#23 - Leroy Herrmann, and a Recap of all of the 23's

I've reached the end of the line. Actually, this is the start of the line (I've been working backwards from Ryne Sandberg). Leroy Herrmann was the first Cubs player to wear #23, as he was a part of the 1932 team, the first season the team sported numbers.

Herrmann pitched in seven games and was 2-1 but his ERA was a huge 6.39. He was also the first Cub player to abandon #23, switching to #21 in 1933.

And so ends our look at all of the Cubs who wore #23, from Leroy Herrmann to Ryne Sandberg. Other than Ryno, it was pretty much a collection of stiffs who had those digits on their back. I wonder how Ryno escaped the curse??

Here are what the numbers look like for all of the pitchers. They were a combined 73-75 with a 4.02 ERA in 322 games. Yuk!

Player	Year	Games	Wins	Loses	ERA
Leroy Herrman	1932	7	2	1	6.39
Lynn Nelson	1933	24	5	5	3.21
Lynn Nelson	1934	2	0	1	36.00
Roy Joiner	1935	2	0	0	5.40
Clyde Shoun	1935	5	1	0	2.84
Clyde Shoun	1936	4	0	0	12.46
Vern Olsen	1939	4	1	0	0.00
Vern Olsen	1940	34	13	9	2.97
Vern Olsen	1941	37	10	8	3.15
Vern Olsen	1942	32	6	9	4.49
Vern Olsen	1946	5	0	0	2.79
Doyle Lade	1947	34	11	10	3.94
Doyle Lade	1948	19	5	6	4.02
Doyle Lade	1949	36	4	5	5.00
Doyle Lade	1950	34	5	6	4.74
Andy Varga	1951	2	0	0	3.00
Dave Cole	1954	18	3	8	5.36
Bubba Church	1954	7	1	3	9.82
Bubba Church	1955	2	0	0	5.40
Jim Bronsnan	1958	8	3	4	3.14
John Buzhardt	1958	6	3	0	1.85
TOTALS		322	73	75	4.02

The position players were just as bad. Less Sandberg, they combined for a .233 average.

Player	Year	Average	Games	HR	RBI
Phil Cavarretta	1937	.286	106	5	56
Phil Cavarretta	1938	.239	92	1	28
Roy Hughes	1944	.287	126	1	28
Roy Hughes	1945	.261	69	0	8
Jerry Kindall	1956	.164	32	0	0
Jerry Kindall	1957	.160	72	6	12
Jerry Kindall	1958	.167	3	0	0
Moe Thacker	1958	.250	11	2	3
Art Schult	1960	.133	12	0	1
Nelson Matthews	1961	.111	3	0	0
Nelson Matthews	1962	.306	15	2	13
Bobby Smith	1962	.172	13	1	2
Nelson Matthews	1963	.155	61	4	10
Don Young	1965	.057	11	1	2
Carl Warwick	1966	.227	16	0	0
Ron Campbell	1966	.217	24	0	4
Manny Jimenez	1969	.167	6	0	0
Jimmie Hall	1969	.208	11	0	1
Jimmie Hall	1970	.094	28	0	1
Adrian Garrett	1970	.000	3	0	0
Ramon Webster	1971	.313	16	0	0
Carmen Fanzone	1971	.186	12	2	5
Carmen Fanzone	1972	.225	86	8	42
Carmen Fanzone	1973	.273	64	6	22
Carmen Fanzone	1974	.190	65	4	22
Pete LaCock	1975	.229	106	6	30
Pete LaCock	1976	.221	106	8	28
Mike Gordon	1977	.043	8	0	2
Mike Gordon	1978	.200	4	0	0
Jim Tracy	1980	.254	42	3	9
Jim Tracy	1981	.238	45	0	5
TOTALS		.233	1268	60	334

Ryne Sandberg deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, if only for surviving as long as he did with #23 on his back.