0
Double zero (00) was not a very popular number, with only twenty-one players ever having worn it, and none for five years. It’s also not a number I really like. I’m also not a fan of the single zero uniform number (0). Only forty-five players wore 0 and only seven of those wore it for five years or more, so I’ll be taking some liberties with this post as well. What I found interesting about the big 0 were the years in which it was worn. 85% of the players who have worn 0 played after Y2K. One player wore it from the 70s to the 90s. Another player wore it once in ’79 and 3 wore it in the 80s and 2 others in the 90s. This was mostly due to tradition; in the early days of uniform numbers, players were often assigned numbers based on their place in the batting order, so zero wasn’t really an option.
Number 1:
Al Oliver played outfield and first base for 18 seasons in the Major Leagues from 1968 to 1985. He played for six teams. He started his career with the Pirates until 1978 when he was sent to the Rangers. He then played with the Expos, San Francisco Giants, the Phillies, the Dodgers and the Blue Jays.
Oliver hit all the right buttons to easily take the number one spot on this list. Aside from the highest career WAR of all zero wearing players (43.7), he has an awesome nickname (Scoop), he wore the number 0 for eight years, and he was the first player in the Majors to select zero as his number. He did that in 1978, after his first ten years with the Pirates. He was traded to the Texas Rangers and chose the number to represent the new start.
Oliver was a seven-time All-Star. He was a part of the amazing Pirates team of the early 70s that featured players like Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Willie Stargell and Dock Ellis. He was part of what is believed to be the first all-black lineup in the history of the MLB on September 1st, 1971. He got his one and only World Series ring with that 1971 Pirates team.
Oliver was also a 3x Silver Slugger, he won the batting title in 1982 as well as leading the National League in RBIs. He was 2nd in ROY voting in 1968. Oliver is a member of the Pirates Hall of Fame.
He would finish his career with 2,743 hits and a .303 career batting average. He has 219 career home runs, 1326 RBI’s and 84 stolen bases. Such a solid player!
Number 2:
Ottavino has played fifteen seasons in the Majors. Ottavino is a pitcher, who has been used in a variety of relief roles, including stints as both a set-up man and a closer. He made his debut in 2010. He has played for the Rockies, Yankees, Red Sox and Mets. He is currently a free agent having been waived by the Yankees earlier in the year.
Ottavino is second on this list due to the distinct honor of wearing the number 0 for twelve years. Four more than any other player. He has never been an All-Star but does hold a silver medal for playing in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Ottavino’s current career WAR is 15, he has a 41-43 record with a 3.48 career ERA with 862 strikeouts in 744.2 innings. He has been a serviceable journeyman relief pitcher throughout his career with his only red mark being a former Yankee. Hey, it’s my blog so I’m allowed to diss on the Evil Empire!
Number 3:
Ugh! You can tell that this number is bare when I’m forced to put two recent Yankees on my list. Back-to-Back! Like Ottovino, Stroman, a pitcher, started the season as a Yankee but was recently released after posting a 3-2 record in 9 starts with an unsightly 6.23 ERA. He has held the number 0 for five years since 2021. Stroman has played for eleven years with the Blue Jays, Mets, Cubs and Yankees, and is currently still a free agent.
Stroman is listed at 5 feet 7 inches tall. A very short height for a modern era pitcher. In fact, in the 21st century there have been only six pitchers (including Stroman) under 5 feet 10 inches to start in the MLB
Stroman was a two-time All-Star who also won a Gold Glove. He has a gold medal from the 2017 World Baseball Classic where he was also named the MVP of the tournament.
Stroman currently has a career 21.9 WAR, 90-87 career record and a 3.79 ERA. He has 1230 strikeouts in 1497.1 innings.
Number 4:
Andrès Giménez is currently the starting second baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays. He has been in the Majors for six seasons, starting his career with the Mets. He was only in New York for one season before being traded to Cleveland. With the Guardians he was named to the All-Star team in 2022 and won 3 Gold Gloves. At the end of 2024 he was traded to Toronto.
Giménez has worn the number 0 for five seasons so far. At only 26, I’m sure he’ll have the opportunity to at least catch up to Al Oliver’s eight.
At this point in his young career, Gimènez has a 19.3 WAR, with that one All-Star season. He’s a stellar defender and although he is not having a great offensive year this season (hitting just .214), there’s a lot of potential.
Number 5:
A standout college athlete for Arizona State, Oddibe McDowell played only seven seasons in the Majors as an outfielder from 1985 to 1994 (He didn’t play from ’91 to ’93). He was drafted in the first round by the Rangers and played with them until ’88, then did a short stint with Cleveland, Atlanta, and in ’94 was back with the Rangers for his final season. He wore uniform number 0 for four seasons. He also wore it in college with ASU and the college retired his number in ’91. I thought that was cool and almost moved him up a notch on my list.
McDowell was never an All-Star and has a career WAR of 10.6. His best season was ’86 when he hit .266 with 18 home runs and 33 stolen bases. In 1985 he hit for the cycle becoming the first ever Rangers player to do so.
He is a member of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame and won a gold medal in the 1981 World Games and a silver in the 1984 Olympics. Although he was never a superstar and didn’t play many seasons, I have a lot of memories of Oddibe from collecting cards as a kid.
Number 6:
Billy Hamilton was fast, like a cheetah. He had four seasons in which he stole over 50 bases from 2014 to 2017. Unfortunately, getting on base was a problem and after that stretch, Hamilton sort of faded off. He played outfield for eleven seasons on nine different teams from 2013 to 2023. He wore uniform number 0 for three of those seasons.
After the four-year stretch, Hamilton had one season of 34 stolen bases and never stole more than that again. He finished his MLB career with 326, accumulating 70% of his total in that one four-year stretch. He has a career WAR of 9.8. Hamilton still holds the Minor League single season stolen base record with 155. He is currently still playing baseball in Mexico for the Charros de Jalisco.
Number 7:
I had to pick someone, so I chose Haggerty, who has worn number 0 for five seasons. He has played seven seasons so far from 2019 to present. He started with the Mets, played most of his career with the Mariners, and is currently on the Texas Rangers. There is not much more to say about the youngster, except congratulations for wearing such an obscure number for 5 seasons and wishing you many more.
Final Score:
I was very happy to have found a picture for every player with their 0 uniform number prominently displayed. Haggerty needed a screen grab from a couple year old game, but the rest were all cards.
There were almost double the number of players who wore uniform number 0 than 00, but still not an elite grouping by any means. There are a couple who wore it for one season that I can shout out. George Scott in 1979 with the Royals, he’s a 3x All-Star and 8x Gold Glover who also won the AL home run title in 1975 and is a member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame. Woot Woot! Two other Red Sox Players wore uniform number 0 for one season each, Brandon Phillips in 2018 and Walker Buehler this season. I’ll also give a shout out to Oscar Gamble who wore it with the White Sox in 1985.
Make sure to check out the next post when things are sure to heat up with uniform number 1. There were 500 players with number 1 so I’m sure my seven will lead to much controversy! Thanks for joining me.
| PLAYER NAME | NUMBER of YEARS WORN | CAREER WAR | ALL-STAR APPEARENCES | OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS |
| Al Oliver | 8 | 43.7 | 7 x | 3 x Silver Slugger, Batting Champ and RBI leader (1982), World Series ring (71) Pirates HOF |
| Adam Ottavino | 12 | 15 | 0 | Current FA Silver Medal in WBC (23) |
| Marcus Stroman | 5 | 21.9 | 2 x | Gold Glove Current FA Gold Medal in WBC (17) |
| Andrés Giménez | 5 | 19.4 | 1 x | 3 x Gold Glove Current Player (Blue Jays) |
| Oddibe McDowell | 4 | 10.6 | 0 | Olympic Silver (1984) and Gold (1981) |
| Billy Hamilton | 3 | 9.8 | 0 | 230 stolen bases in a 4 year period |
| Sam Haggerty | 5 | 2.9 | 0 | Current Player (Rangers) |
Sources:
https://www.baseball-almanac.com/
https://www.baseball-reference.com/
Shout out to all the cool cards and creative commons for my pictures! Thanks Topps and Upper Deck and Fleer and Donruss!
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