MLB Number 2s

The Baseball Hall of Fame is an excellent place to start in determining the elite of Major Leaguers that wore number 2 on their uniforms. So far at the time of this writing the folks in the Cooperstown, New York that wore the deuce are:

• Mickey Cochrane
• Charlie Gehringer
• Jimmie Foxx
• Gabby Hartnett
• Sam Rice
• Heinie Manush
• Jim Bottomley
• Billy Herman
• Earl Averill
• Joe Sewell
• Rick Ferrell
• Ernie Lombardi
• Red Schoendienst
• Leo Durocher
• Nellie Fox
• Sparky Anderson
• Roberto Alomar
• Derek Jeter
• Buck Leonard

Let us also take peek at what people that wore the number, also had that number retired by the team in their honor. These folks include:

• Red Schoendienst was a former secon baseman and later manager of the St. Louis Cardinals among other teams. His number 2 was retired in Cardinal red on May 11, 1996.
• Nellie Fox played 2nd base for the Chicago White Sox & received the great honor of having his number put up on the Comiskey Park Stadium Club exterior on May 1, 1976.
• Tommy Lasorda once pitched in the Big Leagues but is will forever be remembered as the skipper of the LA Dodgers for over 20 years. LA fans have seen his Dodger Blue preserved since August 15, 1997.
• Charlie Gehringer played second base for the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers placed his jersey number in a high place on June 12, 1983.
• Derek Jeter the outstanding long time short stop of the New York Yankees, had his number 2 retired on May 14, 2017.

Okay, now it is time to put our knowledge to work and pick the greatest players that wore number 2 in MLB history based on performance stats. We do not have all of the players from some of the Negro Leagues in place yet but when we do we will certainly update the list so please excuse us on this. The criteria is simple we pulled stats from Baseball-Reference and Stat-Head on some important numbers. Is the player in the Hall of Fame? What were the Wins After Replacement or the team victories gained or lost after they entered the lineup versus the player they replaced? Where do they rank in the following categories in history: Home Runs, Runs Produced, Strike Outs, ERA. We mash this information up and see how many of the criteria rankings they have and then multiply that number (0-6) times the number of years they wore the particular uniform number we are discussing and then add it to bonus points if in the Hall of Fame and for earning any Gold Glove Awards and/or Cy Young Awards. We call that calculated number our Ranked Formula and use it as a basis of Comparison to give you the Top Fifteen at the uniform number. 

1. Roberto Alomar is a Hall of Fame, Second Baseman/HD, Shortstop wearing the number on the Arizona Diamondbacks (04) for 1 seasons as he batted 0.3 for his career, had an On Base percentage of 0.443, with 210 career Home Runs, and 10 Gold Glove Awarded Seasons.
2. Paul Blair is in the Baseball Hall of Fame and played the position of Center Fielder, Right Fielder, Left Fielder, Second Baseman, Third Baseman, and Shortstop wearing the number 2 on the New York Yankees (1977-79) for 3 seasons as he had 134 career Home Runs, and 8 Gold Glove Awarded Seasons.
3. Derek Jeter played the position of Shortstop wearing the number 2 on the New York Yankees (95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14) for 20 seasons as he batted 0.31 for his Hall of Fame career, had an On Base percentage of 0.44, with 260 career Home Runs, and 5 Gold Glove Awarded Seasons.
4. Devon White is in the Baseball Hall of Fame and played the position of Center Fielder, Right Fielder, and Left Fielder wearing the number 2 on the Florida Marlins (96) for 1 seasons as he batted 0.263 for his career, had an On Base percentage of 0.419, with 208 career Home Runs, and 7 Gold Glove Awarded Seasons.
5. Nellie Fox is another in the Hall of Fame who played the position of , Second Baseman, Third Baseman, and First Baseman wearing the number 2 on the Chicago White Sox (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63) Houston Colt .45s (64) Houston Astros (65) for 13 seasons as he batted 0.288 for his career, had an On Base percentage of 0.363, with 35 career Home Runs, and 3 Gold Glove Awarded Seasons.
6. Andrelton Simmons played wearing the number 2 on the Los Angeles Angels (2016-20) for 5 seasons as he batted 0.263 for his career, had an On Base percentage of 0.366, with 70 career Home Runs, and 4 Gold Glove Awarded Seasons.
7. Darin Erstad played the position of First Baseman, Center Fielder, Left Fielder, and Right Fielder wearing the number on the Houston Astros (08, 09) for 2 seasons as he batted 0.282 for his career, had an On Base percentage of 0.407, with 124 career Home Runs, and 3 Gold Glove Awarded Seasons.
8. Buck Leonard played wearing the number 2 on the Homestead Grays for 1 seasons as he batted 0.345 for his career, had an On Base percentage of 0.59, with 95 career Home Runs, and 1 Gold Glove Awarded Season.
9. Charlie Gehringer isin the Baseball Hall of Fame and wore the number 2 on the Detroit Tigers (1932-42) for 11 seasons as he batted 0.320 for his career, had an On Base percentage of 0.480, with 184 career Home Runs.
10. Troy Tulowitzki played a Hall of Fame career at the position of Shortstop wearing the number 2 on the Colorado Rockies (2007-15) Toronto Blue Jays (2015, 16, 17) for 11 seasons as he batted 0.290 for his career, had an On Base percentage of 0.495, with 225 career Home Runs, and 2 Gold Glove Awarded Seasons.
11. Graig Nettles is a Hall of Fame Third Baseman, Left Fielder, First Baseman, Right Fielder, Shortstop,  and Center Fielder wearing the number 2 on the Minnesota Twins (69) for 1 seasons as he had 390 career Home Runs, and 2 Gold Glove Awarded Seasons.
12. Jimmie Foxx played the position of First Baseman, Third Baseman, Catcher, Left Fielder, Right Fielder, Pitcher,  and Shortstop during his Hall of Fame career wearing the number 2 on the Philadelphia Athletics (1935) for 1 seasons as he batted 0.325 for his career, had an On Base percentage of 0.609, with 534 career Home Runs.
13. Red Schoendienst was a Hall of Fame Second Baseman, Left Fielder, Shortstop, Third Baseman, and Center Fielder wearing the number 2 on the St. Louis Cardinals (1946-56 and 1961-63) for 14 seasons as he batted 0.289 for his career, had an On Base percentage of 0.387, with 84 career Home Runs.
14. Orlando Cabrera is a Hall of Fame Shortstop, Second Baseman, and Third Baseman wearing the number 2 on the Montreal Expos (1997, 98) Cincinnati Reds (2010) for 3 seasons as he batted 0.272 for his career, had an On Base percentage of 0.39, with 123 career Home Runs, and 2 Gold Glove Awarded Seasons.
15. Michael Bourn is a Hall of Fame player who manned positions at Center Fielder, Left Fielder, and Right Fielder wearing the number on the Atlanta Braves (2015) for 1 seasons as he batted 0.266 for his career, had an On Base percentage of 0.357, with 36 career Home Runs, and 2 Gold Glove Awarded Seasons.

Our supporting statistics powered by Baseball-Reference.com

So what do you thinks of our top fifteen based on performance numbers? Let us know your feedback by emailing us at PigskinDispatch@gmail.com

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The banner photo above is courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons and is a cropped image of the 1939 Raiford State Prison baseball team focussing in on the numeral 2 on the scoreboard for the purposes of this post.

Special thanks to Baseball-Reference.com, Stathead.com and the most wonderful book by Larry Lester and Wayne Stivers, The Negro Leagues Book, Volume 2.