Texas Rangers won't let their players wear No. 69
There are still some heroes in Major League Baseball. Most are well known with names like Bryce Harper and Mike Trout. Then there are those who operate in the shadows — the ones “The Man” tries to hold back, afraid of how they’ll change the status quo.
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The latest instance of this comes to us from the clubhouse of the Texas Rangers, where one brave anonymous player attempted to become the hero 2017 deserves:
Answering a long-standing "is that team policy, or no?" question: at least one Rangers player did ask about uniform #69 and was told no.
— Levi Weaver (@ThreeTwoEephus) April 4, 2017
It’s impossible to quantify the number of ways in which this would’ve been amazing. Twitter would likely crash each time this professional athlete hit a home run or struck someone out, though there’s nothing to say he couldn’t do both. Reddit threads would Photoshop this unknown player’s action shots into masterful works of art that museums would clamor over.
The Rangers denied this random individual an opportunity to inspire future generations with his groundbreaking choice in on-field apparel.
We can only look up and down their roster and wonder who it was. Tyson Ross? Joey Gallo? Did Rougned Odor try to work this into his new contract before Texas decided giving him two horses instead was somehow less ridiculous?
We may never know. Nor will the exact reason for the number request likely ever see the light of day. Instead, baseball and Internet fans alike will tip their cap to this unidentified idol and go back to holding their collective breath waiting for someone to cross this barrier.
Looking around baseball, it seems there’s really only one man for that job, an Astros pitching prospect who’s still working his way through the minors — his name is Austin Nicely.
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Blake Schuster is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Schustee
