Greatest athletes to have worn each number (1-99)

Freak

I added a few more hockey goalies who I think deserve consideration:

Terry Sawchuk - 1
Jacques Plante - 1
Martin Brodeur - 30
Tony Esposito - 35
Dominik Hasek - 39

Suntan Superman

WC's Resident Samoan

17 - John Havlicek
26 - Rod Woodson
35 - Phil Niekro
39 - Roy Campanella
45 - Bob Gibson
46 - Chuck Muncie
49 - Ron Guidry
52 - Ray Lewis
55 - Orel Hershiser
57 - Johan Santana
59 - Jack Ham

Twist of Lemon

MMA Moderator

eh...I dont know if Chuck is a best ever at 47, maybe as a placeholder

Danny Diamond

Founder/Admin

45: Bob Gibson
73: John Hannah
81: Randy Moss sans Terrell Owens. Believe that.

Twist of Lemon

MMA Moderator

84 Randy Moss > 81 Randy Moss

just my opinion though, I mean outside of touchdowns his stats in Minny are incredible

1313 yards on only 69 catches? almost 20 yards average per catch? 17 TDs to go with it?

IRALB

Yeah, speaking as a resident Jets fan, Teemu wore 13 from 1992-1995, switching to number eight (which he wore in Finland with Jokerit) after Randy Carlyle retired, wearing it from 1995 to 2004 with Anaheim, San Jose, and Colorado. Teemu wore 13 during 2005-06 when he returned to Anaheim because Sandis "I'll have another" Ozolinsh briefly wore 8. The next year Selanne returned to his familiar number eight.

Freak, after 76 goals and 132 points (I was at both record breaking games in '93) as a rookie it would be a hard feat to even come close to equalling those totals. Selanne did enjoy some solid years with Anaheim in his first stint finishing in the top three in scoring twice, until the washout years with Sharks and Avalanche, before his miraculous return to offensive prowess after the lockout.

I am very tired.

Dr. Giganto

Bobby Orr I can live with...I was just afraid somebody was going to bring up the F word (Favre) and then people would say "oh yeah, Favre. you know what, let's scrap this list. Favre is the greatest player to ever wear ANY number. The list is just 'Favre'"

And then I would have gone apeshit...

Anyway, as for Gehrig, here are his career stats:

BA/OBP/SLG: .340/.447/.632. 5th highest OBP all-time, 3rd highest slugging percentage all time, 3rd highest OPS all time.

493 HRs, 1995 RBIs, 1888 runs scored.

In 1927, batted .373/.474/.765, with 47 homeruns, 175 RBIs, and 149 runs scored.

In 1930, batted .379/.473/.721, with 41 homeruns, 174 RBIs, and 143 runs scored

He also had 184 RBIs and 163 runs scored in 1931.

Obviously, RBIs and runs scored are directly affected by the incredible team he had around him (batting behind Ruth obviously helped), but those are fucking crazy numbers. And look at the BA/OBP/SLG numbers. Absolutely nuts...

But like I said, I can live with Orr

Dr. Giganto

Sorry for the double post, but I was just looking up the top 10s for OBP and slugging and I discovered something amazing. Todd Helton is tenth ALL TIME in on-base percentage. Obviously Coors Field was a major reason why, but I'm still amazed.

Suntan Superman

WC's Resident Samoan

That was already discussed and confirmed.

This is second place at each number.

00: Robert Parish, Jim Otto
0: Gilbert Arenas
1: Oscar Robertson, Warren Moon, Jacques Plante, Terry Sawchuk
2: Derek Jeter, Moses Malone
3: Babe Ruth
4: Bobby Orr, Lou Gehrig, Brett Favre, Jean Beliveau
5: Joe DiMaggio
6: Bill Russell
7: John Elway, George Best, Mickey Mantle,Phil Esposito
8: Cal Ripken, Jr., Kobe Bryant, Steve Young Yogi Berra
9: Ted Williams, Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard, Bobby Hull
10: Pele, Guy Lafleur, Fran Tarkenton
11: Mark Messier, Isaiah Thomas
12: Tom Brady, Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach
13: Wilt Chamberlain
14: Y.A. Tittle, Ernie Banks, Johan Cruyff, Thierry Henry, Pete Rose, Don Hutson
15: Bart Starr
16: Joe Montana
17: John Havlicek, Wendel Clark
18: Peyton Manning
19: Johnny Unitas, Tony Gwynn, Steve Yzerman
20: Barry Sanders
21: Roberto Clemente, Deion Sanders, LaDanian Tomlinson
22: Emmitt Smith, Mike Bossy, Roger Clemens
23: Michael Jordan
24: Willie Mays
25: Barry Bonds
26: Rod Woodson
27: Juan Marichal
28: Marshall Faulk, Darrell Green
29: Ken Dryden, Eric Dickerson, Satchel Page
30: Nolan Ryan, Martin Brodeur
31: Greg Maddux
32: Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Jim Brown
33: Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Patrick Roy, Sammy Baugh
34: Walter Payton
35: Tony Esposito, Phil Niekro
36: Gaylord Perry
37: Doak Walker
38: Curt Schilling
39: Dominik Hasek, Roy Campanella
40: Gale Sayers
41: Tom Seaver
42: Jackie Robinson
43: Larry Brown
44: Hank Aaron
45: Bob Gibson
46: Chuck Muncie
47: John Lynch
48: Daryl Johnston
49: Bobby Mitchell
50: Mike Singletary
51: Dick Butkus
52: Ray Lewis
53: Harry Carson
54: Randy White
55: Orel Hershiser
56: Lawrence Taylor
57: Johan Santana
58: Derrick Thomas
59: Jack Ham
60: Otto Graham, Chuck Bednarik
61: Rick Nash
62: Jim Langer
63: Dermontti Dawson Lee Roy Selmon
64: Randall McDaniel
65: Elvin Bethea
66: Mario Lemieux
67: Reggie McKenzie
68: Jaromir Jagr
69: Mark Schlereth
70: Art Donovan
71: Larry Allen
72: Carlton Fisk
73: Joe Klecko
74: Bruce Matthews, Merlin Olsen
75: Deacon Jones, Joe Greene
76: Lou Groza
77: Paul Coffey, Ray Bourque, Red Grange
78: Bruce Smith, Anthony Munoz
79: Roosevelt Brown
80: Jerry Rice
81: Art Monk, Dick Lane, Carl Eller, Terrell Owens, Tim Brown
82: Raymond Berry
83: Ted Hendricks
84: Randy Moss
85: Jack Youngblood
86: Buck Buchanon, Hines Ward
87: Dave Casper
88: Marvin Harrison, Alan Page
89: Mike Ditka
90: Neil Smith
91: Sergei Federov
92: Reggie White
93: Doug Gilmour
94: Charles Haley
95: Richard Dent
96: Cortez Kennedy
97: Jeremy Roenick
98: Tony Siragusa, Tom Harmon
99: Wayne Gretzky

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

That's a great stat. I've always liked Helton, but I'd like to see what his road numbers are one day and how they match up with Coors.

Also on the All-time OBP list.. Pujols at #16 of course.. but a couple more surprises..

First, Frank Thomas is STILL #20. Just goes to show you how great of a player he once was. He should definitely be in the hall of fame..

and Lance Berkman is #27 with Jason Giambi at #33