Sports iconic numbers – what name(s) do you come up with?

Absolutely I remember the number affixed to my high school basketball uniforms. I wore 14 at home and 15 on the road. For the life of me however, I can't recall my baseball number. On the contrary I don't recall my college basketball uniform number but I sported the No. 4 on my Hiram Terrier baseball jersey.It is strange that certain numbers (and thus names) pop into your head where others draw a blank.I have written columns about numbers in sports before, but a recent passing has me taking to a similar column today. Long time Oakland Raiders center and Hall of Famer Jim Otto died recently. If anyone had an "appropriate" number it was Otto. He wore the No. 00 for his entire career.So here we go again. I will give you some of sports most iconic numbers and you can decide whose name should "first" be associated with it. There is no right or wrong choice here, and it should be fun. Do you have a favorite sport? Will that influence your decision? Let's begin.The No. 3: I would guess that nearly everyone will first think of George Herman Ruth. The Babe is a larger than life figure from the world of baseball. For those younger readers that think only us "old" geezers would think of the Sultan of Swat, let me remind you that I never saw him play. In fact he died two years before I was born.But I have seen the footage of some of his most memorable moments. He was a prodigious slugger having set the single season record for home runs with 60 in 1927. That stood until Roger Maris belted 61 in 1961 and that mark has been surpassed several times.His 714 career home runs was broken by Hank Aaron 50 years ago and I was alive for that moment. Most of you know that the Babe was also a pitcher, but did you know that his career record was 94-46 and his overall ERA was 2.28. He was the Shohei Ohtani of his day. Or should that be the other way around?I will include one more famed # 3. This time it is on the side of a black Chevrolet. Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was an auto racing legend. The Intimidator won 76 races and seven championships in his career. It took him awhile to win Nascar's premier race the Daytona 500. When he finally did in 1998 the video of all teams crew members waiting on pit road to congratulate him was spine tingling.The No. 23: This is likely the time to pick Michael Jordan. Arguably the GOAT of professional basketball, he sported this iconic number for the Chicago Bulls. Another player who gets consideration for the greatest of all time, Lebron James, also wore the number 23 among other ones. But my guess is that you will pick Air Jordan over anyone else for the top spot.A few other athletes that sported the number are Kirk Gibson, Calvin Murphy and Ryne Sandberg.The No. 43: This one belongs to The King. Richard Petty has so many first place rankings in the sport of auto racing that his iconic car number has to go to the top. He has 200 wins at Nascar's top level (David Pearson is second with 105), he has the most poles (123), seven championships (tied for first), seven Daytona 500 wins, 10 consecutive race wins and a career best 1,185 starts. Case closed.I actually got to shake his hand at the Jamie Farr women's golf tournament in Toledo several years ago. He seems like a very nice man.If you are looking for other 43's you might try Dennis Eckersley or Troy Polamalu (the full sized one, not Tiny Troy). So let's look at some other numbers from the world of sports. They may not be considered iconic, but you will recognize some people who sported them.The No. 00: While Jim Otto is best remembered for this number a couple of others wore it as well. Wide receiver Ken Borroughs played for the Houston Oilers and wore the 00. Also Robert Parish had this uniform number while playing for the Boston Celtics.The No. 7: I would go with Mickey Mantle on this one. One has to wonder how his career numbers would have improved if he hadn't had knee problems. I once played golf on a course near Chester, South Carolina where his picture hung on the wall. He had some free time during the season and stopped at the course. With no golf shoes and playing with rented clubs, he went out and shot under par. Can you say gifted athlete?John Elway would be a nice choice here, but after what he did to Ohio State (while at Stanford) and to the Cleveland Browns (The Drive) I'm glad the Mick wore No. 7 so I could give him the nod.The No. 10: Though I am not a big fan of soccer, I know greatness when I see it. The great Pele sported this number during his career. If you did not think of him, you are forgiven. Walt "Clyde" Frazier wore the No. 10 for the New York Knicks. Fran Tarkenton also donned the number for the Minnesota Vikings.The No. 12: This number has to belong to a quarterback. Which one is the question. Here are a few to choose from: Joe Namath, Jim Kelly, Tom Brady, Terry Bradshaw, Ken Stabler and Roger Staubach.I'm not sure you can go wrong with which one should head the list. I'm going with Broadway Joe though you can't count out all those rings that Brady and Bradshaw have.The No. 14: You have choices here. The all time hits leader in baseball Pete Rose comes to mind. So does Indy race car legend "Super Tex" A.J. Foyt. Perhaps you would prefer Bob Cousy the legendary Celtics point guard.I think you might also consider one of my favorite all time sports stars – "Let's Play Two" Ernie Banks.The No. 17: The last one for this week. John "Hondo" Havlicek is my pick. The Ohio State and Boston Celtic standout wins for me over Darrell (let's go racing boys) Waltrip.For you younger fans: Shohei Ohtani will one day make this list and likely at the top. Let's see him play a few more years first.I will continue this next week and will give you the numbers I have chosen to highlight. That gives you a week to come up with your choice.Here they are: 1 – 4 – 6 – 8 – 16 – 18 – 19 – 20 – 42 – 44.