2004 Topps Heritage #206 |
As I did last year, here's a run-down of who will be wearing new numbers next week in Clearwater:
New Players
#2 Ben Revere - Revere wore #11 with the Twins. As that number is currently taken by Jimmy Rollins, he's going with #2, worn last year by departed first base coach Sam Perlozzo.
#3 Delmon Young - Young gets a fresh start with Hunter Pence's old #3. The outfielder had previously worn #21 with the Twins and Tigers.
#10 Michael Young - Young wore this number for a decade with the Rangers. Juan Pierre wore the number last season for the Phillies.
#27 John Lannan - Lannan was #31 with the Nationals over the past four seasons, but Erik Kratz has that number with the Phils. New Marlin Placido Polanco had been wearing #27.
#37 Mike Adams - For the second year in a row, Antonio Bastardo was coerced to give up his number to a more veteran pitcher. Last year, he surrendered #58 to the newly acquired Jonathan Papelbon. This year, Adams claimed his familiar #37 from Bastardo.#43 Ender Inciarte - My guess is that Inciarte was just assigned the lowest number left over after the new veterans got their picks. Josh Lindblom wore #43 last season.
#45 Chad Durbin - Durbin wore #37 during his first stint with the Phillies. I wonder what made him choose #45, made famous by Tug McGraw, for this go round? The Phillies haven't assigned #45 to anyone since Pedro Martinez wore it for part of the 2009 season.
1990 Topps #525 |
#5 Steve Henderson - The new hitting coach assumes former bench coach Pete Mackanin's old number.
#21 Wally Joyner - Joyner wore #21 during his formidable years with the Angels. Former hitting coach Greg Gross wore the number last season.
#23 Ryne Sandberg - Sandberg made this number famous during his Hall of Fame career with the Cubs. Brian Schneider's recent retirement made the number available - although I can't imagine Sandberg wearing any other number.
#54 Rod Nichols - The Phillies "unretired" Brad Lidge's #54 for their new bullpen coach.
New Numbers
#8 Juan Samuel - Samuel wore #12 during his first two years as a Phillies coach. With Shane Victorino's depature last year, Samuel's old #8 was freed up so he made the switch.
#59 Antonio Bastardo - As discussed above, Bastardo's #59 is his third uniform number in three years.
2002 Topps Total #486 |
- From 1 to 60, the following non-retired numbers are still available - #49, #56, #57. These numbers were last worn by Vance Worley, Joe Blanton and David Herndon, respectively.
- New non-roster invitees receiving low numbers include catcher Humbero Quintero (#12), outfielder Joe Mather (#22), infielders Josh Fields (#24) and Yuniesky Betancout (#25) and pitchers Rodrigo Lopez (#16) and Aaron Cook (#29). Veterans are typically saved the embarrassment of sporting numbers in the 60s and 70s.
- Outfielder Zach Collier wins the prize for the highest number with #80. The last player I remember being in camp with a number that high was Chase Utley, back when he was a non-roster invitee in 2002.
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