Jersey Numbers

As in many sports, a baseball player's or coach's uniform number has the purpose of identifying the player. However, it has come over time to have a much more significant meaning to the player and fans. A number can be symbolic of a player's legacy, and has resulted in all kinds of superstition.


I have 2 favourite numbers, they are #35 and #21. They are both my favourite for the same reason, because they were worn by my favourite pitcher Dontrelle Willis. After Spring Training ended we were able to pick our jerseys, I straight away went to look for #35, but got #49 instead. I then went on the hunt to see who had number #35. After a few minutes I found one of the latino players had it, and I asked him if we could trade, and he would of traded it if I gave him $10 as well. Since I'm not swimming in money down here, I thought it would be better to save the $10.


Here are a few fun cases on players jersey number.


-Bryce Harper who was the number 1 overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft chose #34 as his jersey. The reason for this was because one baseball player that he idols is Mickey Mantle, and he wore #7. So Bryce decided that #34 would be his number, since 3 plus 4 equalled 7. 


-Ichiro Suzuki wore jersey #51 while he played in Japan, and when he went to the Mariners,  Ichiro was issued #51 . He was initially hesitant because it had previously been worn by pitching star Randy Johnson. To avoid insulting Johnson, Ichiro sent a personal message to Randy promising not to bring shame to the uniform.


-When Rickey Henderson was traded to the Blue Jays in 1993, he paid new teammate Turner Ward $25,000 for the #24.