October 15, 2014

I want to root for the Royals, because they seem scrappy and heroic right now...

... but I am so adamantly opposed to players wearing the number 0 that I'm staying with the National League, even though all the National League teams I like have gone down (or are about to go down).
Numbers 0 and 00 are rarely worn. 0 is currently worn by Omar Quintanilla for the Mets, Adam Ottavino for the Rockies and Terrance Gore for the Royals. 00 is currently worn by Brennan Boesch for the Angels and Brian Wilson for the Dodgers. In total, 15 players have worn 0 and 20 players have worn 00 in their careers.
To me, it reads as nihilistic. I strongly object, Terrance Gore.  Zero is not an acceptable baseball number in my view. I see it all the time in basketball, and it's one of my (many) objections to basketball.

Do you agree?
 
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Still, they look so happy now, the people of Kansas City, and I'd rather support them than the imperious San Francisco....

44 comments:

Ummm? said...

The score has something to do with players numbers? LoL

eddie willers said...

Until the Designated Hitter is abolished, I will never....EVER....root for an American League team.

Period!

rehajm said...

Why limit yourself to positive integers?

What happens once you glorify 500 years of team greats by sending their numbers to the outfield wall?

Michael K said...

I don't like professional baseball. The best thing on TV this afternoon was Obama explaining Ebola. The smartest man ever to be president.

theo said...

I'm with eddie willers.

Wilbur said...

You would've fer sure hated Jim Otto (60's HOF center for the Oakland Raiders).

He wore, get a grip now, double 00!

Known Unknown said...

Al Oliver wore 0 in the 1970. Al Oliver was a pretty damn good player.

Tom Koch said...

San Fran? Please don't count the Cardinals out just yet... A repeat of 1985 would be nice.

Birches said...

Can I vote for one and two?

I'm all for the National league too, but how can anyone not affiliated with a current team, NOT root for the Royals?

Michael said...

I agree, but not for those reasons. Wearing "0" seems like yet another way for an individual to say "look at me!" and there's more than enough of that. I'm not so keen on "1" either.

Curious George said...

A lot of ex-Brewers on the Royals.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

It's cocky, but Gore's a base stealer, so it's appropriate. Think of it as the number of hits he needs to advance a base, or the number of outs he expects to make while doing so.

Wilbur said...

With my Cubs again not in the mix, my 2014 rooting paradigm is rooting for whoever has the fewest Viking beards.

Yancey Ward said...

I wish some sports stars would start wearing numbers like π or e.

Meade said...

Zero is modest number. I like Lorenz0Cain and hated seeing the Brewers lose him and Aoki. I'd trade Ryan Braun for either one of them. Or even zero of them.

DKWalser said...

It makes no sense (zero sense?) to root against a team merely because one member of that team has a uniform number of 0. Just root against that player. That makes perfect sense.

harrogate said...

Wow. The absolute positivism extends even to this.

SteveR said...

At this point, I'm just hoping its not St Louis. Just because of Joe Buck. Better a zero in baseball than something like 87 or 73.

Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...

Actually it's not a bad number for a guy who was playing A-ball in August.

Ctmom4 said...

I like that the people in the stands look like they can't really believe their good fortune. Ya gotta believe!

m stone said...

This from the same blogress who raises the question whether people who don't know the issues should vote.

I'm finding a dearth of confidence here.

Ctmom4 said...

@ Bart Hall - He's a great story! http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article2626436.html He's a one tool player!

sane_voter said...

Zero is not an irrational number.

Saint Croix said...

I was 00 Althouse!





Saint Croix said...

Nihilist? Or the man!

tim in vermont said...

I was rooting for the Orioles, in kind of an abstract way. I was a big fan of them in the '60s. But I have to say that KC is fun to watch.

Saint Croix said...

00 is to infinity and beyond!

CWJ said...

OK, having now read this thread, I'm glad I didn't see it before I posted my Royals comment on the "leaf" thread.

Saint Croix said...

I suspect that Omar adopted the 0 for "oh" not "zero." He turned his number into a name reference because he's not going to let the man put a number on his ass like he's a prison inmate. That's just a guess.

Saint Croix said...

And don't forget Cool Hand Luke.

"Nothin'. A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head. He beat you with nothin'. Just like today when he kept comin' back at me - with nothin'."

"Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand."

Take that! You numerologist.

Wince said...

0 symbolizes the vagina. 00 breasts.

That is all.

Ann Althouse said...

"I suspect that Omar adopted the 0 for "oh" not "zero." He turned his number into a name reference because he's not going to let the man put a number on his ass like he's a prison inmate. That's just a guess."

All the more reason to be annoyed at Gore.

And there is still hope for the Cardinals, whom we are rooting for. This game tonight seems to be stuck in the middle innings. It's surreal.

sojerofgod said...

I think Ann Althouse' obsession with rational numbers is irrational.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Zero was invented by Arabs. Confess, Althouse. What do you have against the Religion of Peace™?

traditionalguy said...

Root for the Royals? I thought you guys ran away to Canada in 1783.

rcommal said...

Have you a number-line issue, I wonder.

Rocco said...

Uniform numbers were originally introduced in baseball to indicate batting order. That's why Babe Ruth was "3" and Lou Gehrig was "4" - they hit 3rd and 4th respectively. Oh, and players did not have their names on the backs of their uniforms yet.

Brando said...

I was pulling for the Orioles, but alas, they got swept.

Is there a reason behind certain uniform numbers in baseball, the way there is for football (e.g., quarterbacks are 1-19, linemen are 50-79, receives are 1-49 or 80-99)? I noticed relief pitchers tend to have higher numbers.

Clyde said...

I've been a fan of the Royals for over 40 years. I went to a lot of games at Royals Stadium back in the '70s when the team was winning the division almost every year and battling the hated Yankees in the playoffs. So as a long-suffering Royals fan, I'm loving every minute of this. Go Royals!

tim maguire said...

I'm rooting for the Royals because they are a small market team, the kind of organization that can't simply buy its championships. It's good for baseball when the Royals win and the Yankees lose.

As for the zero, I agree it doesn't make sense, but I can't get too worked up about it. I didn't vote because that response didn't fit into any of the offered choices.

GRW3 said...

Well since the number zero (0) was a development of the Arab culture (thus the origin of the name "Arabic numbers"), this can only mean that Ann has a deep seated antipathy to same. LOL

Saint Croix said...

All the more reason to be annoyed at Gore.

You said it, #162430!

Names can be so annoying.

Squints said...

Back in the day, Oddibe McDowell told TBS, possibly in jest, that he wore "O" for "Oddibe."

Dewave said...

All programmers begin counting from zero. I see no problem with players choosing the number zero it sets up "from zero to hero" jokes as well.