1963 Topps #66 - Mike JoyceIn a previous post, a reader left a story about uniform numbers and little league teams. While discussing that, he mentioned that his number was 23 and at the time Mike Joyce was the player who corresponded with that number on the White Sox.
Unfortunately, I was never on any little league teams in my youth. Other activities, like cub scouts, occupied my time away from school. This hasn't stopped me from wondering what number I would have had and if that number would have resulted in a collection of an additional player.
When we are kids, strong bonds are formed through association. Let's say, for the sake of argument, I was given the number 26, if I had played little league. Would I have followed the career of Mark Ryal? He wore the number for the Sox in 1985. Maybe I would have followed Bobby Bonilla or Jose DeLeon. They both wore 26 in 1986.
Mike Joyce only appeared in 31 games over two consecutive seasons for the White Sox before having his contract purchased by the Mets. He never played in the majors after his two seasons in Chicago. That doesn't usually translate into many people remembering you, let alone remembering the uniform number you wore. Somewhere, for whatever reason, someone will always remember the little details like that, due to something connected with their own life. That's just another Major League perk.
My first Little League team was the Padres, and I was given Mario Ramirez's number. I didn't get a chance to be on a team called the White Sox until 1990, my last year of Babe Ruth ball. I took #3, even though Baines was already gone and the jersey was a little too tight.
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