From Oscar Robertson’s No. 1 to Wayne Gretzky’s iconic No. 99, uniform numbers are as much a defining trait for a player as is his cross-over dribble, slap shot or blazing fastball.

Major League Baseball is rife with numbers tradition. Think Babe Ruth’s No. 3, Mickey Mantle’s No. 7 or Willie Mays’ No. 24. But one number is more synonymous with power than all of them:

The No. 44.

No. 44’s have been all-time home run kings (Hank Aaron). They’ve been World Series legends (Reggie Jackson). They’ve even had entire bodies of water named after them (McCovey Cove).

It’s a number that used to make pitchers tremble in their stirrups. It’s an integer once owned by burly, mustachioed, lumberjacks of men such Ken Phelps^, Gorman Thomas and Jeff Burroughs (631 career home runs combined) — not pitchers with names such as Ron Darling or John Lamb (combined 239 career home runs allowed).

Above the double four’s on the back of a jersey should be panic-inspiring names such as Butch Huskey, Brian Hunter and Bombo Rivera, even if they only hit a combined 121 career home runs wearing the integer. It’s the fear that counts.

The atomic number 44 is Ruthenium, for George Herman’s sake!

But it seems as if No. 44 as a slugger’s number is that of a woebegone power era — one that eschewed steroids for beer guts.

There are 25 men wearing No. 44 in the Major Leagues this spring. Of them, 18 are pitchers, four are non-roster invitees and three are coaches. Five teams (Braves, Brewers, Giants, Orioles and Yankees) have retired the number.

Nine hitters actively don the once-mighty number. The career leader among them is a catcher who’s been traded twice this off-season, the last time for a knuckleball pitcher.

ACTIVE HR LEADERS WEARING NO. 44

John Buck, Mets C: 118

Mark Trumbo, Angels OF: 61

Mark Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks 1B: 28

Justin Maxwell, Astros OF: 27

Dallas McPherson, Dodgers INF: 18*

Anthony Rizzo, Cubs INF: 16

Rene Rivera, Padres C: 4*

Drew Sutton, Red Sox OF: 4*

Mike Leake, Reds P: 2**

Jake Peavy, White Sox P: 2**

Chris Hermann, Twins C: 0

*Non-Roster Invitee

**Pitchers

Adam Dunn should be on that list. The Chicago White Sox’ slugger has sent 354 of his 406 career homers over the wall wearing No. 44. But he’s since yielded the digit to teammate Jake Peavy, a pitcher with two career homers.

That’s a far fall from grace (and not former-Phillies’ pitcher and ex-44 Mike Grace and his 27:0 ratio of HR’s allowed to HRs hit) for a number once sported by Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson and Willie McCovey. Combined, the trio walloped 1,572 homers with No. 44 on their backs.

The No. 44 isn’t just a power number in the history of baseball — among the 171 retired numbers in MLB lore — it’s the power number:

(Total HRs Rank)

Jackson knew the significance of the number. When No. 42 wasn’t available when he arrived with the Yankees in 1976, Reg-Gie opted for No. 44 in homage to the then recently-retired Aaron.

Aaron and McCovey wore the number for more seasons (22 apiece) than any other player to button up a No. 44 jersey. That’s three more seasons than the next closest No. 44, journeyman pitcher Danny Darwin (two career home runs).

No. 44 Casey Janssen of the Toronto Blue Jays watches Adam Dunn circle the bases. The White Sox slugger has stroked all but 52 of his 406 career homers while not wearing the No. 44. John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Perhaps it’s time to stop teaching the devolution of No. 44 as a power number. Of the 478 players in MLB history to wear it, 293 — or roughly 61 percent — have been pitchers.

The number is retired by five teams, but two of them (Braves and Brewers) both retired Aaron’s number. The Orioles retired catcher Elrod Hendricks’ No. 44 for his off-the-field contributions rather than his 62 lifetime four-baggers.

It’s not as if there’s a dearth of power in this supposed steroid-less ERA. Or a lack of high ERA’s.

Today’s pitchers wearing No. 44 are more Con Ed than they are Connie Mack in terms of power supply. Active hurlers wearing No. 44 have turned and watched a ball sail out of the park 548 times.

The Cleveland Indians were so despondent over their No. 44, pitcher Chris Seddon, that in December, they shipped him to the SK Wyverns, a professional team in South Korea.

Perhaps the best we can do now is look to the past. There we can still dream about how splendid Babe Ruth would have looked wearing No. 44,  had the first uniform numbers in sports history not been assigned based on your position in the lineup — but instead by the wallop in your swing.

^Ken Phelps played 11 seasons and hit 123 home runs, but not everyone was a fan…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 19th, 2013 at 5:12 pm and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: Adam Dunn, Hank Aaron, New York Yankees, Reggie Jackson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.