# Uniform Numbers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniform-numbers/198910 "2003-09-01T03:32:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jojothecannibal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@jojothecannibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jojothecannibal)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniform-numbers/198910/1 "2003-09-01T03:32:05Z")
Is there any rule in any of the major sports that does not allow players to wear interesting jersey numbers like “pi” or “e” or “square root of fifty”? I mean, I read the MLB rulebook on this topic, and it gave no restrictions on the numbers (other than the printing size). Did misenterpret it? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniform-numbers/198910/2 "2003-09-01T03:49:49Z")
In football…the number represents the positions they play. As for the others I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![daniel801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@daniel801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daniel801)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniform-numbers/198910/3 "2003-09-01T04:35:56Z")
On my old basketball teams the number could be 2 digits with each digit less than 6, so that the ref could signal the number on one hand (2 flashes) ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniform-numbers/198910/4 "2003-09-01T07:06:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by daniel801 \* > \*\*On my old basketball teams the number could be 2 digits with each digit less than 6, so that the ref could signal the number on one hand (2 flashes) \*\* Duh. All they need to do is learn the ASL (American Sign Language) [fingerspelling of the numbers 6-9](http://www.masterstech-home.com/The_Library/ASL_Dictionary_Project/ASL_Tables/Numbers.html). It’s rather easy. When I referee volleyball games, I use my two hands to constantly show the score for each side (each hand showing the score of its respective side – it helps me keep track). With fingerspelling, one hand can show numbers above 5. I guess this is a hijack. Hmmm… to bring it back to OP, how about using pictures of fingerspelled numbers on jerseys? ## Peace. I want 9.9999… on my jersey. Then, whenever they announce ‘player number 10,’ I’ll do whatever the player with ‘10’ does. When they say, “we didn’t call you, number 9.9999…,” then I’ll argue that the two numbers are the same. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniform-numbers/198910/5 "2003-09-01T07:09:56Z")
Would you really want a player to go out on the field sporting an irrational number and hope him to act rationally? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniform-numbers/198910/6 "2003-09-01T07:14:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobT \* > \*\*Would you really want a player to go out on the field sporting an irrational number and hope him to act rationally? \*\* Um…YES. That’s FUNNY. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniform-numbers/198910/7 "2003-09-01T15:01:46Z")
For a while, in the seventies, the ASA rules for softball were updated every year with new rules about the jersey numbers. At first it was simple, then the rules got more and more specific. Each year, you could just imagine the brouhahas that erupted as teams came out on the field with roman numerals, negative numbers, transcendental numbers, fractions, etc., and ready to convince the umpire that they satisfied the letter of the current rule. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniform-numbers/198910/8 "2003-09-01T15:04:07Z")
[Eddie Gaedel](http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/G/Gaedel_Eddie.stm), the focus of one of the most famous publicity stunts in baseball history, had a uniform number of 1/8. He was 3’ 7" tall. ---
**Author:** ![jojothecannibal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@jojothecannibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jojothecannibal)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniform-numbers/198910/9 "2003-09-03T03:28:09Z")
There needs to be some more unusual jersey numbers like Eddie Gaedel’s. We need someone Rodman-esque in baseball. I mean, with the exception of George Mikan in the fourties and fifties with number 99 and a few exceptionally tall players who used numbers like 76 and 77, Rodman is the only player I can think of to use numbers in the sixties or above (he had 91, 73, and 82 at times). Even in basketball, irrational numbers should be allowed… heh heh heh.