I was not alive for the duration of Phil Cavarretta’s career. In fact, my mother was only three years old when Cavarretta hung up his cleats in 1955, after 22 years of playing pro ball, both with the Cubs and later with the White Sox. So perhaps it might come as a surprise when I suggest that everyone ought to consider Cavarretta — a player who isn’t in the Hall of Fame and whose number the Cubs refused to retire — should be your favorite player.
Hear me out.
From a purely numbers perspective, Cavarretta had a pretty rock solid career spanning two decades of play.