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Get Set for 2024 With This 24-Themed Infographic

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Last year at this time, as the calendar was about to turn to 2023, Uni Watch reader Marc Mayntz came up a really fun infographic featuring the then-current or most recent No. 23 to appear in a game for all 153 MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLS teams. This year, as you can see above, he’s prepared something similar for No. 24, but with a few key differences. Here’s his explainer:

Nine leagues are represented this year (MLB, NFL, CFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL, PWHL, MLS, and NWSL), plus NASCAR and Formula 1, encompassing 196 teams/drivers.

Players/drivers are listed in alphabetical order.

White jerseys are retired numbers, with the following exceptions:

  • Rick Barry never wore a white jersey with the Warriors, so I used his home gold jersey from the championship 1974-75 season.
  • Miguel Cabrera’s No. 24 has not yet been officially retired by the Tigers, but it presumably will be, probably when he’s inducted into the Hall of Fame.
  • Champ Bailey’s No. 24 has not been officially retired by the Broncos, but the Broncos have said that it will never be issued again, thus making it de facto retired.
  • I went with the white Lakers jersey for Kobe Bryant, since that is what he wore for his 81-point game.

All other squares are the most recent players who wore No. 24 for that team (as of about Dec. 10). There’s no real rhyme or reason to which version of a jersey I picked; it basically came down to an intersection of historical accuracy and aesthetic recognizability, with a dash of sentiment here and there.

The NNOB jerseys should be easily identifiable, but just in case anyone is confused:

  • Yankees: Willie Calhoun
  • Celtics: Sam Jones
  • Giants and Mets: Willie Mays

Four of the six PWHL teams do not curently have a No. 24 on their roster (or at least they didn’t on Dec. 10), and neither does NWSL expansion team Bay FC, so I used the city name for those teams.

Formula 1 driver Zhou Guanyu is alphabetically last and the only F1 driver from China. His name is spelled in Hànzì, just like on his car.

No. 24 is a very popular soccer goalkeeper number, so I tried to approximate those kits to the best of my ability.

Finally, my personal favorite by far is the 1964-65 Tony Perez Reds jersey with the pinstripes and arched lettering under the number.

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Great stuff, and a fun way to get ready for the new year. Please join me in thanking Marc for sharing this excellent project with us!

 

 
  
 

Substack Reminder

In case you missed it on Thursday, my Substack article this week is a ranking of the year’s top 12 uni-related storylines. (As you may recall, I did something similar last year.) And this year I’ve added something new: I’ve come up with suggested New Year’s resolutions for many leagues, commissioners — resolutions that, if followed, would definitely make the uni-verse a better place.

You can read the first part of this article here. In order to read the entire thing, you’ll need to become a paid Substack subscriber (which will also get you full access to my Substack archives).

My thanks, as always, for your consideration.

 

 

The Last Kitten Photo of the Year

Uni Watch girl mascot Biscuit is very interested in this coffee mug that I got E for Christmas.

 

Can of the Day

You are getting very sleeeeepy….

• • • • •

Our latest raffle winner is Frankie Parish, who’s won himself a free one-year subscription to my Substack. Congrats to him, and my repeated thanks to Kary Klismet for sponsoring this one.

I’ll have at least one more post this morning and then I’m gonna call it a day. Enjoy Phil’s weekend content, have a great New Year’s Eve, and I’ll see you back here on New Year’s Day. Thanks for making 2023 another great year for Uni Watch and for our comm-uni-ty. See you next year. Peace. — Paul

 

Comments (28)

    I was wondering why Wayne Simmonds was representing the Leafs (instead of the obvious choice, Bryan McCabe), until I read the parameters. Always read the article first people!

    24 is my favorite number due to the shapes of the digits. What a majestic graphic to see all the jersey 24s together!

    When the Nats came to DC, I had two jerseys: A 2005 home and a throwback 1950s pinstripe, both with 24 and no name on back. When I wore the modern jersey, folks tended to assume I was supporting Nick Johnson, who wore the number. And fair enough; Johnson was a favorite player of mine even before he came to DC. The throwback jersey, though, sparked many great conversations with older folks who would reminisce about favorite players on either Senators team who might have worn 24 for a minute or a season or two. The boring truth was it’s just my favorite number, and also the auspicious year of the city’s then-last World Series victory. If I bought a new Nats jersey, I’d have to think about getting 19 on the back. And since 19 was one of the first numbers I ever wore in youth baseball, it was a childhood favorite.

    Great 24 graphic and the can reminds me of James Bond movie intros: the barrel of a gun and James steps into focus…

    Marc – thank you for all your hard work and heart you put into this project. It is glorious!! Happy New Year.

    Nice work, Marc!
    No disrespect to you or to William Byron but 24 ‘is’ Jeff Gordon’s number…you shoulda rep’ed the rainbow or fanned the flames there.

    Right On, always love extra Christmas gifts, myself…
    Congrats to you, Cool beans to Kary

    Can anyone point me to the Packers’ No. 24? Looks like it might be third from lower right corner, bottom row, but no Williams has worn 24 for the Packers. Wood, sure, but not Williams.

    Gotcha. Thanks, Aaron. Kelly was with the Packers for a month this season, playing in one game. Marc did well to dig up that one.

    Great work, Marc. I love these infographic things.

    I’ve seen these done for the best players at each roster number for a variety of cities and have wanted to do one for Washington. I have all the players picked out but, unfortunately, I don’t know how to do the graphics – so I’m always impressed and a tad jealous when I see them done so beautifully.

    Hmm…the only #24 to win the Indy 500 is missing…Driven by Graham Hll

    link

    Hill is arguably one of the greatest racing drivers ever. He is the only racer to have the Indy 500, 24 Hours of LeMans and the Monaco Grand Prix. Throw in he was Formula One world champion in 1962 and 1968, and he’s a worthy entrant

    Thank you to everyone who expressed their appreciation. This project (both last year and this year) provides many moments of nostalgia and zen, and I am happy to keep it up for 2025 where there are only 3 retired numbers, one of which I am VERY excited to try my hand at…

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