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At my trivia nights last week, I asked the question, "What do Phillies great Steve Carlton and Sixers great Billy Cunningham have in common?" The answer is...they both wore #32. So that got me thinking, who are the best Philly athletes by number? There are a few numbers, like 32, where it's a really tough call. Here are my picks. Would love to hear your feedback on this.
0 - Tyrese Maxey
1 - Bernie Parent. This was SO tough because Richie Ashburn wore #1. They are both in the Hall of Fame in their respective sports and are both looked at as all-time greats. But Bernie has two Stanley Cups, so I'm going with him.
2 - Moses Malone. Could have picked David Akers too, but I went with Moses. He was the missing piece of the puzzle on that 1983 NBA Title team, winning Finals MVP.
3 - This is a tough one. Do you go Iverson or Harper? I think for now I'm going with Iverson, but I reserve the right to change my mind after this season.
4 - Jake Elliot. Could have also gone with Lenny Dykstra or Barry Ashbee here, but it has to be Jake. Do you remember one of the key moments to that 2017 Super Bowl season? Elliot's 61 yarder to beat the Giants. Yes, he struggled this past season, but was still clutch in Super Bowl LIX.
5 - Donovan McNabb
6 - Julius Erving. Could have gone with Ryan Howard, but come on...how can anyone top Dr. J?
7 - Bill Barber. Could have gone with Ron Jaworski too, but Barber was huge on the 2 Flyers Cup teams.
8 - Shane Victorino
9 - Nick Foles
10 - Another tough one. Larry Bowa? Darren Daulton? Maurice Cheeks? John LeClair? I have to go with Bowa
11 - Jimmy Rollins. Could have gone with Norm Van Brocklin, or even The Union's Sebastien LeToux. But it's gotta be J-Roll.
12 - Randall Cunningham. I was a HUGE Tim Kerr fan. Those Flyers teams in '85 and '87 were close to my heart. Plus I got to interview Kerr on TV and he is just a super guy. But anyone called "The Ultimate Weapon" has to get the nod, so I'm going with Randall.
13 - Wilt Chamberlain
14 - Pete Rose. Apologies to fans of Jim Bunning. Could have easily gone with him, especially with his perfect game in 1964. But Rose put the Phillies over the hump and was key in the team's first ever World Championship in 1980.
15 - Steve Van Buren. Hal Greer would have been a good choice too, but I'm going with Van Buren.
16 - Bobby Clarke
17 - Harold Carmichael
18 - Jeremy Maclin
19 - Greg Luzinski
20 - Mike Schmidt. Hard to keep Brian Dawkins off of a list like this, but when you're the greatest player in your sport at your position, that has to count for something. So Schmidt gets the nod.
21 - Joel Embiid. Hard not to pick Eric Allen, who was just elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Even with all of Embiid's issues, he still has to be recognized here.
22 - Andrew Toney. I was a big Rick Tocchet fan from those great 80's Flyers teams, but it has to be Toney.
23 - Troy Vincent
24 - Bobby Jones
25 - Another tough one. Tommy McDonald, LeSean McCoy or Jim Thome? Tommy McDonald
26 - Chase Utley...but in a few years we could be changing this to Saquon Barkley.
27 - Ron Hextall
28 - Claude Giroux
29 - John Kruk
30 - Dave Cash
31 - Garry Maddox
32 - Carlton or Cunningham? I'm going with Steve Carlton
33 - Cliff Lee. Could make an argument for Pete Peeters here too.
34 - Roy Halladay. Hard to keep Charles Barkley off this list, but the perfect game and post-season no-hitter mean something to me.
35 - Cole Hamels
36 - Robin Roberts. Another tough call because you could make a great case for Brian Westbrook
37 - Eric Desjardins. Fun fact: Ryne Sandberg wore 37 for the Phillies before they traded him to the Cubs
38 - Curt Schilling
39 - Brett Myers
40 - Tom Brookshier
41 - Chris Short
42 - Ron Reed
43 - Darren Sproles
44 - Pete Retzlaff
45 - Tug McGraw...but this could soon be changed to Zack Wheeler
46 - Herman Edwards
47 - Larry Andersen (the only Phil to play in both the 83 AND 93 post seasons)
48 - Danny Briere
49 - Jose Mesa
50 - Jamie Moyer. Was tempted to put Steve Mix.
51 - Carlos Ruiz
52 - Ricky Bottalico
53 - Bobby Abreu. Could easily have put Hugh Douglas here too.
54 - Brad Lidge
55 - Brandon Graham
56 - Joe Blanton. Any pitcher with a World Series home run has to be on this list.
57 - Bill Cowher (not a lot of good 57's to pick from)
58 - Trent Cole
59 - Seth Joyner
60 - Chuck Benarik
61 - Christopher Sanchez
62 - Jason Kelce
63 - Ryan Madson (he switched to 46 in 2009, but he was 63 in 2008)
64 - Mario Gianelli (slim pickings for this number...picked him because he was on the Eagles 1948 and 1949 championship teams. Hey, it's MY list)
65 - Lane Johnson
66 - Bill Bergey
67 - Jamaal Jackson
68 - Jaromir Jagr
69 - Landon Dickerson
70 - Al Wistert
71 - Jason Peters
72 - Tra Thomas
73 - Isaac Seumalo
74 - Mike Pitts
75 - Stan Walters
76 - Jerry Sisemore
77 - Paul Coffey
78 - Hollis Thomas
79 - Todd Herremans. Obviously Carter Hart was a really talented goalie, but I cannot add him to this list.
80 - Chris Carter
81 - Terrell Owens
82 - Mike Quick
83 - Vince Papale
84 - Keith Krepfle
85 - Charles Smith
86 - Fred Barnett
87 - Brent Celek
88 - Eric Lindros
89 - Calvin Williams
90 - Jordan Davis
91 - Fletcher Cox
92 - Reggie White
93 - Jake Voracek
94 - Josh Sweat
95 - William Fuller
96 - Clyde Simmons
97 - Jeremy Roenick
98 - Jalen Carter
99 - Mitch Williams. Close second is the late Jerome Brown.
That's my list. What do you think?