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Get Set for 2023 With This 23-Themed Infographic

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With 2023 almost upon us, reader Marc Mayntz has created this infographic showing the current or most recent No. 23 to appear in a game for all 153 MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLS teams. They’re arranged alphabetically by player surname. (Note that the surname is not necessarily the same as the NOB — Darwin Quintero of the Houston Dynamo, for example, wears “Darwin Jr” as his NOB, but he’s alphabetized here based on “Quintero,” not based on “Darwin Jr.”)

A few additional notes from Marc:

  • Inter Miami and St. Louis SC have never had a No. 23 on their roster, so I substituted the city name. I reached out to Inter to ask if their lack of a No. 23 was in deference to David Beckham but received no reply.
  • For each team, I tried to pick a jersey that is historically accurate and makes the jersey distinct from the others. This is really difficult for MLS teams, since the league uses a single template for its kits.
  • I used white jerseys for retired (or soon to be retired) No. 23s.
  • Don Mattingly and Frank Ramsey are the only historically accurate NNOBs.
  • The template I used has room for 154 squares, so the last square is the roof livery of Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 car from his win at Talladega in 2021.
That’s a nice, fun project to ring out the year. Thanks, Marc!

• • • • •

A few housekeeping items: I neglected to mention two days ago that Bob Kelly won the Substack subscription raffle. Congrats to him, and thanks again to Matt Grey for sponsoring that one.

Speaking of raffles, I’m happy to report that all of the year-end raffle items mailed out yesterday. So if you were one of this year’s winners, watch your mailbox.

I’ll have the Ticker later this morning, and that’ll be a wrap for me for 2022. Phil will have lots of bowl game coverage this weekend, and then I’ll see you back here after the calendar has turned. I wish everyone in the Uni Watch comm-uni-ty a safe and happy New Year, and I look forward to more good things in 2023. Peace. — Paul

 
  
 
Comments (18)

    Would like to see the #23 Ekman-Larsson Canucks jersey there be a thing of the past and not the present. Canucks need to trade him badly to free up salary cap space. As you may be able to tell, he is not my favourite player for the amount of money he makes. Need him out to free up salary cap space.

    Thank you Marc! You’ve created a thing of beauty! What a wonderful way to start my day – and end my year. I truly appreciate every ounce of hard work you put into this. Happy New Year to you!

    I love this.

    I would also love to see a version that includes the WNBA and NWSL. Next year perhaps?

    Yeah, the thing about these graphics is that there have been a few of them by now and most have included few or no women, which perpetually feels like a missed opportunity. Christen Press wears No. 23 for Angel City and could have gotten the one extra spot, for example.

    Maybe it’s going to be up to us to do a comparable project and include women’s athletes.

    It should be noted that “current or most recent” does not always apply to retired numbers, as while some are retired as soon as the player retires, others get used by many other players before the honor is bestowed. Such is the case for Willie Horton, whose number 23 was most famously worn after him by Kirk Gibson, but also still issued by the Tigers as late as 2000, when it was worn last by Hideo Nomo.

    So the criteria should read “current or most recent player to wear it, or the player for whom it is retired”.

    With Lebron’s ill-fated switch to 6, I think it’s time the NBA retires 23 league-wide. Are they really going to wait until MJ dies to bestow the honour on him?

    Nice to include Bubba Wallace in this sea of 23…though I would have gone with the infamous Michigan roof number placement from ‘21 :
    link

    Would have been better to use the Mariners Cream/Blue/Yellow for Ty France, rather than the hideous NW Green.

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