Anthony Volpe has made the Yankees’ Opening Day roster, and now, there’s only one thing left to settle: will he stick with No. 77, which he was issued at the start of camp, or will he get a lower number usually indicative of a major-leaguer?
“I’m still thinking about it,” Volpe told Bryan Hoch during YES Network’s broadcast of Monday’s Grapefruit League finals. “I’m not really sure how the uniform thing works.”
No. 77 has only been issued twice to players in pinstripes, with Humberto Sanchez taking it in 2008 and then Clint Frazier wearing it during his tenure from 2017-21 – although there was the controversy surrounding that move and Frazier’s alleged questions about No. 7 proper, which of course is retired for Mickey Mantle.
Volpe has a connection with the No. 7, as he wore that in the minor leagues as a nod to his grandfather, who grew up a huge Yankees fan and counted Mantle as his favorite player, so 77 would be twice as good there in theory.
“No. 77 is special to me, obviously the connection to No. 7, but I’m gonna think about it the next couple days,” Volpe told Hoch.
What did the former Yankee in the booth for the game think?
“I have no problem with No. 77; it’s a new thing, a trend since Aaron Judge took No. 99,” David Cone said on the YES broadcast. “It’s not a bad way to go, and a great chance to own it from start to finish.”
With the Yankees’ plethora of retired numbers, it’s not just trendy, although there are some possibilities; even if you discount Nos. 11 and 19, which haven’t been worn since Brett Gardner and Masahiro Tanaka departed, respectively, there are still a handful of numbers in the teens, and Nos. 13 (Joey Gallo), 14 (Marwin Gonzalez), and 18 (Andrew Benintendi) all worn in 2022.
We’ll find out Thursday, when the Yankees finalize their roster, and then we’ll also find out whether his roll call is the two syllables of his last name, or the three of his first name.
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