Best Number in Each City

[DDR 3,015]

I'd go with 23 for Chicago.

You have arguably the NBA GOAT in Michael Jordan & a Cubs Hall of Famer in Ryne Sandberg. Both 23s retired for their teams. Jermaine Dye was the MVP when the White Sox ended their World Series drought. And Devin Hester was one of the best of all-time at his role for the Bears.

That leaves the Blackhawks, but someone else would need to weigh in on that.

Not to mention Robin Ventura wore #23 as well. As far as the Hawks, I don't think anybody of any significance wore #23, with apologies to Stu Grimson and Kris Versteeg.

#9 was pretty solid, too.

Hawks: Bobby Hull

Bears: Jim McMahon

Bulls: Luol Deng and Ron Harper

Sox: Minnie Minoso

Cubs: Gabby Hartnett and Hank Sauer (two former MVPs, apparently...never heard of 'em, but I'm not a Cubs fan)

[STL FANATIC 145]

St. Louis has a bunch of almost.

#2 for Al MacInnis (Blues) and Red Schoendienst (Cardinals)

#8 for Barclay Plager (Blues) and Larry Wilson (football Cardinals)

#14 for Kenny Boyer (Cardinals) and Doug Wickenheiser and Geoff Courtnall (Blues)

#16 for Brett Hull (Blues) and Ray Lankford (Cardinals)

#24 for Bernie Federko (Blues) and Whitey Herzog (Cardinals)

Those aren't ALL retired numbers but most are and the ones that aren't are the type of guys who still kind of owned that number for a while. But in the end, I can't think of any in which there is a counter part in all 3 sports.

[Dnice 235]

And also, Oscar Robertson in Cincinnati

[twi 378]

Tough question for Tampa. I'll admit to knowing diddly about the Bucs, and not being familiar enough with the Rays to know all the numbers. Any great 4s or 26s on those teams? I'd have to rank those two numbers above any other when it comes to the Lightning.

[Shumway 2,285]

Off the top of my head, I'd say #20 for Philadelphia

- Brian Dawkins (Eagles)

- Mike Schmidt (Phillies)

- Jimmy Watson (Flyers)

- Eric Snow (Sixers)

[Sport 13,678]

And also, Oscar Robertson in Cincinnati

Yep, although he wore 12 in college at UC and 1 after leaving Cincy.

14 is definitely Cincinnati's number

[BBTV 19,359]

Off the top of my head, I'd say #20 for Philadelphia

- Brian Dawkins (Eagles)

- Mike Schmidt (Phillies)

- Jimmy Watson (Flyers)

- Eric Snow (Sixers)

Philadelphia pretty much sucks at having great pro sports players, so there is absolutely no single number of any significance. The best I could come up with, first factoring in the few retired numbers the city has, are:

#32

Steve Carlton - HOF (Phillies)

Billy Cunningham - HOF (Sixers)

Charles Barkley - HOF (Sixers) (wore for one memorable season because of Magic's HIV)

Um... Ricky Watters? (Eagles)

Um.... Um.... Murray Craven (Flyers)

#20

Mike Schmidt - HOF (Phillies)

Brian Dawkins - maybe HOF (Eagles)

Doug Collins - (Sixers)

Um... Dave Poulin? Jimmy Watsan? Jonesie? (Flyers)

There's no other number I could come up with more than two legitimate players for.

[MadmanLA 156]

19 in San Diego--Lance Alworth and Tony Gwynn

[fouhy12 1,227]

For Boston it would have to be #33, if you're going by ability and championships won.

Celtics: Larry Bird

Red Sox: Jason Varitek

Bruins: Zdeno Chara

I don't think the Patriots have had any player of significance wear #33.

#4 is a close second, but more for notoriety than championships

Bruins: Bobby Orr

Red Sox: Joe Cronin

Patriots: Adam Vinatieri

Kevin Faulk has to get it for 33. He's not an all-time great or anything, but he was a key piece in all three of the Pats first Super Bowls.

[tigerslionspistonshabs 1,623]

Detroit`s tough

5- Lidstrom, Hank Greenberg

9- Gordie Howe, Matt Stafford

1- Chaunceu Billups, Lou Whitaker, Terry Sawchuk

20 (Barry) wasn`t really shared with anyone too special. Neither was Yzerman`s 19 or Isiah`s 11.

[Josh.0 150]

Off the top of my head, I'd say #20 for Philadelphia

- Brian Dawkins (Eagles)

- Mike Schmidt (Phillies)

- Jimmy Watson (Flyers)

- Eric Snow (Sixers)

Philadelphia pretty much sucks at having great pro sports players, so there is absolutely no single number of any significance. The best I could come up with, first factoring in the few retired numbers the city has, are:

#32

Steve Carlton - HOF (Phillies)

Billy Cunningham - HOF (Sixers)

Charles Barkley - HOF (Sixers) (wore for one memorable season because of Magic's AIDS)

Um... Ricky Watters? (Eagles)

Um.... Um.... Murray Craven (Flyers)

#20

Mike Schmidt - HOF (Phillies)

Brian Dawkins - maybe HOF (Eagles)

Doug Collins - (Sixers)

Um... Dave Poulin? Jimmy Watsan? Jonesie? (Flyers)

There's no other number I could come up with more than two legitimate players for.

HIV -- big difference.

[BBTV 19,359]

True dat. Edited.

[ConcreteCharlie 328]

Off the top of my head, I'd say #20 for Philadelphia

- Brian Dawkins (Eagles)

- Mike Schmidt (Phillies)

- Jimmy Watson (Flyers)

- Eric Snow (Sixers)

Andre Waters

[MadmanLA 156]

Detroit`s tough

5- Lidstrom, Hank Greenberg

9- Gordie Howe, Matt Stafford

1- Chaunceu Billups, Lou Whitaker, Terry Sawchuk

20 (Barry) wasn`t really shared with anyone too special. Neither was Yzerman`s 19 or Isiah`s 11.

I can't think of any other prominent Detroit sports star (those who played for the Pistons, Tigers, Red Wings specifically) that wore #20 besides Barry Sanders, but Billy Sims and Lem Barney have to be considered too.

[raysox 2,482]

Tough question for Tampa. I'll admit to knowing diddly about the Bucs, and not being familiar enough with the Rays to know all the numbers. Any great 4s or 26s on those teams? I'd have to rank those two numbers above any other when it comes to the Lightning.

So I've been talking to my roommate and dad about this for the last couple days, and we came up with a few but none that stand out as elite. A lot hinge on current careers of young players.

The best we have is

19 - Keyshawn Johnson, Scott Kazmir, Brad Richards

55 - Brooks, Matt Moore, Darryl Sydor(only one season, but won a cup)

14 - David Price, Brad Johnson

12 - Wade Boggs, Perry Van Der Beek(retired by the rowdies), Ryan Malone, Doug Williams

3 - Jameis Winston, Evan Longoria

13 - Mike Evans, Pavel Kubina, Carl Crawford

22 - Doug Martin, Matt Garza, Dan Boyle

Couple of snubs like Lecavalier, St. Louis, Ronde Barber, Sapp, and Alstott, but that's due to a weak field from the other sports.

[2001mark 1,204]

3 - Jameis Winston, Evan Longoria

I'd say that'll land itself eventually.

[TravisBridell 0]

For Minnesota, I liked 28 as aforesaid with Blyleven and Adrian. I was thinking about all current players and came up with 22, Harrison Smith, Andrew Wiggins, and Miguel Sano, are all promising younger players. I'm not as familiar with the Wild, so someone would have to enlighten me about Niederreiter.

[bosrs1 1,288]

San Diego is easy...

#19

Tony Gwynn - being the big reason. Best player to ever take the field for the Padres, one of MLB's all time greatest hitters and member of the HOF. Not to mention just a great guy and member of the community.

Lance Alworth - One of the Chargers greater players, one of their few retired numbers, and a member of the Pro Football HOF

[worcat 553]

St. Louis has a bunch of almost.

#2 for Al MacInnis (Blues) and Red Schoendienst (Cardinals)

#8 for Barclay Plager (Blues) and Larry Wilson (football Cardinals)

#14 for Kenny Boyer (Cardinals) and Doug Wickenheiser and Geoff Courtnall (Blues)

#16 for Brett Hull (Blues) and Ray Lankford (Cardinals)

#24 for Bernie Federko (Blues) and Whitey Herzog (Cardinals)

Those aren't ALL retired numbers but most are and the ones that aren't are the type of guys who still kind of owned that number for a while. But in the end, I can't think of any in which there is a counter part in all 3 sports.

#1 Ozzie Smith (Cardinals) and Mike Liut (Blues)

#5 Albert Pujols (Cardinals) and Bob Plager (Blues)

#7 Matt Holliday (Cardinals) and Keith Tkachuk/Joe Mullen/Gary Unger/Red Berenson (Blues)

#13 Kurt Warner (STL Rams) and Matt Carpenter (Cardinals)

#31 Bob Forsch (Cardinals) and Curtis Joseph/Grant Fuhr (Blues)

But I would agree #24 would be the most iconic for STL