With a short, one-syllable, four-letter name to stitch between his shoulder blades, outfielder Austin Dean didn’t want a chunky number beneath it, so he spoke to the Cardinals about changing to a single-digit. He realized quickly how “pretty much every single digit number is retired,” so he requested one that wasn’t.
When he was told No. 5 would be, he remembered who wore it.
“Took my shot right there for zero,” said Dean, whose jersey reads like a nickname, Dean-O. “I’m going to stick with it. There could be some backlash with it. I don’t really care.