Will Yo be #49 next season?

[kgbaseball]

I'm in the process of buying another Brewers jersey, and Yo would be my first choice. Do you guys think he'll still be #49 next season? I'm not sure, and that's what is holding me back from getting it. He's obviously a rookie, and I could easily see him changing his number for next year. Thoughts?

[TooLiveBrew]

No idea, but his rationale for wearing it is that fellow Mexican (I think Yo was born in TX, but both parents were born in Mexico) and former Brewer Teddy Higuera wore #49. I'd say it's a decent bet that he'd still wear it, but you never know if that was his first choice, or a backup.

[patrickgpe]

well he was 43 and 34 in the minors, and 43 was open when he got the call and 34 was retired. I think it would be a good bet that he stays 49.

[1992casey]

Players can change numbers at any point. Bill Spiers, for instance, changed from #6 to #9 in the middle of his third season. I'd assume he did that because #9 became available when Greg Brock was released. Previously, Don Sutton changed from #21 to #20 after Gorman Thomas was traded.

 

I think I'd go ahead and buy if you really want the jersey now. If he changes numbers, I'd consider the number on the jersey to be in the same category as the number on a rookie card. You'd have something fairly unique and maybe even somewhat of a collector's item.

 

Having said all that, I don't think it's a coincidence that he's wearing the same number as Valenzuela and Higuera.

[kgbaseball]

Thanks for the input, guys. I appreciate it.

[mothershipconnection]

Yeah, nobody's really gonna laugh at you or anything if the number changes. Unless he becomes the next huge thing in baseball, most won't even know his number. I'd probably estimate that I know 75% of Brewers numbers and 10% around the league - if that, and I'm probably in the upper 5% of fans (i.e. the bf.net crowd) in terms of time spent on geeky baseball activities (paying attention to things other than watching games). Honestly, if I saw a Gallardo Jersey that said 43, I wouldn't think twice. The only thing that should hold you back is if YOU would be really averse to wearing a jersey with the wrong number.

[logan82]

I always play it safe and just buy jerseys without names or numbers since most palyers can be expected to move to another team within 6-8 years tops. It violates my own personal Fan Law to wear a jersey with the name of another team's player on it.

[dadofandrew]

I doubt if I know more than 5-10 numbers of current Brewers.

[1992casey]

I'm not big on remembering numbers, either, although I have to say I've learned/relearned a lot because of the Count down to 82 wins thread. That's where I picked up the Spiers and Sutton stuff. It's also where I learned some pretty good trivia: Bob Burda and Rick Auerbach were the two Brewers preceding Yount to wear #19.

 

I'll remember Yo for sure because of this thread and because of the Valenzuela/Higuera connection. And here's one other significant number change: Gorman Thomas gave up #44 when the Brewers acquired Hank Aaron.