Outrageous Jersey Numbers

[joelsabi]

I read this newspaper article and was wondering what other outrageous or out of the ordinary jersey numbers have been used.


I think Gaedel, the midget, used "1/2" for one at bat for the White Sox.

not sure if the 112 really was worn by Alberto Callaspo or was "game issued" hanging on his locker.

http://fromthedugout.ocregister.com/2010/07/23/wearing-no-112-for-your-angels/61603/

[TNTtoys]

Re: Outrageous Jersey Numbers

Some notables...

Benito Santiago, Marlins: wore "09" after he realized that his usual #9 would be covered by the strap from his chest protector.

99 was worn by Mets reliever Turk Wendell and is now worn by Manny...

Many players wore 0 and 00 (about a dozen or so).

[Mark17]

Re: Outrageous Jersey Numbers

I think Gaedel, the midget, used "1/2" for one at bat for the White Sox.

He wore 1/8.

[both-teams-played-hard]

Re: Outrageous Jersey Numbers

I read this newspaper article and was wondering what other outrageous or out of the ordinary jersey numbers have been used.


I think Gaedel, the midget, used "1/2" for one at bat for the White Sox.

He played for the St. Louis Browns. I think the term that civilized people use today, is "little person".

[joelsabi]

Re: Outrageous Jersey Numbers

He played for the St. Louis Browns. I think the term that civilized people use today, is "little person".

Thats 2 strikes on me. I'm blaming this on jetlag.

Thanks for the corrections.

[LastingsMilledge85]

Re: Outrageous Jersey Numbers

Some notables...

Benito Santiago, Marlins: wore "09" after he realized that his usual #9 would be covered by the strap from his chest protector.

99 was worn by Mets reliever Turk Wendell and is now worn by Manny...

Many players wore 0 and 00 (about a dozen or so).

The number "99" is an interesting one because it has sort of become like a "cult following" (lack of a better word). Some guys just like to take that number just to be "out there". Manny Ramirez took it after a whole debacle with the number 24 and 28 with the Dodgers. Once he finally agreed to wear 28 after originally rejecting it, the Dodgers told him that it was too late because they already had 99 shirts out with his name on it. Brian Bruney wore 99 last year and Collin Balester is wearing it now. There are many players now days that get stuck or chose high numbers in baseball which was always considered an oddity and some teams wouldn't even make numbers that were high.

[both-teams-played-hard]

Re: Outrageous Jersey Numbers



7 foot 6 inch Shawn Bradley wore number "76" for the 76ers.

[STLHAMMER32]

Re: Outrageous Jersey Numbers

I read this newspaper article and was wondering what other outrageous or out of the ordinary jersey numbers have been used.


I think Gaedel, the midget, used "1/2" for one at bat for the White Sox.

not sure if the 112 really was worn by Alberto Callaspo or was "game issued" hanging on his locker.

http://fromthedugout.ocregister.com/...-angels/61603/

Gaedel wore the # 1/8 and his one plate appearance was for the St.Louis Browns I believe.

[sox83cubs84]

Re: Outrageous Jersey Numbers

This is out there, sports AND numberwise, but, being a SoCal guy, Warren may remeber it.

Back in the 1970s, the Los Angeles Thunderbirds were possibly the most popular roller derby franchise in the country. The team's Sunday games were sent out to be broadcast on independent stations all over the U.S. (Chicago got them on Channel 32, now our Fox station). One of the team's blockers was a huge woman named Erlene Brown. Because of her ample size (and the fact that her body was large enough to accommodate it), she wore uniform number 747!

Dave Miedema

[both-teams-played-hard]

Re: Outrageous Jersey Numbers

This is out there, sports AND numberwise, but, being a SoCal guy, Warren may remeber it.

Back in the 1970s, the Los Angeles Thunderbirds were possibly the most popular roller derby franchise in the country. The team's Sunday games were sent out to be broadcast on independent stations all over the U.S. (Chicago got them on Channel 32, now our Fox station). One of the team's blockers was a huge woman named Erlene Brown. Because of her ample size (and the fact that her body was large enough to accommodate it), she wore uniform number 747!

Dave Miedema

Dave
I've only lived in L.A. for 14 years, so my memories of 1970s SoCal are nonexistent. Fred G. Sanford loved roller derby, so if he liked it...it's OK in my book. Some of the durene roller derby jerseys that have hit the market are true relics! In 1997, I could have bought one for $20 (I passed). I didn't know what sport it was from. It had custom tags from a Sporting Goods place in Compton. I think they distributed jerseys for the entire league, not just L.A. Some of the 50s and 60s roller derby jerseys are made exactly like football jerseys, with no name just front and back numerals.
Also, that Earlene Brown lady was a former Olympian.

[MSpecht]

Re: Outrageous Jersey Numbers

Earlene Brown ----747

Track and Field Career
Her events of choice were the shot put and discus throwing. Considered one of the greatest American women throwers of all times, Earlene Brown finished in the top ten in the shot put and discus in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, setting American records in both events.
Brown was an eight-time (1956-1962 and 1964) and three-time (1958, 1959 and 1961) national champion in the shot put and discus, respectively. In 1958, she received the #1 world ranking and became the first American to break the 50-foot barrier in the shot put. In 1959, she won gold medals in both the shot put and discus events at the Pan American Games.
Undoubtedly, the highlight of Brown's track and field career came in 1960, when she won a bronze medal for her shot put performance (16.42 m) at the Summer Olympics in Rome. Brown was the only American woman to win at the Olympics Games until 1992, when Connie Price-Smith won the discus and shot put at the U.S. Olympic trials. After a subpar performance in the 1964 Summer Olympics, Brown retired from track and field competition.
On December 1, 2005, Earlene Brown was posthumously inducted in the National Track and Field Hall of Fame by the USA Track and Field (USATF) during the Jesse Owens Awards and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony held in Jacksonville, Florida.[1]
After a successful career in the international track and field community, Brown made her debut in the banked track sport of roller games in 1965. She began her skating career with Roller Games' Texas Outlaws and New York Bombers. At almost 6 feet tall (on skates) and over 250 pounds, Brown quickly became one of the sport's most feared defensive skaters – her signature move being "the bear hug."

After a brief retirement, Brown returned to roller games, skating with the World Famous, World Champion Los Angeles Thunderbirds. It was at this juncture that she became known in the sport as "747" because of her incredible size and weight - she even wore "747" on her jersey! Despite her girth, the former Olympian displayed amazing quickness and agility and even served as an occasional jammer. In a game skated at Comiskey Park in Chicago on September 15, 1972, Brown mesmerized the soldout crowd with an outstanding performance that motivated the fans to breakout into a chant of her name. Years later, she was quoted as saying that moment was her "biggest thrill in skating."
After the 1974 season, Brown permanently retired from roller games. She died in 1983 in Compton, California.

[legaleagle92481]

Re: Outrageous Jersey Numbers

Jared Allen-69
Robert Parrish-00
Dennis Rodman-91

[godwulf]

Re: Outrageous Jersey Numbers

Bill "Spaceman" Lee, who wore '37', was always trying to get them to let him wear '337' - "So when I stand on my head, it will spell out my name".

On a somewhat saner note, one year Mike Koplove, pitching for the Diamondbacks, switched to '76', in order to honor his hometown of Philadelphia.

[MSpecht]

Re: Outrageous Jersey Numbers

Ted Turner founded the first cable superstation (WTBS) and the first 24-hour news station (CNN). In the mid - 1970's he used Braves pitcher Andy Messersmith as a human billboard by "nicknaming" Messersmith "Channel" and putting the name on the back of Andy's uniform, thus making it read Channel 17, which I think was the channel number for WTBS in Atlanta. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn told him basically to knock it off

Mike jackitout7@aol.com

[joelsabi]

Re: Outrageous Jersey Numbers

Operatic baritone Robert Merrill wore the uniform of the New York Yankees while singing the national anthem at Yankee Stadium.

His jersey number was 1 1/2.

Robert Merrill also became known for singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Yankee Stadium. He first sang the national anthem to open the 1969 baseball season, and it became a tradition for the Yankees to bring him back each year on Opening Day and special occasions. He sang at various Old Timer's Days (wearing his own pinstriped Yankee uniform with the number "1 1/2" on the back) and the emotional pre-game ceremony for Thurman Munson at Yankee Stadium on August 3, 1979, the day after the catcher's death in a plane crash. A recorded Merrill version is sometimes used at Yankee Stadium today.