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Colorado Rockies: Which jersey numbers have the strongest history?

By Kevin Henry

DENVER, CO - JUNE 24: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates as he crosses the plate toward DJ LeMahieu #9 after both scored on an Arenado homerun off of Caleb Smith #31 of the Miami Marlins in the first inning of a game against the Miami Marlins at Coors Field on June 24, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JUNE 24: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates as he crosses the plate toward DJ LeMahieu #9 after both scored on an Arenado homerun off of Caleb Smith #31 of the Miami Marlins in the first inning of a game against the Miami Marlins at Coors Field on June 24, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /
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HOUSTON – OCTOBER 2: Infielder Vinny Castilla #9 of the Colorado Rockies throws the ball against the Houston Astros during the game on October 2, 2004 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. The Rockets won 9-3. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
HOUSTON – OCTOBER 2: Infielder Vinny Castilla #9 of the Colorado Rockies throws the ball against the Houston Astros during the game on October 2, 2004 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. The Rockets won 9-3. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Born as an expansion team for the 1993 season, the Colorado Rockies have pieced together quite a history in a short amount of time.

Some great players have worn a Colorado Rockies jersey during its 26 years of existence. But which number has been worn by some of the greats in franchise history? We decided to take a look at some of the best players who have worn the same number in a quest to figure out the most powerful jersey number in Rockies history.

For the sake of argument, we chose not to include the lone number of a player who played for Colorado that has been retired by the Rockies (Todd Helton’s #17).

The debate about which jersey number may be the best (but, again, not yet retired) could conceivably start and end with the number 9, which has been worn by both Vinny Castilla (1993-1999, 2004 and 2006) and DJ LeMahieu (2012-2018). Both were voted to the all-time 25-man roster as part of Colorado’s 25th anniversary celebration last season.

Also wearing the number has been Juan Pierre (2001-2002), Ian Stewart (2009-2011) and Daniel Murphy (2019). Pierre led the National League in steals in 2001 with 46 swipes while also batting .327 so there’s another plus for the number 9.

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How about the number 14, currently worn by catcher Tony Wolters? It was first dawned by the Big Cat, Andres Galarraga, during Colorado’s first season and he would wear it through the 1997 season. Castilla would wear it in 1999 and Troy Tulowitzki would wear it in his rookie season of 2006. Dexter Fowler would take it over for his rookie season in 2008 and Josh Rutledge would don it for his three seasons in Colorado (2012-2014). Wolters began wearing it in 2016.

Other players to wear number 14 include Todd Walker (2000), Greg Norton (2001-2003), Matt Anderson (2005), Sean Barker (2007), Matt Murton (2009) and Mark Ellis (2011).

In all, four players named to Colorado’s all-time 25-man roster (Galarraga, Castilla, Tulowitzki and Fowler) have worn number 14, even though all but one made their marks on Colorado history wearing another number.

How about two other numbers? Let’s take a look at the candidates…

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