The power of (uniform) numbers and the appeal of humility

Now that he's with a new team -- the Mets -- reliever Scott Schoeneweis has a chance to get rid of an awkward component of his jersey. Since 1999, reports the New York Times, when he made the Angels after wearing number 60 in spring training, he's both been stuck with and stuck to the number.

Traditionally, in spring training, the lower your chance of making the big league squad, the higher your number. Being given "60" meant that the Angels didn't expect Schoeneweis to go to Anaheim with them once they broke camp. But he did go. According to the Times, "The team never offered to give him a lower number, so he kept it. Schoeneweis assumed he would switch at some point, but every year when he arrived at spring training, No. 60 awaited him."

This year, he thought he'd change his number, but the No. 36 jersey that awaited him at Port St. Lucie the other day rubbed him the wrong way. So he's going back to 60. He explained that he wants to remember where he's come from -- it's been a long struggle, including serious health problems, for him to get to the point where he's solid enough for a 3-year, $10.7 million deal.

His story isn't all that different than the one that Jim Bouton tells in Ball Four. "The year I was given 56 was the year I made the club [the Yankees, in 1962]. Toward the end of spring training, Big Pete, the No. 1 Yankee clubhouse man, Pete Sheehy, said, 'Listen, I got a better number for you. I can give you 26.' I told him I'd keep 56 because I wanted it to remind me of how close I was to not making the club. I still wear 56. I'm still close to not making the club."

I really like both of these stories, because they're about public, but low-key, displays of humility. Baseball's a humbling sport, and plenty of major leaguers -- even big stars -- have a healthy dose of it, because they know how close they are, all the time, to losing their spot on the team, or their status as one of the best. It's got to make you think when you fail a lot by making seven outs in every 10 at bats, or have a batter club your fat pitch 420 feet.

Of course, lots of major leaguers are also cocky as all get out, but it doesn't compare to NBA or NFL players, who probably just can't afford to be humble. They've got a lot coming at them, fast.