomplished that with a two-run homer on September 22, 2002, he sat out the final six games except for one token pinch-hit appearance, and then slinked off to Los Angeles (so much for being “close to home”). McGriff is one of the least-liked Cubs of the last fifty years.

Scoring by the Number

Baseball has enough theories and statistics to make the game seem utterly complicated, but really, the only thing a team needs to do to win is to simply score more runs than the opponent. Touch home plate, win game. That’s the simplest theory there is. While driving in the runs is the center of a lot of attention in baseball, getting on base and scoring the runs sometimes gets overlooked. Not here. Nothing proves that it’s a team game more than the distribution of runs.

The three Cubs who have scored the most runs in the last century are Ryne Sandberg (1,316), Billy Williams (1,306), and Ernie Banks (1,305). It couldn’t be much closer. But look on this list and the respective numbers they wore rank thirteenth (#23), nineteenth (#26), and twentieth (#14). None of those three numbers will ever rank any higher as all three are retired. (Though Williams scored four of those runs while wearing #41.) It doesn’t matter what number the ducks on the pond are, as long as they come home.

Uniform #	Runs
7	3,059
21	2,712
11	2,656
9	2,459
6	2,436
44	2,277
17	2,224
18	2,213
10	2,198
12	2,112
8	1,970
2	1,878
23	1,752
24	1,685
1	1,641
20	1,634
16	1,600
25	1,538
26	1,517
14	1,369