Is the number 0 allowed in MLB?
Currently, only one player in baseball wears the number zero, and that’s Colorado Rockies pitcher Adam Ottavino. He wore a 37 last year but dropped it in favor of a 0, saying he wore it again in high school because it resembled his initials.
Zero, while rare, has its place in baseball history.
Outfielder/first baseman Al Oliver chose the number after transferring from the Buccaneers to the Rangers before the 1978 season. He’s the longest-wearing player of any MLB player in history, with eight consecutive seasons with zero ranks.
In MLB history, 14 players have zero wear, including Ottavino, and 11 have only worn two seasons or fewer. Some of the cameos who wore it included George Scott, who wore it in his lone season with the Royals, and Oscar Gamble, who opted for it while playing for the White Sox.
In case you were wondering, players who wear the number zero tend to have better seasons. According to Baseball Reference’s Wins Above Replacement, a statistic designed to quantify a player’s value in every aspect of the game, No. 0 players averaged 0.8 wins per season. In comparison, Double Zero players averaged 0.8 wins per season in the years they wore that number. Only 0.2 wins.
It’s hard to argue against Ottavino’s decision when you consider that players who wear No. 37 have an average career WAR of 4.9, compared to 11.2 for those who wear at least No. 0; he’s just trying to make himself a better player. Good pitcher.
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