Right-hander Taihuan Walker (30), who agreed to a four-year, $72 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, revealed the reason for choosing the number 99.
Walker held a press conference on the 17th (Korean time) at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was given the number 99 shirt.
At the initiation ceremony, which was broadcast on the club’s official Twitter account, when asked why he chose the number 99, 스포츠토토 Walker said, “I think there is only one team where I can’t wear the number 99. That team is the Yankees. The rest of the teams are all possible uniform numbers,” he replied. The Yankees are using number 99 for outfielder Aaron Judge, who is known to have recently agreed to a new contract.
Walker started with number 27 during his first team, the Seattle Mariners, and wore numbers 32 and 44. He changed his number to 99 in November 2016 after he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“I was tired of changing his uniform number,” he said, and he ended up wearing number 99 after looking for one that would not change easily.
As he said, number 99 is not a common uniform number in baseball. According to ‘Baseball Reference’, only eight players, including Walker, wore this number last season.
There’s one thing Walker didn’t mention. Since Walker was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2020, he has worn number 00 instead of number 99. Because number 99 in Toronto has an owner. Ryu Hyun-jin, who has a contract until 2023, is the main character.
Walker won a four-year contract with the New York Mets, going 19-16 with a 3.98 ERA in 58 games over the past two years. President Dave Dombrowski said, “He is a talented player. He has a high level of skill. I especially like his split finger fastball,” he praised Walker.
“I had a videoconference conversation with the Phillies executives and I liked their vision,” Walker said. He heard about how he could help me become a better player. On top of that, I liked being able to work with good starters like Aaron Nola, Jack Wheeler, and Ranger Suarez, and having a devastating lineup from 1st to 9th. It is a team that advanced to the World Series last year. I liked everything,” he said of his background in choosing the Phillies as his new team.