Génesis Cabrera and Yimi Garcia have a lot in common. They’re both from the Dominican Republic, they’re both relief pitchers, they both play for the Blue Jays, and they have unusual (and consecutive!) uni numbers — 92 for Cabrera and 93 for Garcia. Moreover, they both hold the all-time MLB record for the most seasons wearing their respective numbers — and in both cases, it’s five seasons.
I learned that last tidbit from an informative series of tweets by a guy named Zak Young, who listed all of the “most seasons wearing No. [x]” records that have been set or tied so far this season. Here’s the breakdown:
Players Who Set New Records
- No. 64: Yankees pitcher Caleb Ferguson (6 seasons)
- No. 65: Dodgers pitcher James Paxton (10 seasons)
- No. 78 : Dodgers pitcher Michael Grove and Orioles pitcher Yennier Cano (3 seasons apiece)
Players Who Tied Existing Records
- No. 59: Guardians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (15 seasons; tied with former MLBer Todd Jones)
- No. 66: Marlins pitcher Tanner Scott (7 seasons; tied with former MLBer Yasiel Puig)
Players Who Extended Their Own Records
- No. 0: Mets pitcher Adam Ottavino (12 seasons)
- No. 62: Mets pitcher José Quintana (13 seasons)
- No. 67: Royals pitcher Seth Lugo (9 seasons)
- No. 71: Astros pitcher Josh Hader (8 seasons)
- No. 74: Red Sox pitcher Kenley Jansen (15 seasons)
- No. 77: Atlanta pitcher Joe Jiménez (8 seasons)
- No. 79: Astros first baseman José Abreu (11 seasons)
- No. 81: Diamondbacks pitcher Ryan Thompson (5 seasons)
- No. 84: Padres pitcher Dylan Cease (6 seasons)
- No. 89: Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck (5 seasons)
- No. 90: Angels pitcher Adam Cimber (7 seasons)
- No. 92: Blue Jays pitcher Génesis Cabrera (5 seasons)
- No. 93: Blue Jays pitcher Yimi Garcia (5 seasons)
- No. 95: Yankees utility player Oswaldo Cabrera (3 seasons)
———
The two obvious trends here are that almost all of the players on the list are pitchers (just two exceptions), and all of the non-zero numbers are 59 or higher.
Interesting stuff! Big thanks to Zak Young for compiling it.
Caleb Ferguson is on the Yankees now, but he still wears 64: link
Fixed!
They are bringing big numbers back! That was my cry to my youngest when I put her into 55 for softball and basketball! There was a real trend of kids wanting small numbers. Post players wearing teens! Ugh! Bring the big numbers back! I love it.
I’ve always though higher numbers really only looked good for American football and hockey. 55 and below are what looks good in baseball, hoops, and soccer.
And the Yankees response to you?
Look! We’re prepped to assign Uniform number 100 because we’ve retired 1/5 of the numbers available for assignment!
This is where I am. In baseball, anything over 55 looks like a spring training invitee who will get a real number if he makes the team. The only time I wore any number higher than #17 was the year I wore #85 as wide receiver in high school.
It’s the easiest way to ensure you’ll always get “your” number, as well!
*Tons* of players want single-digit numbers. Nobody’s gonna request 79 (or whatever).
I wonder if Cabrera and Garcia chose 92 and 93 for their significance to the Blue Jays?
Cabrera wore 92 in St. Louis too.
Interestingly, switching *to* 92 after starting in 61.
He was the first player in MLB history to wear the number. Wonder if that was a consideration in the switch.
Maybe he’s clairvoyant!
Garcia had 93 in Miami and Houston anyway, so there goes my hypothesis.
Typo in the team name, “Dimaondbacks” pitcher Ryan Thompson
Thanks. Fixed.
Since the Yankees embraced the tradition of retiring the numbers of their greatest players, they now must lean in on their current tradition of giving players high numbers. I don’t think anyone has complained yet.
Anyone know if most MLB teams decided to ban number 69, or did the Commissioner ban it?
It’s definitely not commissioner-banned. Technically, I don’t think there are any rules on which numbers are acceptable. Eddie Gaedel famously wore “1/4”, but I think a team could issue number 100 if they wanted to.
I’m not aware of anyone banning it. It’s been worn a decent number of times in the past few years: link
I have never seen the attraction of single digits outside of soccer. The big 4 North American sports and uniforms lend themselves terrifically for double digits. Who wants to wear 0 or 1 anyway? They both signify to me that you are screaming for strictly personal attention within the framework of a team. Exception, again, soccer: 1 is the classice number for the starting goalkeeper.
Baseball players got their numbers originally from where they fell in the lineup, so you definitely wanted to be 1-8 (similar to soccer) and pitchers got 10 and up.
Hockey had similar numbering conventions to soccer as well – goalies got 1, defensemen got lower numbers (2-7), and forwards got 8 and up. So again, a lower number implied you were an established member of a team.