"In baseball, my theory is to strive for consistency, not to worry about the numbers. If you dwell on statistics you get shortsighted, if you aim for consistency, the numbers will be there at the end." -- Tom Seaver
There has of course been much talk and discussion and argument on this site -- as on virtually any baseball site -- about the value of various numbers in The Great Game. And the yeoman's work Magpie is doing on compiling the "Lobby of Numbers" for each major league franchise is captivating in its own right.
It's simply true that certain numbers almost inevitably call up the images of certain athletes, baseball or otherwise -- 3 is Ruth, 12 is Namath, 33 is Jabbar on the west coast and Bird on the east coast, 99 is Gretzky. So we know the names within the numbers, so to speak -- but in the spirit of our never-ending quest for the perfect Baseball Hall of Names team, we come to wonder ... are there numbers within the names?
With apologies to the occasional Sixto Lezcano, Cy Twombley, Jack Fournier and Gene Tenace, the answer sadly, appears to be "no." That is, unless ...