LOS ANGELES — When star outfielder Kyle Tucker was launched as a Dodger on Wednesday afternoon, lots of the jersey quantity fanatics on the market have been ready to see which quantity can be stitched in purple on his new uniform. It was No. 23, relatively than the No. 30 that he had worn for many of his massive league profession.
As a rule, star gamers obtain their most popular quantity when becoming a member of a brand new crew. Technically, No. 30 wasn’t unavailable, like when Edwin Díaz switched to No. 3 earlier this offseason as a result of No. 39 is retired for Roy Campanella. Nevertheless it’s very attainable that no different Dodger will put on No. 30 once more after supervisor Dave Roberts’ tenure on the helm.
A 3-time World Collection champion supervisor with one of the best managerial profitable proportion (.621) in franchise historical past (min. 500 video games), Roberts is on a Corridor of Fame observe and will very nicely have his quantity retired by the crew at some point. However past his credentials, No. 30 has which means to Roberts, who wears it as a tribute to the late, nice Maury Wills.
“Maury and I simply had such an awesome relationship,” Roberts mentioned. “And one of many issues that he was like, ‘Gosh, once I die, I hope that nobody else wears that quantity.’ It is actually close to and expensive to me.”
When Tucker signed with L.A., he figured he’d take a shot at midnight and ask Roberts whether or not he is likely to be keen to alter numbers. However the outfielder wasn’t anticipating it to occur. So he wound up taking an identical strategy to Roberts by selecting the variety of his former mentor with the Astros: Michael Brantley.
Brantley signed with Houston forward of the 2019 season, when Tucker was nonetheless getting his ft moist within the massive leagues. The veteran was a formative determine whereas Tucker emerged as a rising star for the Astros.
“[He’s] a man I frolicked with quite a bit arising in Houston,” Tucker mentioned. “He is an exceptional ballplayer and one in all my shut buddies. That performed an enormous half in my selection, going with that.”
The newest Dodger to put on No. 23 was Michael Conforto, whose one-year deal didn’t show fruitful. By committing $240 million for as much as 4 years of Tucker, they’re assured that their subsequent No. 23 will make an affect of their three-peat bid and past.
