New York Yankees: Baseball no longer a numbers game

With New York Yankees RHP Miguel Yajure wore number 89 on August 31, every single and double-digit uniform number has been used in baseball history

Venezuelan righthander Miguel Yajure took the mound on August 31 for his major league debut with the New York Yankees in a 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. Yajure gave up no runs and no hits, walked three, and struck out two in facing 12 batters.

Nice first outing, but that is not the big story.

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Yajure had No. 89 emblazed on the back of his Yankees pinstripes, meaning that every single- and double-digit uniform number has now been worn in the history of baseball.

According to mlb.com, entering the 2020 season, three numbers had never been worn in baseball: 86, 89, and 92. St. Louis Cardinals relievers Génesis Cabrera wore No. 92 for the first time in MLB history when he took the mound on August 15 and Jesus Cruz wore No. 86 on August 18.

Miami Marlin lefty Brandon Leibrandt also wears No. 86, but he made his debut on August 23. So, in essence, Cruz did a number on Leibrandt.

Since the inception of the number on a baseball uniform jersey, introduced by the Yankees and Cleveland Indians in 1929, players are synonymous with their numbers. While other players have worn the same number, think of the number 3 and one thinks of Babe Ruth. Number 21 is Roberto Clemente, No. 24 is Willie Mays, No. 34 is Nolan Ryan, Jackie Robinson is No. 42, and No. 44 is either Henry Aaron or Willie McCovey (depending upon which coast you grew up on), etc.

One of the thousands of baseball oddities is that knuckleballers like Hoyt Wilhelm, Charlie Hough, Tim Wakefield, and Tom Candiotti all wore No. 49.

Those that feel that a uniform number is unimportant have never used it as a memory cue. A friend of mine introduced me to this. One known to misplace his automobile in a big parking lot, if say you can remember “Johnny Bench/Dave Concepcion,” it is easy to recall that you are parked in spot 513. But he is a longtime Cincinnati Reds fan. For me, 513 would be “Jeff Newman/Dave Revering.” I grew up with the Oakland A’s.

What could be next? Number 747? Too bad that Prince Fielder and Bartolo Colon as no longer playing. That would be a perfect number for a player to wear if associated with a wide-body. Pablo Sandoval, are you reading this?