Greatest to wear 1-40

No, no and no.

 

All due respect to an amazing player, but no, not over Lemieux.

 

21. Clemente

 

Some of these aren't so easy.

Rivera over Robinson?
Pedro over Gibson?
Singletary over the Admiral?
And Pettitte certainly deserves No. 46.

 

7 — Mantle?
13 — Wilt
14 — Don Hutson has to be in the mix
29 — Dryden?

 

Rose and Banks are fine No. 14s, but I'll take this guy:



Would also take him at No. 1 (over Ozzie) if that's the uniform designation he gets (used with Bucks).

 

In the discussion for 87:

 

Better football through chemistry.

 

Like the OP, this is a subject that has always fascinated me, and a few years ago for Christmas I got a book called, The Best To Wear The Number. It was a full-color, coffee table-type book published in 2006 by The Sporting News. Here is their list:

00 – Jim Otto
1 – Jacques Plante
2 – Secretariat
3 – Babe Ruth
4 – Lou Gehrig
5 – Joe DiMaggio
6 – Bill Russell
7 – John Elway
8 – Cal Ripken
9 – Hockey's Holy Trinity: Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Rocket Richard
10 – Pele
11 – Isiah Thomas
12 – Joe Namath
13 – Wilt Chamberlain
14 – Otto Graham (I believe he wore No. 60 during his prime, but switched to No. 14 when the NFL went to a standard numbering system)
15 – Bart Starr
16 – Joe Montana
17 – John Havlicek
18 – Peyton Manning
19 – Johnny Unitas
20 – Barry Sanders
21 – Roberto Clemente
22 – Emmitt Smith
23 – Michael Jordan
24 – Willie Mays
25 – Barry Bonds
26 – Billy Williams
27 – Juan Marichal
28 – Marshall Faulk
29 – Ken Dryden
30 – Nolan Ryan
31 – Greg Maddux
32 – Jim Brown
33 – Kareem Adbul-Jabbar
34 – Walter Payton
35 – Phil Niekro
36 – Meadowlark Lemon
37 – Casey Stengel
38 – Curt Schilling
39 – Roy Campanella
40 – Gale Sayers
41 – Tom Seaver
42 – Jackie Robinson
43 – Richard Petty
44 – Hank Aaron
45 – Bob Gibson
46 – Lee Smith
47 – Mel Blount
48 – Jimmie Johnson
49 – Ron Guidry
50 – David Robinson
51 – Dick Butkus
52 – Ray Lewis
53 – Don Drysdale
54 – Goose Gossage
55 – Orel Hershiser
56 – Lawrence Taylor
57 – Dwight Stephenson
58 – Jack Lambert
59 – Jack Ham
60 – Chuck Bednarik
61 – Bill George (50s era Bears LB)
62 – Charley Trippi (Georgia football legend, star HB on only Cardinals team to win NFL title, in 1947)
63 – Willie Lanier
64 – Jerry Kramer
65 – Elvin Bethea
66 – Mario Lemieux
67 – Bob Kuechenberg (Dolphins OL in 70s)
68 – Jaromir Jagr
69 – Larry Costello (50s era NBA star, coached Bucks to only title in 1971)
70 – Jim Marshall
71 – Alex Karras
72 – Carlton Fisk (with the White Sox)
73 – John Hannah
74 – Bob Lilly
75 – Mean Joe Greene
76 – Alex Groza
77 – Red Grange
78 – Anthony Munoz
79 – Roosevelt Brown (50s era lineman for NY Giants)
80 – Jerry Rice
81 – Tim Brown
82 – Raymond Berry
83 – Ted Hendricks
84 – Sharpe Brothers (Shannon & Sterling)
85 – Nick Buoniconti
86 – Buck Buchanan
87 – Willie Davis
88 – Alan Page
89 – Mike Ditka
90 – Bob Kurland (first 7-footer in basketball, led Okla. A&M to back-to-back NCAA titles in mid-40s
91 – Sergei Federov
92 – Reggie White
93 – Doug Gilmour
94 – Charles Haley
95 – Richard Dent
96 – Bill Voiselle (Journeyman pitcher in 40s, he was one of the "pray for rain" guys on Boston Braves NL-winning staff in 1948. He was from Ninety Six, S.C., hence the number)
97 – Cornelius Bennett
98 – Tom Harmon
99 – Wayne Gretzky

I think if this book were to come out now, Tom Brady would certainly get the nod over Namath for No. 12, and I think Urlacher and Seau would get a lot more consideration at 54 and 55. I also question the inclusion of Meadowlark Lemon, who rarely played a competitive game, at No. 36. Regardless of his skills, he was more of an entertainer than a basketball player. I would put Jerome Bettis in that spot. But for the most part it's a pretty solid list.

 

Should we change the criteria from greatest to favorite in an effort to generate more disparity among responses?