Years ago, as baseball fans entered the stadiums, a familiar refrain from the program vendors greeted them; “get your scorecard; you can’t tell the players without a scorecard.”
Today, if you look hard enough, fans can still purchase a scorecard, but that wonderful part of the Major League ballpark experience has largely gone by the wayside. Players now wear their names on their uniforms; gigantic scoreboards show the players’ likeness, and electronic devices provide more information than those old scorecards ever did. But despite all the changes, one thing remains a constant — the player and their uniform number.
While today’s player movement from team to team has somewhat dimmed the uniform number status, even the casual baseball fan can identify #3 with Babe Ruth, #7 with Mickey Mantle, and #42 with Jackie Robinson. They are numbers that will live in baseball history.
Anyone that had ever attended a game at Yankee Stadium can still recall the revered voice of longtime public address announcer Bob Sheppard as he introduced the Yankees lineup for 56 years from 1951-2007; “batting second, the shortstop, number 2, Derek Jeter, number 2.” So appreciative of Sheppard’s work, following his death, Jeter himself asked that the Yankees record Sheppard’s introduction and play it before each of his at-bats.
The importance of uniform numbers to players was made vivid while watching a recent Pittsburgh Pirates game in Milwaukee. During the pre-game broadcast, former Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, now playing with the Brewers, was being interviewed. He was asked about his choice of uniform number 24 since established Brewers’ star Christian Yelich is wearing the number 22 that McCutchen wore while playing in Pittsburgh.
“I have always been a big Ken Griffey Jr. fan,” McCutchen answered. “When I joined the Pirates, I wanted to wear his #24, but pitcher Tom Gorzelanny had that number, so I took 22. The next year Gorzelanny was no longer on the team, so #24 was available. I was going to take it but realized that so many kids and fans had purchased my #22 jersey and were wearing them to Pirates games; I decided I’d keep that number.
“When I was with the Giants and Phillies, I wore #22, and with the Yankees, I had #26. This year coming to the Brewers, neither #24 nor #22 was available, so the team offered me #5. I was able to place a call to Ken Griffey and told him I would be honored to wear #24 if it opened up. Griffey was agreeable. Outfielder Hunter Renfroe had #24, and he agreed to give me the number, and he took #12. No money or gifts were exchanged; we just agreed to the numbers swap. So, after all these years, I am now wearing the number I wanted when I first came up with the Pirates.”
Locally, Montoursville’s Tom O’Malley, who enjoyed successful professional careers in MLB and Japan, was asked about his uniform preference during his playing days.
“All I wanted was a locker. I didn’t care what my number was, I just wanted a locker and be able to make the team, and I was happy,” O’Malley joked. “When I joined the San Francisco Giants, I was given number 35, and that is the number that stuck with me. When I got traded and went to other teams, it was the same thing with me. I didn’t really care what number I got. I was just happy to have a uniform and be in the Major Leagues.
“When you report to a Big-League team, it is usually the clubhouse manager that assigns numbers. That’s why during spring training, you see a lot of numbers in the 80s & 90s. When you make the team, the numbers go down. When I went to camp with the Giants, and they gave me 35, I knew I had a chance to make the team. Sometimes the number a player is assigned tips the hand of the team about how they view a player’s chances to stick.
“There are a lot of players, especially those that have been established in the Major Leagues for a number of years; they deserve to get the number they want if it is available. I’ve seen numerous instances where players have given certain gifts, like watches, to other players to trade-off for a favorite number they wanted to wear. I never was asked to give up my number, but it does happen. While I wore number 35 with the Giants when I went to the Mets, I wore 27, and with the Orioles, it was 17.”
When O’Malley began his very successful career in Japan, where he was once named Japan’s most valuable player, he was able to pick the number he wanted.
“Over there, some of the better players wore either number 1 or 3. When I was with the Hanshin Tigers, I wore number 1, and with the Yakult Swallows, I had number 3. But the bottom line was no matter where I played; I just wanted a uniform.”
While a uniform is the most important thing, anyone who has spent any time coaching sports at any level has experienced the desire of players to wear certain numbers. Some have those favorite numbers ‘they can’t play without,’ have a favorite player they want to emulate, or perhaps want to wear the number their parents did. Whatever the motivation, choosing a sports number can be a big deal from the Little Leagues to the Big Leagues.
