Stories Behind The Numbers

[poser]

Barry Zito wore 75 because it made a "shelf" for his last name to sit on

 

[Echo]

Gordie Howe wore #17 as a rookie.  In those days teams traveled by train, and the sleeper berths on the Red Wings' train were assigned by uniform number.  Lower numbers got the lower berths.  When the number 9 became available Howe took it to get the better spot on the train and kept it for the rest of his career.

[BrandMooreArt]

1.) The Petty’s (NASCAR) had a nice sequential numbering thing going on through each generation. Lee Petty (42), Richard Petty (43), Kyle Petty (44), Adam Petty (45)

 

2.) Dale Earnhardt Jr sported the number 8 in NASCAR’s Cup series for a long time, honoring his grandfather Ralph Earnhardt (that car was also owned by Dale Sr)

 

3.) Formula 1’s Daniel Ricardo chose number 3 to honor his favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt 

 

4.) Peyton Manning chose number 18 as his NFL number to honor his brother Cooper, his high school WR teammate

 

5.) Jarvis Landry (Browns) is wearing number 80 this year, same as his LSU days

[TheRealPepman]

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/five+current+canucks+their+numbers/11713567/story.html

Quote

Brian Burke doesn’t have a say on who wears Canucks jerseys anymore, but he still has a connection to the numbers a couple of guys sport.

It was Burke, Vancouver’s then-general manager, who had suggested that Daniel and Henrik Sedin hit the ice with No. 22 and No. 33, respectively, on their backs. It’s a spinoff on Burke selecting the twins No. 2 and No. 3 overall in the 1999 NHL draft, after the Atlanta Thrashers took Patrik Stefan with the No. 1 choice.

“He thought it would be a good idea,” Daniel says of Burke. “That’s the reason behind it.

“I didn’t care. Not at all. I’ve never been a big numbers guy.”

Daniel used to wear No. 12 in Sweden. Henrik had No. 20. They wore those numbers internationally, including at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy.

“Those were picked for us, too,” says Daniel. “I’ve never cared.

“It’s understandable that some guys really care. Sometimes a number has a story behind it.”

For the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Daniel had switched to No. 22, but Henrik stayed with No. 20, leaving No. 33 for Fredrik Modin.

The forwards have since gone on to wear their Canucks’ numbers internationally.

Patrick Roy is the greatest player to ever wear No. 33 in the NHL. Henrik could be the greatest skater in the group, although Zdeno Chara would also be in that conversation. Kris Draper is another player who wore No. 33 for an extended period.

Other players who have had No. 33 for the Canucks include Sean Burke, Marc Crawford, Jay Mazur and Alfie Michaud.

As for No. 22, it’s been worn by the Canucks' Tiger Williams and across the league by hall of famers Mike Bossy, Dino Ciccarelli, Mike Gartner, Brad Park and Steve Shutt. Canucks who have worn it include Gregg Boddy, Jeff Brown, Robert Dirk, Dave Lowry and Bob Manno.

 

 

[WavePunter]

I remember seeing baseball player whose last name is "May" choose #5 because he was born on May 5th. Don't recall the first name or team though..

[Discrim]

It was Carlos May, of the White Sox IIRC.

Back to Rick Barry, when he joined the Rockets, 24 was taken, so he took the unusual step of using different numbers for home and road games.  He wore 2 at home and 4 on the road.

[Graham_Clayton]

Australian cricketer Shane Warne wore number 23 in One Day and T20 matches because he was a big fan of Michael Jordan:

 

 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

13 hours ago, Graham_Clayton said:

Australian cricketer Shane Warne wore number 23 in One Day and T20 matches because he was a big fan of Michael Jordan:

 

 

 

Honouring Michael Jordan was also the motivation of David Beckham when he went to Real Madrid and could not wear no. 7 because of Raul.

 

Beckham kept no. 23 when he came to the LA Galaxy.

 

 

[M4One]

On 8/22/2018 at 9:23 PM, Placebo said:

The only athlete I would ask for an autograph from, Mario Lemieux, chose "66" as nod to Gretzky's "99". He wanted to/knew they would be compared.

 

 

 

And Gretzky started wearing 99 in junior with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds because he couldn't wear the number 9 he had always wore as a tribute to his hero, Gordie Howe.

 

Former Lemieux teammate, Jagomir Jagr wore 68 in honour of the Prague Spring rebellion.

 

Pavel Bure originally wanted to wear 96 (Sept 6) when he joined the Canucks in 1991 to signify his arrival to North America but was told no by Pat Quinn.  In 1995, he finally got his wish and switched to 96, which only lasted a couple of years before going back to 10.  Another story, which is the one I always thought was correct, had to do with him becoming an American or Canadian citizen at that time.

[M4One]

PK Subban wears 76 because 6 is the number he wore in junior, which was the round he was drafted in.  The 7 represents 2007 when he was drafted by Montreal.