Cubs by the Numbers: A Complete Team History of the Cubbies by Uniform Number

What do Dizzy Dean, Catfish Metkovich, John Boccabella, Bill Buckner, Mark Prior, and Kevin Hart all have in common? They all wore number 22 for the Chicago Cubs, even though seven decades have passed between the last time Dizzy Dean buttoned up a Cubs uniform with that number and the first time reliever Kevin Hart performed the same routine. Since the Chicago Cubs first adopted uniform numbers in 1932, the team has handed out only 71 numbers to more than 1,100 players. That's a lot of overlap. It also makes for a lot of good stories. Cubs by the Numbers tells those stories for every Cub since '32, from 1930s outfielder Ethan Allen to current ace Carlos Zambrano. This book lists the players alphabetically and by number, but the biographies help trace the history of baseball's most beloved team in a new way. For Cubs fans, anyone who ever wore the uniform is like family. Cubs by the Numbers reintroduces readers to some of their long-lost ancestors, even ones they think they already know.

Al Yellon is the founder and editor in chief of the popular SB Nation Cubs site bleedcubbieblue.com. He lives in Chicago, within walking distance of Wrigley Field.