Cubs by the Numbers

ALL-TIME #34 ROSTER
Player	Years
Zack Taylor	1932
Roy Henshaw	1933
Stan Hack	1934
Ed Hanyzewski	1943–46
Cy Block	1946
Freddy Schmidt	1947
Mort Cooper	1949
Johnny Vander Meer	1950
Bob Schultz	1952–53
John Pyecha	1954
Russ Meyer	1956
Dick Littlefield	1957
George Myatt (coach)	1958–59
Dick Burwell	1960–61
Cal Koonce	1962–67
Jack Warner	1964
Frank Thomas	1966
Jim Ellis	1967
Hank Aguirre	1969–70
Jim Dunegan	1970
Clint Compton	1972
Ray Burris	1973–79
Randy Martz	1980–82
Steve Trout	1983–87
Damon Berryhill	1987
Dick Pole (coach)	1988–91
Ken Patterson	1992
Glenallen Hill	1993
Tanyon Sturtze	1995–96
Kent Bottenfield	1997
Kerry Wood	1998, 2000–08, 2011–12
Jeff Gray	2010
Jon Lester	2015

Kerry Wood might not have lived up to all that was expected of him, due to injuries, bullpen meltdowns derailing his starts, and finishing his career as a reliever rather than the flame-throwing starter everyone in Chicago envisioned. It seems strange that he pitched exclusively in relief in his final six years in the majors, given the way it all started.

The buzz around Kerry started even before he threw a single professional pitch. He was a high school phenom, going 12–0 with a 0.77 ERA his senior year in Texas, resulting in his being made the fourth overall selection in the 1995 amateur draft by the Cubs. Blessed with great size for a pitcher, great talent, and a great baseball name, Wood rocketed through the Cubs farm system. In the spring of 1998, Wood was clearly the best pitcher for the Cubs during training camp, but at age twenty it was felt he needed more time in Triple-A. That prompted a comment from then-Angels manager Terry Collins, who was asked shortly after Wood was reassigned to Iowa who he thought would win the World Series that year. When Collins said, “The Cubs,” he was asked why. His answer: “If the Cubs have five pitchers better than Kerry Wood, they’ll definitely win the World Series.”

Wood’s 1998 stay in Iowa lasted exactly one start—a five-inning, one-hit, 11-strikeout performance. He was quickly recalled to make his major league debut, facing the Expos in Montreal on April 12, 1998, but his performance was less than spectacular. In four-plus innings, Wood walked three, allowing four hits and four runs in a 4–1 Cub loss.

One more bad start and two good ones later, Wood took to the mound to face the Houston Astros at Wrigley Field on May 6, 1998. On what otherwise would have been a forgettable, mild but drizzly Wednesday afternoon, Wood’s 20-strikeout, one-hit shutout win was arguably the most dominating pitching performance in major league history. The only hit allowed was an infield single in the third inning by future Cub Ricky Gutierrez, which was muffed by third baseman Kevin Orie. Had a similar play occurred in the later innings, it likely would have been ruled an error by the official scorer. The only other baserunner Wood allowed was Craig Biggio, whom he hit with a pitch in the sixth; it’s no disgrace drilling the all-time HBP leader. When Wood later spoke to his high school coach about this game, the fact that he walked nobody was what he was most proud of, and rightfully so. The only other game in major league history that might compare to Wood’s masterpiece in terms of dominance is Sandy Koufax’s fourteen-strikeout perfect game against the Cubs on September 9, 1965.

But injuries dogged Kerry even before that Rookie of the Year season ended. He missed a month, came back and threw well in the NLDS vs. the Braves in a series-ending loss, and then blew out his elbow with one of the first pitches he threw in spring training 1999. He had Tommy John surgery and missed the entire season—and when he returned on May 2, 2000, he not only threw six scoreless innings, but homered in his first at-bat.

He could have won 19 games in 2002 if the Cubs had a better bullpen—the pen blew seven games that Wood left in the seventh inning or later with a lead—and then he and Mark Prior dominated the NL up to the very cusp of the 2003 World Series. Wood failed in Game 7 of the NLCS, and, crying at his locker, took the blame himself. It was just another example of his leadership abilities.

Two more years filled with injuries had Kerry about to retire in mid-2007, but suddenly his arm felt better and his fastball returned. He threw well in a setup role and was anointed the Cubs’ closer to begin 2008; he had a 34 saves—a fitting number—after never having one before in his career. His one scoreless inning of relief in a Game 2 loss to the Dodgers in the 2008 Division Series made Wood the first Cub since Charlie Root to play in four postseasons for the team. Despite the solid performance Wood had in his first year as closer, the Cubs allowed him to leave via free agency at the end of the 2008 season.

And then he came back. Wood returned for an encore in 2011 as a setup man and pitched pretty well: a 3.35 ERA and still racking up more than a strikeout per inning. But the next year he had trouble throwing strikes, getting outs, and staying healthy. Wood made up his mind to retire but he wanted to pitch once more at Wrigley. On May 18, 2012, he fanned his final batter and as he left the field was embraced by his son, Justin, just as Cubs fans had embraced Kerry even before that day in May of 1998 when he made the baseball world stand up and take notice

Apart from Kerry Wood, there are only three other Cubs players who have sported #34 for more than four seasons, all pitchers with promise who ultimately failed. Cal Koonce (1962–67) made a spectacular debut in 1962, less than a year after signing a professional contract, going 10–10, 3.97 at age twenty-one. That may not sound “spectacular,” but consider that the team lost 103 games, and Koonce was the only pitcher among the top five starters (who accounted for 147 of the 162 starts) without a losing record. Injuries and constant shuttles between the minors and majors befuddled him, and after never winning more than seven games in four and a half more mediocre seasons with the Cubs, Koonce was sold to the Mets, where he became an important bullpen cog in their 1969 World Series team.

After a couple of September callup years, Ray Burris (1973–79) burst on the scene in 1975, at age twenty-four, posting a 15-win season for a 75-victory team. When he won 15 again the next season and lowered his ERA to 3.11, hopes were high for Burris to become a solid part of the rotation for years to come. But he regressed in 1977 even as the team became, briefly, a contender; he dropped to 7–13, with a 4.76 ERA. The next year he started out in the bullpen, posting a 6.23 ERA before being traded to the Yankees for Dick Tidrow. Three years later, after a poor stint with the Mets, he landed in Montreal, resurrecting his career with a fine 9–7, 3.05 season for the Expos. He was in line to be the winning pitcher in the deciding game in the 1981 NLCS had the Expos managed to score one more run and had Steve Rogers not given up the winning home run to another former Cub, Rick Monday.

Steve Trout (1983–87), whose father, Dizzy, had a 0.66 ERA in two starts against the Cubs in the 1945 World Series for the Tigers, was acquired in a multiplayer deal with the White Sox before the 1983 season. Steve had a 13-win season for the 1984 NL East champions, but his carefree attitude toward playing (he was nicknamed “Rainbow,” and it fit) got him traded to the Yankees just after throwing back-to-back shutouts in 1987. He was, as it turned out, almost done: he won only eight more major league games between bouts of sheer wildness.

Jon Lester signed up for six years (not to mention $155 million) in 2015, so the hope is that he will log plenty of time at #34 on the mound at Wrigley Field. His first year was successful, though it was overshadowed by Jake Arrieta’s ascendancy to best pitcher in the league, as well as the Cubs winning 97 games. Lester admitted that a contract like the one that brought him from Boston to Chicago, “can be like a monkey on your back.” Or a zombie in your arm, as the dead-arm period lingered into June, and he wound up in good-month, bad-month pattern: three months with an ERA of 2.36 or better alternating with three months where it was 5.00 and up. He finished with a losing record (11–12), but with a winning 3.34 ERA and 207 strikeouts in 205 innings. Lester started Game 1 of both the NLDS and NLCS. The Cubs lost both games, but the lefty at least helped slay monkeys, zombies, not to mention some Giants and Pirates in his first year in the National League.

Steve “Rainbow” Trout, son of a pitcher named Dizzy, played on both sides of Chicago and did it his way.

Not every #34 is a star, or at least they weren’t stars on the North Side. Mort Cooper (1949), a three-time 20-game winner for the Cardinals earlier in the 1940s, signed with the Cubs before the 1949 season. He appeared in one game, on May 7. He walked the first batter he faced, threw a wild pitch, then gave up a single and a three-run homer. Six days later he was released. Russ “Not The Valley Of The Dolls Director” Meyer (1956), returning to the Cubs after successful seasons in Philadelphia and Brooklyn, pitched in twenty games with a 6.32 ERA before being waived. Dick Littlefield (1957) was the very definition of “journeyman.” The Cubs were his ninth stop on a nine-year, ten-city major league tour. Frank Thomas (1966), the well-traveled, 286-homer first baseman was reacquired (he had an earlier Cub tour of duty in 1960 and 1961) in an attempt to recapture the past; five at-bats later he was done. Hank Aguirre (1969–70), formerly a fine starter for the Tigers, pitched in 58 rather pointless games in relief for the Cubs at age thirty-eight and thirty-nine.

Other #34s had only temporary stays: Jim Ellis (1967) pitched in just eight games as a Cub, but he did contribute to the team as part of the trade that brought Jim Hickman and Phil Regan to the North Side; Clint Compton (1972) had a great baseball name but only one appearance, giving up two runs in an 11–1 loss to the Phillies on October 3, 1972. Ken Patterson (1992) was involved, unintentionally, in one of the funniest moments in Wrigley Field history. Scheduled to start the second game of a doubleheader against the Cardinals on September 19, 1992, Patterson had to wait until film director Daniel Stern shot a scene for his movie Rookie of the Year between games. If you are not familiar with this film, it involves a twelve-year-old boy who suddenly develops a 100 MPH fastball following an accident. The scene featured the boy, Henry Rowengartner (played by Thomas Ian Nicholas), coming in from the bullpen for his first appearance. Stern, who also played the insane Cubs pitching coach in the film, asked the crowd to chant “Henry! Henry! Henry!” He did a couple of takes and was satisfied. When the second game began, the Cardinals hit Patterson all over the yard, upon which the crowd chanted, “Henry! Henry! Henry!” to general laughter. Tanyon Sturtze (1995–96) had one of the more unusual names in baseball history, but only a short Cubs career: eight appearances with a 9.00 ERA. His lone shining moment as a Cub was a four-inning shutout relief appearance on July 7, 1996, gaining him a win as the Cubs beat the Reds, 7–6, in 13 innings. Jeff Gray (2010) wore the number between Kerry Wood stints, yet he didn’t keep it warm for long, pitching just seven times. A couple of weeks after Gray signed with the White Sox that winter, Wood signed with the Cubs, and #34 was back where it belonged.

MOST OBSCURE CUB TO WEAR #34: John Pyecha (1954). Pyecha got into only one major league game, against the Reds in the season’s sixth game on April 24. After pitching two scoreless innings, protecting a 5–3 Cubs lead, he gave up a three-run walkoff homer to Wally Post and was shortly after sent back to the minors, never to return. Bye-cha.

GUY YOU NEVER THOUGHT OF AS A CUB WHO WORE #34: Johnny Vander Meer (1950). Twelve years after his back-to-back no-hitters for the Reds, the thirty-five-year-old Vander Meer was purchased by the Cubs, who, as was very typical for the 1950s, tried to squeeze lemonade out of an old lemon. Nothing remained to be squeezed. Vander Meer went 3–4, 3.79 in 32 appearances (six starts) for an 89-loss Cubs team, and was released at the end of the season.

Popular

There have been a lot of Cubs and a lot of numbers. This list gets down to how many. The most popular numbers are generally the ones that have the fewest recognizable names, hence the quick turnover. Low numbers are also not as popular as one would think. Through 2015, no single-digit number made the top 10.

The one unknown number in Cubs history, Charlie Gassaway’s, is listed as a question mark.

Uniform Number	Number of Players Wearing Number
32	52
19	51
20	51
22	51
15	49
33	49
24	48
39	48
12	47
27	47
6	46
8	46
41	45
4	44
5	44
7	44
29	44
38	44
43	44
37	43
45	43
9	42
11	41
16	41
30	41
25	40
28	40
3	38
17	38
21	38
47	38
18	35
40	35
34	34
31	33
2	32
23	30
48	29
35	28
36	28
42	27
49	27
50	27
46	26
51	26
1	25
10	23
55	21
52	20
53	20
44	19
54	15
26	14
56	14
57	13
13	10
14	9
59	9
58	7
62	6
63	6
61	5
64	5
60	4
96	2
99	2
?	1
65	1
66	1
67	1
68	1
70	1
71	1
72	1
74	1
76	1
77	1
81	1
94	1