What do Mark Koenig, Red Rolfe, Frank Crosetti, Sandy Alomar, Bobby Murcer, Wayne Tolleson, and Derek Jeter all have in common? They all wore #2 for the New York Yankees, even though nearly eight decades have passed between the first time Koenig buttoned up a Yankee uniform with that number and the last time Jeter performed the same routine.
Since 1929, the Yankees have issued 73 different numbers to more than 1,500 players. That’s a lot of overlap. That also makes for a lot of good stories. Yankees by the Numbers tells those stories for every Yankee since ‘29-from Earle Combs (the original #1) to Charlie Keller (the only Yankee to ever wear #99)-providing insightful and humorous commentary about the more memorable players, from a fan’s perspective. Complete with more than 100 baseball cards (courtesy of the Topps Company), each chapter also features a fascinating sidebar that reveals which players were the most obscure to wear a certain number, and also which numbers produced the most wins, home runs and stolen bases in club history. For data seekers, the Yankees Alphabetical Roster is a complete listing of every single Yankee since 1929, the numbers they wore, and their years of service at the House that Ruth Built.