MLB Number 8s

Willie Stargell in 1965 courtesy Wikimedia Commons, taken by an unknown photographer.

This might be one of the top iconic jersey numbers in all of sports. The journey to find the most substantial Major League Baseball players that wore the number 8 on their uniforms starts by looking at who the Baseball Hall of Fame has in their hallowed halls. Enshrined number ones of professional baseball are:

• Paul Waner
• Al Simmons
• Bill Dickey
• Luke Appling
• Kiki Cuyler
• Yogi Berra
• Jocko Conlan
• Earl Averill
• Al Lopez
• Chuck Klein
• Rick Ferrell
• Ernie Lombardi
• Willie Stargell
• Carl Yastrzemski
• Joe Morgan
• Gary Carter
• Ben Taylor
• Cal Ripken Jr.
• Andre Dawson

Another telling clue to find the best is to see who has the MLB number 8 retired by their respective teams. This list of retired number 8s includes:

• Willie Stargell the solid hitting firstbaseman of the Pittsburgh Pirates had his number 8 put away on September 6, 1982.
• Gary Carter who played Catcher on some great Montreal Expo teams is forever remembered when the franchise retired his 8 on July 31, 1993.
• Joe Morgan the great second baseman of theBig Red Machine had took his place of honor as the Cincinnati Reds paid tribute on June 6, 1998.
• Yogi Berra the Bronx catcher had his uniform pressed and hung high by the New York Yankees on July 22, 1972.
• Bill Dickey the catcher who took Berra under his wing shared the honor by the New York Yankees on July 22, 1972.
• Cal Ripken Jr. the Iron Man of baseball played short stop and third base and was paid tribute by the Baltimore Orioles on October 6, 2001.
• Carl Yastrzemski the left field and and later first base player is forever rememebered by the Boston Red Sox faithful after ceremonies on August 6, 1989.

Okay, now it is time to put our knowledge to work and pick the greatest players that wore number 8 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. 

Here is a list of baseball legends that made our list of the tops in history to wear the number 8 on the diamond.

TOP MLB PLAYERS TO HAVE WORN THE NUMBER 8 JERSEY

Baseball HOF and top MLB players to have worn the Number 8 jersey

The select few and cream of the crop that are inducted into the legendary baseball museum in Cooperstown, New York.

Andre Dawson

Andre Dawson was a great batter and fielder for the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, and Florida Marlins. Check out this Baseball Hall of Fame post to learn more about the legend. He is indeed one of the top MLB players to have worn the Number 8 jersey, Number 10 jersey, and the number 24 jersey.

View on BASEBALLHALL.ORG

Willie Stargell

Willie Stargell had one of the most remarkable careers, seeing multiple waves of great teams on the Pittsburgh Pirates roster. Willie Stargell played the position of Left Fielder, First Baseman, Right Fielder, and Center Fielder wearing the number on the Pittsburgh Pirates (1962-82) for 21 seasons as he batted 0.282 for his career, had an On Base percentage of 0.529, with 475 career Home Runs, and winning two World Series Championships. Pops is one of the top MLB players to have worn the Number 8 jersey.

View on EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Joe Morgan

Learn all about the legendary Joe Morgan in this Society for American Baseball Research biography sketch of the Baseball Hall of Fame player. It is no wonder he makes our list as one of the top MLB players to have worn the Number 8 jersey.

View on SABR.ORG

Carl Yastrzemski

The biographical sketch on the life and Baseball Hall of Fame career of Carl Yastrzemski. Carl Yastrzemski played the position of Left Fielder, First Baseman, Center Fielder, Third Baseman, and Right Fielder wearing the number 8 on the Boston Red Sox (1961-83) for 23 seasons as he batted 0.285 for his career, had an On Base percentage of 0.462, with 452 career Home Runs, and 7 Gold Glove Awarded Seasons. Yas is one of the top MLB players to have worn the Number 8 Jersey and perhaps one of the greatest MLB players ever.

View on EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Here is all of the numbers and stats we used from Baseball-Reference.com to help determine our rankings:

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The photograph in the banner above is courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons collection of public Domain pictures. It is of Pirates base coach Bob Skinner and slugger Willie Stargell October 8, 1974 after Stargell pounded an Home Run. It was taken by United Press International.

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.