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Baseball by the Numbers: 3

Posted on September 9, 2025October 31, 2025 by JW

3

Welcome back to Baseball by the Numbers. Today we are looking at uniform number 3. Another number with a lot of players. At least 650 players have worn uniform number 3 in the history of baseball, so my criteria will come in handy to narrow things down. Still, I found it a lot harder than anticipated. There were a lot of great players on this list.

Some, like greats Mel Ott and Arky Vaughan wore number 3 for just one season. One of my favorite players mentioned in the uniform number 2 post, Charlie Gehringer, wore it in 1931 for one year with the Tigers, probably because he batted 3^rd that season. Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. wore it for three seasons with the Reds toward the end of his career.

Out of the 650 players who wore uniform number 3, ninety of them had the number for five years or more and thirty-seven had a career WAR over 40, so picking seven was a bit of a challenge. Aside from excluding A-Rod (I’ll get to that at the end of the post), there was another player I struggled with. Not because he wasn’t deserving of the number one spot, but more because I felt he was deserving of his own special place on the list. So, I created a spot. The Legend spot. I may reserve this spot for players who have a career WAR over 100 (there’s only thirty-two in history-a couple controversial) or for some other reason, but for now I think this player deserves it.

The Legend:

I don’t know if I could say anything about the great Babe Ruth that hasn’t already been said. When I was a kid, just learning about baseball, I remember legends about the mythical Babe Ruth. Documentaries and books were everywhere and of course in Massachusetts “The Curse of the Bambino” was more popular than Bloody Mary.

The Sultan of Swat is an American sports icon. His 182.6 career WAR is the highest in all of baseball, and for players who wore the number 3, it was 65 points higher than any other player to wear the number. Ruth played baseball for twenty-two years and wore number 3 for seven. Keeping in mind it was the only number he ever wore, but he played most of his career before teams wore numbers on their uniforms.

Like all of Ruth’s cards, this 1933 Goudey card is iconic. To own a piece of this legend would be amazing, but most of his cards sell for the price of a car or a house or more! Here’s a link to a cool guide on Babe Ruth cards and prices from Throwback Sports Cards. The pictures are worth a click alone.

Ruth played for the Red Sox, Yankees and the Boston Braves. He was both an amazing pitcher and a prolific hitter. Ruth was a two-time All-Star, which sounds crazy, but the All-Star game started in 1933, at the end of his career. He won seven World Series rings. He led the American League in home runs twelve times and in RBIs six times. His career pitching record was 94-46 with an amazing 2.24 ERA and 488 strikeouts. He is third in history with 714 home runs, third in RBIs with 2,214 and thirteenth all time in batting average with .342. He is the all-time MLB leader in slugging (.690), OPS (1.164) and WAR 182.6.

Ruth was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, with the Hall’s inaugural class that included four other legends; Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb, and Walter Johnson.

Like Bobo Newsom in the 00 post, Ruth is mentioned in Ogden Nash’s 1949 poem “Line-Up for Yesterday” .

Ruth’s uniform number 3 was retired by the New York Yankees in 1948.

Ruth passed away at the age of 53 in 1948 after a battle with cancer.

Number 1:

Jimmie Foxx is the clear number 1 pick after Babe Ruth, even if I had decided to include A-Rod, I would have put Foxx above him. His nicknames alone are the stuff of legend. “Double X” and “the Beast” both sound like characters from an X-Men comic. Foxx was a living action hero, with huge muscles and a confident swagger. Seriously, if you’ve never seen a picture of Foxx with his cut off sleeves and bulging muscles, here’s a link to a great article on SABR. He wore uniform number 3 for twelve seasons and had a career WAR of 92.9.

Jimmie Foxx played for twenty years in the Majors from 1925 to 1945. Foxx played first base for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox (woot, woot!), Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies.

I’ve said it many times, but I love these old baseball cards. Foxx’s 1933 Goudey is another wonderful example of these beautiful and nostalgic cards (even if his name is spelled wrong). You’ll find a lot of errors and misspellings on older cards from pre WWII, because cards weren’t as regulated at the time. Jimmie Foxx is one I’ve seen a few times with the Jimmy spelling.

In 1933 he won the triple crown with 48 home runs, 163 RBIs and a .356 batting average. He also only struck out 93 times that season. I found it interesting that in 1932, he had more home runs (58), RBI’s (169) and a better batting average (.364) than his 1933 season, but he didn’t win the crown. This was due to a player named Dale Alexander who hit .367, beating out Foxx by just a few points. Alexander was a great hitter in his own right (he has a career .331 batting average), but by today’s rules he would not have qualified for the batting title as he only played in 124 games that season. Foxx would have had two triple crowns in a row.

Foxx was a nine-time All-Star. He was the AL MVP three times (’32, ’33, ’38). He was a two-time batting champ, four-time home run leader and a three-time RBI leader. He also won two World Series (1929 and 1930) both with the Philadelphia A’s.

For his career, Foxx had 2,646 hits with a career .325 batting average. He is nineteenth all-time in home runs with 534 and tenth all-time in RBIs with 1,922. His career OPS of 1.038 is sixth all-time and his career slugging percentage of .609 is eighth.

He is a member of the Philadelphia Wall of Fame, the Red Sox Hall of Fame and the Athletics Hall of Fame. Foxx was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951.

Like Bobo Newsom in the 00 post, and Babe Ruth above, Foxx is mentioned in Ogden Nash’s 1949 poem “Line-Up for Yesterday” . He is in the X spot due to his “Double X” nickname.

He passed away in 1967 at 59 years old.

Number 2:

Alan Trammell played for twenty years in the Majors from 1977 to 1996, all of them as a shortstop with the Detroit Tigers. Aside from the nineteen games he played in the ’77 season, Trammell wore uniform number 3 for the entirety of his career (nineteen seasons).

Trammell was another one of my favorite players when I was in elementary school. As I mentioned with his teammate Lou Whitaker, I was a Tigers fan for a short period in the beginning of my baseball journey because Tigers were cool animals. At that time my Zoobooks and Becketts were piled together on the shelf (oh to be 10 years old again, when cool animals and baseball were all that mattered).

Trammell has a career WAR of 70.6 and, as I mentioned, wore number 3 a long time, so he was an easy choice here. I looked at a lot of different cards but just loved this 1994 Flair card. Flair was a product from Fleer for a few years in the early and mid ‘90s (I think 93 to 96). Personally, I think they made some great cards. This Trammell not only shows his number 3 on the front of that awesome Tigers uniform and also has the added fielding photo. Such a cool card.

Trammell was a six-time All-Star. He was a part of the World Series winning 1984 Tigers and was the MVP of the World Series having hit .450 with two home runs. He was a four-time Gold Glove winner and a three-time Silver Slugger. He batted over .300 seven times in his career.

During the early ‘90s he saw a significant dip in production due to injuries and missing time. He retired in 1996 and would become a manager and a coach. He had a career .285 batting average, with 2,365 hits, 1,231 runs, 412 doubles and 236 stolen bases.

In 2018 Trammell would become a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

His number 3 was retired by the Tigers in 2018.

Number 3:

Harmon Killebrew played for twenty-two years in the Majors from 1954 to 1975. He played first, third and leftfield for the Washington Senators, staying with them when they became the Minnesota Twins in 1961. He would play almost exclusively with the Twins until 1975 when he joined the Kansas City Royals for one season. Killebrew wore uniform number 3 for nineteen of his twenty-two seasons.

As you’ve probably noticed by now, I sort of like almost all of the older Topps sets. 1972 is another design that I just love, and I felt that this card captured the essence of Killebrew perfectly. The way he’s holding the bat toward the lens, a steely gleam in his eye, centered in the archway of the design. It just felt powerful, like the man himself. 1972 was the first year after nine straight that Killebrew was not named to the All-Star team. He was nearing the end of his career by ’72 but still had a great season with 26 home runs and 74 RBI’s.

Killebrew had two nicknames, “Hammerin’ Harmon” and “the Killer” both of which make him sound quite intimidating, and I’m sure he was…to the pitchers facing him, but to those who knew him, he was described as a quiet and kind man who never drank or smoked, and stayed away from drama and controversy.

Killebrew was a powerful home run threat having led the league in home runs six different times. He was a thirteen-time All-Star, the AL MVP in 1969 and lead the AL in RBIs three times. He retired in 1976 and became a broadcaster in the late 70s and ‘80s.

His 573 career home runs make him twelfth in history. He had 1,584 RBIs and a .256 career batting average with a career OPS of .884.

Killebrew was a member of the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame and was voted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. His number 3 was retired by the twins in 1975.

Killebrew passed away at the age of 74 in 2011.

Number 4:

*Willie Davis, 1972 Kellogg’s 3-D, #03a*

Willie Davis played eighteen years in the Majors from 1960 to 1979 (he had a two-year gap where he played in Japan; ’77 and ’78). He was a center fielder who played with the Dodgers for fourteen years, then played with the Expos, Rangers, Cardinals, Padres and ended with the Angels in 1979. He wore uniform number 3 for fifteen seasons. His career WAR was 60.8.

Who doesn’t love Kellogg’s 3-D cards? For fourteen years Kellogg’s gave out their groundbreaking 3-D cards in boxes of Corn Flakes, and sets could be ordered via mail-ins. If you want to learn more about the cards check out this article in Sports Collector’s Digest.

This 1972 card of Willie Davis is a perfect example of why these Kellogg’s cards are so cool. I was excited when I saw the card had his number 3 easily viewable right on the front (an opportunity to share a Kellogg’s card, sign me up!) In 1972, Davis was a Gold Glove winner with a .289 batting average, 19 home runs and 79 RBI’s, to go along with 20 stolen bases.

Davis was a two-time All-Star who won two World Series rings with the Dodgers in 1963 and 1965. He also won three Gold Gloves. He left baseball first in 1977 to play in Japan for two seasons with the Chunichi Dragons and Crown Lighter Lions. He would come back for one last season in 1979 and play forty-three games with the California Angels before retiring.

He is fourth all-time for games played in centerfield behind only Willie Mays, Tris Speaker and Steve Finley. He has a career .279 batting average with 182 home runs, 1,053 RBI, 2,561 hits and 398 stolen bases. He is not in the Hall of Fame and has never been on a ballot, which I find to be surprising. Do you think Davis is deserving? His career WAR is 60.8 which is pretty darn good.

Davis passed away in 2012 at the age of 69.

Number 5:

Another player who is not in the Hall of Fame, Dale Murphy, played eighteen years in the Majors from 1976 to 1993. He played catcher, first base and outfield for the Atlanta Braves for fourteen and a half seasons, with the Philadelphia Phillies for three seasons and the Colorado Rockies for his final season. He’s another player that I remember well growing up. For kids growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Murphy was a popular player even outside of Atlanta.Murphy wore uniform number 3 for eighteen seasons and has a career WAR of 46.5.

1981 Topps was another great ‘80s design. I love the cap logo in the bottom corner. This Dale Murphy card is especially nice. The blue and green color scheme with that great photo of Murphy’s beautiful swing, his name and number visible on the old school Braves uniform. Too bad 1981 wasn’t the best year for Murphy. He was coming off an All-Star season, but only played in 104 games, had a .247 batting average and only 13 home runs and 50 RBIs. A far cry from the next season that would see him become the NL MVP.

Murphy would be the NL MVP two years in a row in 1982 and ’83 while leading the league in RBIs both seasons. He was a seven-time All-Star, a five-time Gold Glove recipient and a four-time Silver Slugger. He led the National League in home runs twice in 1984 and 1985 and in RBIs in 1982 and 1983. He was a member of the 30-30 club in his 1983 MVP season.

In 1993 after only 26 games with the Rockies, he decided to retire from baseball. He finished his career with 2,111 hits, 350 doubles, 398 home runs, 1,266 RBIs and a .265 batting average. He is a member of the Braves Hall of Fame.

Many people feel that Murphy deserves a place in the Hall of Fame. Outside of the steroid era, he and Roger Maris are the only two multiple MVP award winners not in the Hall. Murphy has a stellar reputation on and off the field, including a lot of humanitarian work, which has also led many to feel he is an ideal Hall of Famer. His reputation and charitable work has led to several awards including the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award (‘85), “Sportsman of the Year” (‘87), Roberto Clemente Award (‘88), Bart Giamatti Community Service Award (‘91) and the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame (1991).

I think he deserves the Hall and would love to see him in. He is a great example of a baseball star both on and off the field. Do you, my readers, agree or disagree and why?

Murphy’s uniform number 3 was retired by the Braves in 1994.

Number 6:

*Frankie Frisch, 1934 Diamond Stars, #17*

I love this project! There are always amazing players who I’m not familiar with, like Frankie Frisch, who had an amazing career and stories. Frisch had a couple of awesome, DC Hero like nicknames, “the Fordham Flash” and “the Old Flash”. As you probably guessed, he was fast, leading the NL in stolen bases three separate years.

Frisch played in the MLB for nineteen years from 1919 to 1937. He played second base with the New York Giants until 1926. In 1926 he was traded from the New York Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for the great Rogers Hornsby, and stayed with them from ‘27 to ’37, while also managing the Cardinals as a player/manager from ’33.

This card is awesome! I absolutely love it. It’s a 1934 Diamond Stars and I’m starting to think there are no cards in those old ‘30s sets that I don’t love. The colors, the picture, the background art are all wonderful. It might be one of my favorite Diamond Stars cards yet. In 1934 Frisch was an All-Star. He had a .305 batting average with 30 doubles and 75 RBI.

Frisch was a switch hitter who was an All-Star three times as the All-Star game just started toward the end of his career. He was part of four World Series winning teams, two with the New York Giants (’21 and ’22) and two with the St. Louis Cardinals (’31 and ’34). In 1934 he was also the Cardinals Manager. He was the NL MVP in 1931.

Frisch was the player/manager for the Cardinals from 1933 to 1937 when he would retire. He remained manager through 1938. He went on to manage the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1940 to 1946 and the Chicago Cubs from 1949 to 1951.

Frisch would end his career with a .316 batting average, the highest career batting average for a switch hitter in MLB history. He would end up with 2,880 hits, 466 doubles and 419 stolen bases. He is third in career World Series hits with 58, and tied with Reggie Jackson at eighth for career World Series total bases with 74, and tied for first with Yogi Berra for career World Series doubles with 10. His career managerial winning percentage is .514.

He is a member of the Cardinals Hall of Fame and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947. Like Bobo Newsome from the uniform number 00 post, and Babe Ruth, Frisch is mentioned in Ogden Nash’s 1949 poem “Line-Up for Yesterday” . I wonder if I will get every player from that poem in the lists.

Frisch passed away at the age of 75 in 1973.

Number 7:

*Evan Longoria, 2014 Panini Classics Signatures, #44*

Evan Longoria is the most current player to make this list. Longoria played for sixteen years in the majors from 2008 to 2023. Known as “Longo”, he was a third baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays, San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks. Longoria wore number 3 for eleven seasons and has a career WAR of 58.9.

This 2014 panini auto was one of the only cards I could find with his number 3 displayed where he was on the Tampa Bay Rays. I found a couple on Arizona, but I really wanted his Rays jersey as he was a hero in Tampa. Though I’m not a fan of Panini baseball cards overall, this is a nice card with his signature, and I like that it’s a relic card. In 2014, Longo played in all 162 games, which is quite an accomplishment in today’s game. He had 22 home runs and 91 RBIs for the Rays.

Longoria is a three-time All-Star and a three-time Gold Glove award winner. He was AL Rookie of the Year in 2008 and won a Silver Slugger in 2009. He has been to two World Series (2008 and 2023) and although his team lost both, his fifteen years between the two are the longest gap for any player in MLB history (there’s a trivia question for you). He has hit a home run against all 30 current MLB teams (a bonus trivia question).

He owns several Tampa Bay records, and in 2025 Longoria signed a contract with the Rays to retire with the team that started it all. He would complete his career with a .264 batting average, 1930 hits, 431 doubles, 342 home runs and 1159 RBIs.

Final Score:

This is so much fun for me! My lists never go as expected and sometimes I must be flexible and change things around a bit (like adding the Legend spot for Ruth). Which brings me to this next little bonus.

There was a player who had the number 3 for twenty-two seasons from 1980 to 2001. He played DH and outfield for five teams, including the White Sox and Orioles three different times each. His career WAR was 38.8, just missing my criteria of 40. His name is Harold Baines. He was a six-time All-Star, a World Series champ in 2005 and won a Silver Slugger in 1989. His number 3 was retired by the White Sox in 1989, and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. I didn’t pick Baines, but he deserves a card just for having the number 3 so long. Would you have made him a top seven and in whose place? Here’s a 1983 Topps (another favorite design from the ‘80s) with the awesome White Sox ‘80s uniform and the number 3 on his leg!

Aside from the players I mentioned in the intro, I wanted to shout out a few other players who wore uniform number 3. Bobby Grinch (WAR 71.1) wore it for five years with the Orioles. Johnny Mize (WAR 70.6) and Carlos Beltran (WAR 70) for two seasons. Hall of Famers Bill Terry (WAR 56.6) and Mickey Cochran (WAR 49.8) both wore it for 4 seasons. Controversial players like Rafael Palmeiro (one season) and Gary Sheffield (two seasons) also wore it.

Another controversial player who met all my selection criteria was Alex Rodriguez. He wore number 3 for ten years (which is quite a long time) and his career WAR was well above 40 coming in at a whopping 117.4. He wasn’t controversial just because he was on my least favorite team, the Yankees, either, but I just do not like him as a player. That’s my personal preference, but I’m sure there are many who feel the same. It’s also not just the PED issues, or the 162-game suspension or the fact he has not been included in the Hall of Fame, though these would all be reasons to leave him off the list. While I have criteria, I also reserve the right to include, leave off or move players based on my own personal thoughts, and truth is, I just liked the players I chose more than him. Although I left him off, I still felt he was worth mentioning and for any Alex Rodriguez fans who are offended, here’s a card just to make amends.

There were many other players I could mention, but these posts would get ridiculous if I just started naming everyone, so I’ll leave it here. I hope you’re enjoying this series and come back for uniform number 4. Like uniform number 3, I think it’s going to be another tough one that will pose more challenges to my criteria. Like the fact that three players had a career WAR over 100.

PLAYER NAME	YEARS WORN	CAREER WAR	NUMBER RETIRED	OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
Jimmie Foxx	12	92.9	No	9x All-Star 3x AL MVP Triple Crown (33) World Series Champ (29, 30) HOF (51)
Alan Trammell	19	70.6	YES (Detroit Tigers 2018)	6 x All-Star 4x Gold Glove 3x Silver Slugger World Series Champ (84) HOF (18)
Harmen Killebrew	19	60.4	YES (Minnesota Twins 1975)	13x All Star 6x AL HR Leader AL MVP (69) HOF (84)
Willie Davis	15	60.8	No	2x All-Star World Series Champ (63, 65) 3 X Gold Glove
Dale Murphy	18	46.5	YES (Atlanta Braves 1994)	7x All-Star 2x NL MVP 5x Gold Glove 4x Silver Slugger
Frankie Frisch	6	72	No	3x All-Star NL MVP (31) World Series Champ (21,22, 31,34)
Evan Longoria	11	58.9	No	3x All-Star 3x Gold Glove ROY (2008) Silver Slugger

Sources:

Lehman, 2017 “Kellogg’s baseball card set in 1970 started a 14-year run” Sports Collector’s Digest

Shout out to all the cool cards and creative commons for my pictures! Thanks Topps and Upper Deck and Fleer and Donruss and all the rest!

Baseball by the Numbers: 2

Posted on September 4, 2025October 31, 2025 by JW

2

Welcome back to Baseball by the Numbers. Today we are looking at uniform number 2. Like number 1 there were a lot of players in history to wear number two. My list has 664 total players. Out of that group ninety-five of those (14.3%) had the number for over five years, with eighteen of those having worn it for ten plus years. For career WAR, twenty-nine players who wore number 2 had a career WAR over 40. So, taking that big number 664 down to seven was much easier once I factored in all my criteria. What wasn’t easy was choosing the number one player. Not because he didn’t deserve it, but because of the team he played for. I’m sure many of you already guessed who that is…

Number 1:

*Derek Jeter, Topps Now Turn Back the Clock, #80*

Growing up, I despised Jeter. Booed him on TV and booed him at Fenway Park. Traded all of his cards (big regret). He was the enemy, and I was not having any of it. The funny thing is, as I was making this list, I was ready to find a way to not put him in the number one spot, but I just couldn’t. Derek Jeter was a stud, pure and simple. He was a star and a leader and I’m not that same kid anymore, so I can say it…even with a little trepidation.

Derek Jeter played shortstop for twenty years in the Majors, all of them with the Yankees. During those twenty years, he has always worn number 2. From 1995 to 2014 “The Captain” was one of the best to play the game. He holds many Yankee records including hits (his 3,465 place him sixth all-time in MLB history), doubles (544) and stolen bases (358). He was a major part of the Yankees late ’90s dynasty, contributing to their World Series wins in ’96, ’98, ’99, ’00 and ’09.

The card I used is the Topps Now Turn Back the Clock. It’s a great card, in the style of the 1987 Topps set, one of my personal favorites (which I say all the time about so many sets lol). The wood borders, the logo in the corner, and most important his uniform number front and center. Great card for this series.

Jeter was ROY in 1996 after hitting .314 with a .370 OBP, 10 home runs, 25 doubles and 183 hits. He would continue his stellar play throughout his career, adding fourteen All-Star appearances, five Silver Sluggers and a World Series MVP award in 2000. He also played fantastic defense, with five Gold Gloves.

Jeter ended his career sixth all-time in the Majors with 3,465 hits. He had a career .310 batting average, 260 home runs (sixth all time at shortstop), 544 doubles (first all time at shortstop) and 1,311 RBIs (third all-time at shortstop).

He was also a clutch player in the playoffs. While working toward his 5 World Series rings, Jeter had a career .309 postseason batting average, holds MLB postseason records for hits (200), singles (143), doubles (32), triples (5), and runs scored (111) and is fourth in postseason home runs with 20 and RBIs with 61, fifth in walks (66) and sixth in stolen bases (18).

Jeter was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020 with the second most votes in history at 99.7% on his first ballot.

His number 2 has been retired by the Yankees in 2017.

Number 2:

*Charlie Gehringer, 1934 Diamond Stars, #77*

I love it when we get to these Golden Age players. Charlie Gehringer played second base for nineteen seasons from 1924 to 1942. Like Jeter, he spent his entire career with one team, the Detroit Tigers. He wore uniform number 2 for eleven seasons, which was most of his career. We must consider that most teams in the MLB didn’t wear uniform numbers until the late ‘20s early ‘30s. It looks like Detroit started around 1931.

Gehringer has the highest career WAR for those with the number 2, coming in at 84.8. His nickname, “the Mechanical Man”, is very cool, almost futuristic. I honestly debated putting him at the number 1 spot but had to keep my Yankees hate in check. Not that Gehringer didn’t deserve it, but Jeter just edged him in a few places.

Gehringer was a quite player from a small town. A man of few words, Gehringer’s speech at a banquet in his honor was one sentence, “I’m known around baseball as saying very little, and I’m not going to spoil my reputation.” (Bak, 1991)

I love that quote, and it’s an example of why I love these Golden Age players. Baseball was raw, it was unfiltered, it was a Western, with silent heroes carrying bats and gloves instead of pistols. If Gehringer played today I could see an interview where they ask, “Tell us how you got on base so much. What’s the secret?” and him smiling in reply, “I hit the ball.” I just love that a skinny, small town, quiet kid could come to Detroit and become a standout star. Not showing off, not mouthing off, just playing the game he loves to the best of his ability.

I also love these old cards. It’s such a beautiful representation of the game and the player. The color and artwork is wonderful, and feels so, well, Golden Age.

He may have been the silent type, but he made his noise on the diamond. He was a key part of the Tiger’s World Series winning team in 1935. Gehringer had six All-Star selections. He was the AL MVP in 1937 when he led the league with a .371 batting average. He had over 200 hits in seven different seasons and was third all time in hits for a second baseman. For his career he had 2,839 hits, with a .320 career batting average and .404 career OBP. His 574 career doubles are second all time at second base, and twenty-fifth in MLB history.

Gehringer was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949. His number 2 was retired by the Detroit Tigers in 1983.

Charlie Gehringer passed away in 1993 at 89 years old.

Number 3:

Red Schoendienst had the right nickname. Cardinal’s baseball was a part of his DNA, his blood ran red, well I guess all our blood runs red, but his was Cardinal’s red. He was involved in baseball for seventy-six years as a player, a coach and a manager. Seventy-six years! That’s insane, but even more insane is that he had served sixty-seven of those with the Cardinals. As a player he wore uniform number 2 for fourteen of his nineteen years in the Majors. He also wore it while coaching and managing for a total of forty-five years! That might be a record, but I haven’t really looked at managing and coaching and probably won’t unless it’s relevant to the player (If you know this, let me know!) Either way, Red=2.

Even though it’s a manager card, I choose his 1969 Topps because his number 2 is so prominently displayed. I also thought it fitting since most of his time in the Majors was coaching, managing or administrative. It’s also a damn nice-looking card.

Schoendienst played second base for nineteen years in the Majors. He was with the Cardinals for the first twelve before being traded to the New York Giants in 1956. To say the trade was unpopular would be an understatement. He would only play one season with the Giants before being sent to the Milwaukee Braves. He eventually found his way back to the Cardinals from ’61 to ’63 as a player/coach.

Schoendienst was a ten-time All-Star. He led the NL in stolen bases in 1945 and was a staunch defender, leading NL second baseman in defense seven seasons straight, including going 320 consecutive chances without an error. He held the record for fielding percentage in a season at second for thirty years until Ryne Sandberg broke it. He won five World Series Rings. His first with the Cardinals in 1946 when they beat the Red Sox. The second was ’57 with the Braves, then again with the Cards in ’64 and as their manager in ’67, and coach in ’82.

Schoendienst would finish his career was a 44.8 WAR, .289 batting average with 2,449 hits. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. He is also a member of the Cardinals Hall of Fame and his number 2 was retired by the Cardinals in 1996.

Red Schoendienst passed away in June of 2018 at the age of 95 years.

Number 4:

Nellie Fox had the vision of a hawk (or maybe a fox, Do they have good vision?). Regardless, he knew how to get the bat on the ball. This guy could not miss. For his career he struck out only 216 times in 10,351 plate appearances, good for 5^th all time. In his nineteen seasons he never had more than 18 strikeouts in a season and once had more triples (12) than strikeouts (11). I’ve seen players today strike out eighteen times in a week. He was a pitcher’s worst nightmare.

Fox played for nineteen years in the Majors at second base from 1947 to 1965. He started his career with the Philadelphia Athletics but was traded in 1949 to the Chicago White Sox. He would stay with Chicago for fourteen seasons until 1964 when he signed with the Houston Colt .45s to finish his career as a mentor to youngster Joe Morgan. He wore number 2 for fourteen seasons.

I love the 1960 Topps cards with the two side-by-side pictures and that cool White Sox symbol with the wings (Did they drink Red Bull in 1960?). This Fox card was a pleasant surprise because his uniform number is so nicely displayed on his sleeve. Such a great card for the series.

Fox was not a big man. He was only five foot nine and was not a power guy, but as mentioned above, he made up for it in his batting skills and his defensive prowess. He led the league in hits four times, batted over .300 six times and led the league in singles seven years straight. He was an All-Star fifteen times, won three gold gloves and was the AL MVP in 1959.

Fox would finish his career with a 49.3 WAR, .288 career batting average and 2,663 hits. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997 and his number 2 was retired by the White Sox in 1976

Fox lost his battle to cancer on December 1^st, 1975, at only 47 years old.

Number 5:

It’s hard to find cards or pictures with uniform numbers showing for some of these old players. Still this 1933 Goudey card is awesome. Like all these Golden Age cards, the colors and pictures are great. Plus, I wanted to represent Billy Herman on the Cubs since that is the only time he wore number 2.

Billy Herman was a second baseman in the Majors for fifteen years. He played from 1931 to 1947, missing two seasons for military service during WWII. He played ten seasons for the Chicago Cubs, then played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates. He wore number 2 for only five seasons with the Cubs from ’32 to ’36 but had a career WAR of 57.7 which helped him make the list.

Herman had over 200 hits in three seasons and batted over .300 nine times. He was a ten-time All-Star. He played for four World Series teams but never won a ring as a player. He did eventually win a ring with the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers as a coach.

He ended his career with .304 batting average, 2,345 hits including 486 doubles. He is a member of the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975 through the veterans committee.

He would go on to coach and manage several teams including the Boston Red Sox where he coached from ’60 to ‘64 and managed ’65 and ’66. Not the best years for the Sox.

Herman passed away in 1992 at 83 years old.

Number 6:

*Troy Tulowitzki, 2013 Topps Update, #US88a*

I felt this 2013 Topps Update represented Tulowitzki as I always think of him. Wearing a Rockies uniform and making a strong defensive play. It had the added benefit of showing his uniform number as well.

Troy Tulowitzki is currently a coach for the Texas Longhorns college team. He played shortstop for thirteen years in the Majors. He wore uniform number 2 for eleven of those and chose the number due to Derek Jeter being his idol growing up.

He played for the Colorado Rockies from 2006 to 2015 when he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. Injuries forced him to miss the entire 2018 season, and he was released by the Blue Jays. He would sign with the Yankees for 2019, but played only five games before being injured again, which eventually led to his retirement.

Tulowitzki was a five-time All-Star, he had 2 Gold Gloves and 2 Silver Slugger awards. He came in second for ROY in 2007 losing to Ryan Braun. He would finish his career with a WAR of 44.8, .290 batting average, 1,391 hits, 225 home runs and 780 RBIs.

Number 7:

This card alone could have propelled Butler higher. I love the 1987 Topps design, and I know it’s not the best design out there, but it’s nostalgic for me. ’87 is the first year I really got into baseball and card collecting. I had some cards from ’85 and ’86, but by ’87 I was all in. I probably pulled this Brett Butler card dozens of times. It’s a nice card, his uniform number is displayed perfectly, and the photo is great. I’m happy to feature it.

Butler played seventeen years in the Majors as a center fielder. In fact, he is the only outfielder on this list. He played from 1981 to 1997 with the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and again with the Dodgers. He wore number 2 with the Indians and the Giants.

Butler got his lone All-Star bid in 1991 as a member of the Dodgers. He led the league in runs and walks that season. He also led the league in triples four times in ’83, ’86, ’94 and ’95.

He would finish his career with a 49.7 WAR, .290 batting average, 2,375 hits, 277 doubles, 131 triples and is 25^th all time for stolen bases with 558.

Butler would go on to coach in several organizations and would manage a couple of Minor league teams as well.

Final Score:

This is so much fun for me. I hope that there are some folks out there reading these posts and getting just as much enjoyment out of them. I love learning about players, both popular (like Jeter) and not so popular (like Butler). As you can see, although it pains me to put a Yankee in the top spot, my love of baseball and the achievements of some of these players outweighs my Yankee hatred.

For uniform number 2 four of my seven had their numbers retired. Five are in the Hall of Fame. Six of the seven played infield, primarily second base and shortstop. Only Butler played the outfield. Only one (Tulowitzki) is a modern era player. Two played their whole career with one team (Jeter and Gehringer), and one Schoendienst spent a lifetime with the Cardinals.

This was a fun one, as I expect they all will be. A few honorable mentions: The great Jimmie Foxx wore number 2 one season as did Roberto Alomar, Graig Nettles, Darrell Evans, Chet Lemon and Jeff Kent. Mickey Cochrane wore it three years. Current player Xander Bogaerts has worn it twelve years and Alex Bregman ten. Red Sox great Jerry Remy also wore it for ten.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts on the picks. Would you add or replace anyone and why? I love hearing some great baseball discussions.

Make sure to check out the next post with uniform number 3. I don’t even know if I should put Ruth at number 1 or just talk about him since he is the most obvious choice there is. Maybe I’ll pick seven after Ruth. Thanks for joining me!

PLAYER NAME	YEARS WORN	CAREER WAR	NUMBER RETIRED	OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
Derek Jeter	20	71.3	Yes (Yankees)	14x All-Star World Series Champ (96, 98, 99, 00, 09) ROY (96) 5x Gold Glove 5x Silver Slugger HOF (20)
Charlie Gehringer	11	84.8	Yes (Tigers)	6x All-Star MVP (37) HOF (49) World Series Champ (35)
Red Schoendienst	14 (45 total including coach and manager) *	44.8	Yes (Cardinals)	10x All-Star World Series Champ (P46,57,64 C/M 67, 82) HOF (89)
Nellie Fox	13	49.3	Yes (White Sox)	15x All-Star AL MVP (59) 3x Gold Glove HOF (97)
Billy Herman	5	57.7	no	10x All-Star World Series Champ (C 55) HOF (75)
Troy Tulowitzki	11	44.8	no	5x All-Star 2x Gold Glove 2x Silver Slugger
Brett Butler	7	49.7	no	1x All-Star

Sources:

Bak, Richard (1991). Cobb Would Have Caught It. Wayne State University Press. pp. 190–207. ISBN 978-0814323564.

https://www.sabr.org/

Shout out to all the cool cards and creative commons for my pictures! Thanks Topps and Upper Deck and Fleer and Donruss!

Baseball by the Numbers: 1

Posted on August 29, 2025October 31, 2025 by JW

1

Welcome back! Now things are starting to get difficult. Uniform number 1 has five hundred options to choose from. Way more than 00 (twenty-one players) and 0 (forty-five players). It was quite a challenge. There were twenty-three players who wore number 1 for ten years or more and another fifty-six who wore it over five years. There were eighteen players who had a career WAR over 40 and eleven Hall of Famers. There were some really cool names too, Rabbit, Snuffy, Granny, Sparky, Kiddo, Bubba and Sibby. There will be a nice group of honorably mentioned players. So, without further ado (I’ve always wanted to say that!), here are my top seven players for uniform number 1.

All seven choices wore uniform number 1 for well over five years, in fact, they all wore it over ten years, and all of them had career WAR over 40.

Number 1:

“The Wizard of Oz”. What an amazing nickname for an amazing player. I always loved the 1986 Topps cards. It’s one of my favorite sets, probably more for nostalgic reasons than aesthetics, but this Ozzie Smith one is sweet. I was so happy to see his uniform number on full display.

Ozzie Smith probably doesn’t need an introduction. He played shortstop for nineteen years in the majors from 1978 to 1996 wearing uniform number 1 the entire time. He was on the Padres until 1981 when he was traded in a six-player deal to the St. Louis Cardinals, with Cardinal’s shortstop Garry Templeton (who also wore number 1) and Sixto Lezcano as the key pieces. Initially hesitant, Smith met with Cardinal’s manager Whitey Herzog and was convinced this was the right team. He would play the rest of career for St. Louis. He was with those Cardinals when I first discovered my love of baseball, and baseball cards, and the Wizard was a key player during the 80s and 90s. He was so much fun to watch, with his crazy backflips and infectious smile. Whenever I found an Ozzie Smith card in a pack, I was delighted.

Smith was a 15-time All-Star. On the defensive end, he won the Gold Glove 13-times in a row. He also helped the Cardinals win the World Series in 1982. He won a Silver Slugger in 1987 and was honored with the Roberto Clemente Award in 1995. He would finish his career with a 76.9 WAR, accumulating 2460 hits with only 28 home runs. He had a career .337 OBP and a .268 batting average, with 580 stolen bases. Smith was elected to the Cardinals Hall of Fame. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002 with a 91.7% vote, his first time on the ballot.

His uniform number 1 was retired by the Cardinals.

Number 2:

“Sweet Lou” Whitaker played second base for the Tigers for nineteen years and wore uniform number 1 for eighteen of those. He played from 1977 to 1995. During the ’80s the Tigers were a great team, with Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Lance Parrish, Kirk Gibson, Chet Lemon and pitcher Jack Morris. They won the World Series in 1984.

Like Ozzie Smith, Lou Whitaker played during my formative baseball years. In fact, when I was a kid, I wouldn’t pick a favorite team. I’m now a diehard Red Sox fan, but you know how kids are. For a period, I remember being a Tigers fan. I think it was more because I thought Tigers were cool than any actual baseball reason, but man those early ’80s Tiger’s players still hold a special place for me. I loved getting their cards. For Whitaker, I found this awesome 1996 Upper Deck with him making a leaping defensive play, the number 1 displayed prominently on his back. So cool!

Whitaker was a five-time All-Star. He won ROY in 1978, was a three-time Gold Glove winner and a four-time Silver Slugger. He has a career WAR of 75.1 with a .276 lifetime BA, 420 doubles, 244 home runs and a .363 OBP. He is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but I think he could be. Do you?

His uniform number 1 was retired by the Detroit Tigers.

Number 3:

Next, we are going back a bit into baseball history, to the time before I was born. Pee Wee Reese played shortstop for sixteen years from 1940 to 1958 (he missed the ‘43, ‘44, and ‘45 seasons due to military service). He spent his entire career with the Brooklyn Dodgers (LA for his last season).

This 1958 Topps cards is so beautiful. I love the colors on these cards. This would be Pee Wee’s last season, and the Dodgers were newly moved to LA. I like this card because you can see the uniform number 1 on Reese’s back. He wore that number for his entire career.

Pee Wee’s real name was Harold Peter Henry Reese, but he gained the nickname when he was a young boy playing and winning marble championships (yes that was a thing) in Kentucky. I didn’t know much about Pee Wee until I watched the movie “42” (which is amazing and a must watch for everyone; baseball fan or not). I really respected that he was a player who supported the integration of Jackie Robinson into baseball. He didn’t just support him, he also showed solidarity by putting a comforting arm around Robinson during a rough fan heckling situation. That’s a stand up shortstop and person in my book.

Reese was a ten-time All-Star, winning a World Series ring with the Brooklyn Dodgers in ’55 and then again in ‘59 as a coach. He has a career 69.5 WAR with 2,170 hits, 126 home runs, 232 stolen bases and a career batting average of .269. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984 via the Veterans Committee.

Reese passed away at 81 years old in 1999.

His number 1 was retired by the Dodgers.

Number 4:

Another player with a couple of great nicknames, Richie Ashburn played centerfield for fifteen years from 1948 to 1962, mostly for the Phillies (twelve years) and later in his career, two years with the Cubs and one with the Mets. He was sometimes known as “Putt-Putt” and “the Tilden Flash”, but regardless of what you called him, Ashburn makes uniform number 1 proud. He wore it for all fifteen of his seasons, while becoming a legend in Philadelphia.

I couldn’t find a card with his number displayed, but I’m a huge fan of the 1956 Topps design, so I picked it to highlight Ashburn on my uniform number 1 list. You must admit…it is a sweet looking card.

Ashburn started his Phillies career strong. He led the league in stolen bases and was voted into the All-Star game in 1948, his rookie season, while he finished 3^rd in ROY voting, behind Al Dark and Gene Bearden. He would go on to have five more All-Star appearances. He was also the NL batting champ in ’55 and ’58.

Ashburn had a nice career. His career WAR was 64.3 with a .308 career batting average, 2,574 hits, 1,322 runs, and 234 stolen bases. He also had a nice .396 OBP. He is also 3^rd in putouts for centerfield, behind greats Willie Mays and Tris Speaker.

After retirement, Ashburn would become a popular commentator for the Phillies until his death. He is a member of the Philadelphia Phillies Hall of Fame and was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 by the veterans committee behind plenty of fan support.

Ashburn passed away at the age of 70 in 1997 just a couple hours after broadcasting a game.

His uniform number 1 was retired by the Phillies.

Number 5:

I was very excited to include Bobby Doerr on the list. He spent his entire fourteen-year career as a second baseman for the Boston Red Sox from 1937 to 1951 (missing ’45 for military service). His 1941 Play Ball card is a great example of cards from the ‘40s. I’m not an art connoisseur, so I can’t adequately explain how elegant these cards are, but I’ll try. Beautiful colors, vibrant pictures, a great art-deco style. It’s like looking at a time machine. The perfect card to capture the essence of the era.

Doerr wore uniform number 1 his entire career with the Red Sox. He was a nine-time All-Star while batting over .300 three times and hitting 100 RBIs in 6 seasons. He was a forefather on a team with a storied past, known for some of the best players in Major League history (and I’m not just saying that because I’m a Red Sox fan).

After leaving the game, Doerr would become a coach, helping shape Carl Yastrzemski’s legendary triple crown season. He finished with a career WAR of 54.4 along with 2,042 hits, 381 doubles, 89 triples, 223 home runs, and .288 career batting average. Doerr is a member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame and in 1986 was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Doerr passed away in 2017 at 99 years old.

Like all the players picked before him, his uniform number 1 was retired by the Red Sox.

Number 6:

Another example of a beautiful card, the 1934 Diamond Stars Buddy Myer is pure nostalgia. Myers played for seventeen years in the Majors from 1925 through 1941. He mostly played second base (with occasional stints at third and in the outfield), predominantly with the Washington Senators, but he also had two seasons with the Red Sox. He wore uniform number 1 for eleven seasons, all with Washington. He started his career during the time when numbers were rare, so it appears he wore number 1 his entire career.

Myer was a great player whose batting average was .300 or better in nine seasons. He won the batting title in 1935 and was a two-time All-Star. In 1933 he got into a fight was Ben Chapman, a player known not only for his dirty play, but his use of racist remarks (he infamously heckled Jackie Robinson in 1947 when Chapman managed the Phillies). Myer, who was not himself Jewish, but had Jewish heritage, was spiked by Chapman, who then berated Myer with anti semitic remarks, causing one of the craziest fights in baseball history; one that spread to the dugout and the fans.

Myer ended his career with a 48.4 WAR and a .303 batting average. He had career .389 OBP and struck out only 428 times in over 7000 at bats. That’s like 6%! He also had 965 walks, double the amount of career strikeouts.

Myer passed away in 1974 at the age of 70.

Number 7:

*Tony Fernandez, 1993 Fleer Ultra, # 426*

Another player I grew up watching, Tony Fernandez played for seventeen seasons from 1983 to 2001 (He missed the 1996 season due to injury). Fernandez played for the Blue Jays from ‘83-‘90, then was traded to the Padres along with his teammate “The Crime Dog” Fred McGriff for Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar. He would then bounce around a lot, playing for the Mets and Blue Jays in ’93, then the Reds, Yankees, Cleveland (Blue Jays again! ‘98-‘99), then went to Japan and was on the Seibu Lions, came back to play for the Brewers and ended his career with (Bueller, Bueller?), yep, the Blue Jays again. He wore uniform number 1 for fourteen of his seventeen seasons.

Fernandez was a five-time All-Star who was known for his stellar defensive play, winning four Gold Gloves. He was part of the 1993 World Series Champion Blue Jays and holds the record for RBIs in the World Series for a shortstop with nine. He’s also a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

He ended his career with a WAR of 45.3, a .288 batting average, 2,276 hits, 414 doubles, 92 triples and 246 stolen bases.

Fernandez passed away at the age of 57 in 2020.

Final Score:

Uniform number 1 had a lot of players to choose from. I suspect that will be the case for many of the numbers moving forward. There are a lot of solid players coming up, so many of my lists will be very subjective. There will likely be some Red Sox bias, a lot of players I enjoyed watching in my lifetime, and a lot of snide remarks about the Yankees.

Out of the seven players above three only played for one team. They also all had their uniform number for a long time. 4 had it 100% of their career, the other three 80%. THis is likely the case for all-stars and Hall of Famers, especially those who stayed with one team, but it seems common to have players wear a uniform number for a few seasons and then switch up (likely when traded or signing elsewhere).

As I mentioned at the start of this post, there were eleven Hall of Famers who wore uniform number 1, and over fifty players also met the five years plus criteria. There were also so many fun nicknames on this list. So, a few honorable mentions. Garry Templeton (3x All-Star) had number 1 for fifteen seasons and was traded for Ozzie Smith. Mookie Wilson (stupid 1986 Mets!) also for fifteen seasons. Hall of Fame pitcher Earle Combs had the number for seven seasons. Hall Of Famer “Rabbit” Maranville also had it for 3 seasons. He also has an awesome nickname and looks very rabbit like in some of his pictures. There were many great choices, but I digress. Maybe when I finish the first set of posts, I’ll do more.

Make sure to check out the next post where things are sure to heat up with uniform number 2. I already know of one player that I’m not looking forward to putting on the list, but he deserves to be there. Can you guess who it is? Thanks for joining me!

PLAYER NAME	NUMBER of YEARS WORN	CAREER WAR	ALL-STAR APPEARENCES	OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
Ozzie Smith	19	76.9	15	13 Gold Gloves World Series Champ (82) HOF (02)
Lou Whitaker	18	75.1	5	ROY (78) 3x Gold Glove 4x Silver Slugger World Series champ (84)
Pee Wee Reese	16	68.5	10	World Series Champ (55) HOF (84)
Richi Ashburn	15	64.3	6	HOF (95)
Bobby Doerr	13	51.4	9	HOF (96)
Buddy Myer	11	48.4	2
Tony Fernandez	14	45.3	5	4 x Gold Glove World Series Champ (93)

Sources:

Shout out to all the cool cards and creative commons for my pictures! Thanks Topps and Upper Deck and Fleer and Donruss!

Baseball by the Numbers: 0

Posted on August 25, 2025October 31, 2025 by JW

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 1^st, 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 2^nd 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:

*Adam Ottavino, 2024 Topps, USC 138 Purple Lava*

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 21^st 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, 2021 Topps Chrome Update Sapphire, #US18*

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:

Sam Haggerty, *July 29th, 2022 Screen Grab*

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:

Shout out to all the cool cards and creative commons for my pictures! Thanks Topps and Upper Deck and Fleer and Donruss!

Baseball by the Numbers: 00

Posted on August 22, 2025October 31, 2025 by JW

Read about the project

00

I was surprised to find out that over twenty players have worn the crazy number 00. The number 00 is one of my least favorite numbers. Out of the twenty-one players who wore it (see it was technically over twenty), half of them only wore it for one season or less, and NONE had it for 5 years. This was definitely going to put a damper on my criteria for choosing players, but you gotta start somewhere. So, I decided to start with the player who had it the longest, because anyone who could wear 00 for 4 years had to be cool, right?

NUMBER 1:

Jeffrey Leonard played leftfield in the Majors for 14 seasons from 1977 to 1990. He’s first on this list due to his having worn 00 for four of those seasons (1987, 88, 89 and 90). The most of any player. He wore it on three different teams. The Mariners (as seen above) the Giants of San Fran and the Brew Crew.

He was a 2 x All-Star, twice while wearing 00 (87 and 89). Leonard was a beast during the 1987 NLCS with San Francisco, when he hit .417 with a .917 slugging. He had 10 hits, 4 home runs and 5 RBIs and was presented with the ’87 NLCS MVP, even though his team lost. He’s the last player to receive an NLCS MVP while with the losing team.

While not a Hall of Fame caliber player, Leonard had a solid career that included being the runner up for NL ROY in 79 losing to the awesome Rick Sutcliff.

Number 2:

*“Buck Newsom, Los Angeles Angels” by Los Angeles Times is licensed under CC BY 4.0.*

Bobo Newsom went by many names. He was born Louis Norman Newsom. He was known as “Bobo” to most, even himself apparently, as he would often refer to himself in the third person, and for some reason, he was also known as “Buck” on occasion.

Bobo played for twenty seasons from 1929 to 1953 as a right-handed pitcher. He played for nine different teams but wore the number 00 for three seasons while with the Washington Senators in ’43 and again in ’46 and ’47. Bobo was an All-Star four times and got his ring in 1947 with the New York Yankees. He had a 211-222 record with 3.98 ERA and 2,082 strikeouts in 600 games. He had a 47.8 career WAR. He and pitcher Jack Powell are the only pitchers to have 200 wins and still have sub .500 winning percentages. He is mentioned in Ogden Nash’s 1949 poem “Line-Up for Yesterday” and is the only player in the poem not in the Hall of Fame.

Bobo passed away at the young age of 55 in 1962.

Number 3:

Wow, my first controversy. Don Baylor. I wanted to put him in here because I liked him when I was collecting cards and I found him listed as wearing 00 in 1988, his last season of baseball. Baylor played nineteen seasons as a first baseman, left fielder and DH from 1970 to 1988. Baylor played with the Athletics in 1988, and I could not find a single picture of him wearing 00. In fact, I found this interesting reddit thread about this very subject. Who actually wore 00…

It seems that Baylor may have worn 00 in 1988, his last season in the Majors, but only part of the season, or it could be an error in reporting, either way, a little about my number three pick.

Baylor was an All-Star in 1979 as well as the AL MVP. He hit .296 that year, with a league leading 120 runs, 36 home runs, 136 RBI’s (leading the league) and 22 stolen bases. He has three Silver Sluggers and was on the World Series winning Twins in 1987. After his playing career ended, he became a well-regarded manager, winning the NL Manager of the Year award in 1995 with the Colorado Rockies.

Baylor passed away in 2017 at 68 years old. We may never know if he wore 00 in 1988, but if any readers out there have the inside scoop, please drop me a comment.

Number 4:

Right fielder Bobby Bonds played for eight teams in his fourteen year career between 1968 to 1981. He only wore 00 in 1980 while with the St. Louis Cardinals. This was very close to the end of his career. It seems 00 is a choice number for retiring players.

During the 70’s Bonds was a 3-time All-Star and 3-time Gold Glove winner. He was fast as lightning, stealing over 30 bases in 11 of his 14 seasons. If only he could have struck out less (he led the league 3 times in strikeouts). He also has five 30-30 seasons, tied for the most career 30-30 seasons with one other player…his son! Barry Bonds. Like father, like son.

For his career he has a 57.9 WAR (the highest on this list), 332 Home Runs, 1,024 RBI’s, 461 Stolen Bases, a .268 batting average with 1886 Hits.

For me, Bonds is a personal favorite player, who is very underrated. I never really saw him play and didn’t start collecting cards until he was well into retirement, but I love watching his highlights. He sadly passed away due to cancer at the age of 57 in 2003.

Number 5:

Jack “The Ripper” Clark played for Boston at the end of his career in the early 90’s, so he holds a special place on my list. He was a right fielder and first baseman for eighteen seasons, playing with the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees(Ugg), San Diego Padres, and the previously mentioned Boston Red Sox. He only wore 00 for one season, 1990 with the Padres, but I did find a card so that’s cool.

He was a four time All-Star and two time Silver Slugger. He has the second highest career WAR for 00 players with 53.1. He led the league in walks 3 times (’87,’89,’90) and is ranked 54^th in history for walks. For his career, Clark had 1826 hits, a .267 batting average, 340 home runs, 1180 RBIs, and his 54^th ranked 1262 walks.

After retirement Clark has done some coaching and radio hosting and currently hitting the autograph circuit.

Number 6:

John Mayberry makes his way to number six even though he only wore 00 for one season. It was 1968 and he was a rookie on the Houston Astros playing only four games, but he wore it, and he has the 5th highest WAR of all 00’s, so I’m using him.

Mayberry played fifteen seasons in the Majors at first base, and aside from the Houston Astros he also played for the Royals, Blue Jays and Damn Yankees! He was an All-Star twice in ’73 and ’74, with the Royals and that’s likely why he is in the Kansas City Hall of Fame. In ’75 he was 2^nd in AL MVP voting having hit .291 with 34 home runs, 106 RBIs, and leading the league in walks with 119 and in OPS+ with 168. 1975’s All-Star team was stacked, and he was not selected despite having his best overall season with a 7.2 WAR for the year.

Mayberry went on to coach for a bit and work in community affairs for the Royals. His son also played in the Majors for 2009 to 2015.

Number 7:

Omar Olivares should make the list just because he has that awesome card with his 00 prominently displayed for all the world to see. He wore the 00 two seasons in 1993 and 1995.

Olivares was a right-handed pitcher who played twelve seasons from 1990 to 2001 in the Majors with eight different teams! That’s a lot of cities. He is also the only other pitcher on this list. His 00 was on display while with the Cardinals and the Phillies. He also played for the Rockies, Tigers, Mariners, Angels, Athletics and Pirates.

He was never an All-Star and finished his career with 13.2 WAR, a losing record of 77-86, and unsightly 4.67 ERA, and 853 strikeouts in 1592 innings, a 4.8 SO/9. Aside from being the only other pitcher on this list, he played for the Colorado Rockies in 1995, the same year that Don Baylor was the manager and won Manager of the Year. Maybe Baylor really did have 00 at some point, and the energy of the numbers blessed him.

Final Score:

Well, there you have it. Seven players who wore 00 (maybe). This number was a shit of a start. Not only was it limited by players, but no one had the number very long and there was no player left off that I would be giving honorable mentions. They choices weren’t all that tough, and I’m not even sure Baylor actually had the number. Here’s a little summary to cap things off. At least this time, if you like it let me know, if not let me know and if no one is reading this (which is the most likely scenario), then I’ll just do whatever I want. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for the big ZERO! Coming soon to Weekly Windup.

PLAYER NAME	NUMBER of YEARS WORN	CAREER WAR	ALL STAR APPEARANCES	OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
Jeffrey Leonard	4	9.9	2x	cool card and #1 on this list
Bobo Newsom	3	47.8	4x	1947 World Series Ring
Don Baylor	½ maybe?	28.5	1x	3 x Silver Slugger, 1987 World Series Ring, AL MVP (1979), NL MOY (1995)
Bobby Bonds	1	57.9	3x	3x Gold Glove and 5x 30-30 club
Jack Clark	1	53.1	4x	2x Silver Slugger Cool Nickname
John Mayberry	1	25	2x	Royals HOF
Omar Olivares	2	15.5	0	Cool Card and Played on ’95 Rockies

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