Go Figure: How's your memory on Cubs' uniform numbers?

A follow-up to last week's column ("How's Your White Sox Uniform Memory?"), this Go Figure installment draws from the 74 numbers emblazoned on the backs of nearly 2,000 Cubs since 1932.

For the franchise, the display of digits on jerseys began the same year when Herbert Hoover was President and the Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles.

Uniform No. 1 (20 players)

Q1. The longest-tenured No. 1-wearing Cub was a 1970s mainstay, batting .296 over nearly 3,000 at bats during his six seasons with the club. He was not only a Cub, but a Cuban. Who was it?

Q2. This No. 1-wearing Cub went a dozen years between stints with the club, returning for about a month in 2000 toward the end of a nine-team, 16-year career. Now a manager, his team is the reigning World Series champion. Who is it?

Uniform No. 2 (22 players)

Q3. If you were at Wrigley Field Sept. 28, 1938, you would have been hard-pressed to make out the No. 2 on this player-manager's back when he hit the "Homer in the Gloamin' " against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The game-winning shot came with two outs in the ninth inning of a 5-5 game as darkness descended on Wrigley Field. His heroics fueled a late-season surge that clinched the National League pennant for the Cubs. Who was this Hall of Famer?

Q4. Over the course of a season, it's not unusual for a number to shift from one player to another. But it's rare for a number to be worn by three or more players. The three-peat played out with a pair of numbers during the 2019 season: No. 2 and No. 38. Name the 22-year-old infielder who, after an unexpected call-up Sept. 9, was the third Cub to be adorned with No. 2 last season?

Uniform No. 9 (40 players)

Q5. Before superstar shortstop Javier Baez began wearing 9, a father-and-son catching combination wore it - the dad for longer (eight years) than any other No. 9 in team history and the son after initially wearing No. 99.

Uniform No. 11 (40 players)

Q6. With a $20 million salary last year, Jason Heyward (No. 22) nearly joined the teammate who holds this distinction: The only Cub from the 2019 roster to earn more, in millions, than the number on his back. He wore No. 11 and made the same amount as Heyward. Who is it?

Uniform No. 17 (37 players)

Q7. The current No. 17, Kris Bryant, is sporting a number with substantial managerial pedigree. Between 1958 and 1966, the four Cubs who wore this number, in succession, went on to manage in the Major Leagues: Al Dark, Don Zimmer, Steve Boros, and Joey Amalfitano. Collectively, as skippers, they posted a 2,134-2,143 regular-season record.

Who was the only one not to manage the San Diego Padres?

Q8. The shortest span for a No. 17 in Cub history was a rookie who was beaned on the first pitch he ever faced, in 2005. After toiling for years in the minor leagues, he batted once for the Miami Marlins, in 2012, and struck out on three pitches. Who was it?

Uniform No. 23 (31 players)

Q9. Before Ryne Sandberg took this number out of circulation, it was worn by another National League MVP - as well as the son of famous television game-show host Peter Marshall, and a future National League Manager of the Year.

Of these four ex-Cubs, who does not match any of those descriptions? (Pete LaCock, Jim Tracy, Don Young, Phil Cavarretta)

Uniform No. 31 (33 players)

Q10. Other than the leaguewide retirement of Jackie Robinson's No. 42, the Cubs have retired five numbers honoring six players.

Four of the numbers were worn by position players (Ron Santo (10), Ernie Banks (14), Ryne Sandberg (23) and Billy Williams (26). The fifth number, No. 31, was worn by two starting pitchers who are in the Hall of Fame. They are?

Uniform No. 32 (54 players)

Q11. Worn by more individuals than any other number in Cubs history, No. 32 has most recently belonged to a pitcher whose 15 losses were tied for the most in the National League a year before he joined the Cubs. In his debut Chicago campaign, 2018, he issued a league-leading 95 walks in 103⅔ innings. Who is it?

Answers

1. Jose Cardenal; 2. Dave Martinez; 3. Gabby Hartnett; 4. Nico Hoerner; 5. Randy Hundley and Todd Hundley; 6. Yu Darvish; 7. Joey Amalfitano; 8. Adam Greenberg; 9. Don Young; 10. Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddux; 11. Tyler Chatwood.

• Matt Baron is an Oak Park-based freelance writer. He supplements his baseball brainpower with Retrosheet.org for much of this research.