{"id":169050,"date":"2026-03-25T11:29:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T11:29:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=169050"},"modified":"2026-03-25T11:29:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T11:29:42","slug":"%f0%9f%92%a5-mind-blowing-tradition-jj-wetherholt-just-became-the-37th-cardinal-in-franchise-history-to-rock-this-ultra-rare-jersey-number-the-secret-meaning-behind-it-will-shock-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=169050","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udca5 MIND-BLOWING TRADITION: JJ Wetherholt Just Became the 37th Cardinal in Franchise History to Rock This Ultra-Rare Jersey Number \u2013 The Secret Meaning Behind It Will Shock You \ud83d\ude31"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_fill,w_1200,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/33\/01khfgavf16b8jtqdqtm.jpg\" alt=\"St. Louis Cardinals reserve number for JJ Wetherholt (but not yet a roster  spot)\" \/><\/p>\n<section id=\"article-body\">JJ Wetherholt has arrived.<\/p>\n<p>And with his arrival comes an official determination of his jersey number with the St. Louis Cardinals.<\/p>\n<p>Prospects like Wetherholt get what amount to temporary digits when they come to Spring Training at first. Only after they make the big league club do they get their number going forward.<\/p>\n<p>Wetherholt has his now. He&#8217;s going to be on the Cardinals&#8217; Opening Day roster.<\/p>\n<p>The back of his jersey will have the number 26.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not a classic shortstop number, but Wetherholt will certainly have plenty of company in Cardinals history of guys who have worn it.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/6AO25fJUPBQ_VqHIOrQ6WQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTE1MjA7aD04NTQ7Y2Y9d2VicA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/the_sporting_news_articles_584\/c490a3933103477898fc5223193358e2\" alt=\"JJ Wetherholt is 37th player in Cardinals history to pick this unusual  jersey number - Yahoo Sports\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Cardinals to wear jersey number 26<\/h2>\n<p>The list is now 37 long, when you include Wetherholt on it.<\/p>\n<p>These are all the players to have worn 26 in the Cardinals&#8217; storied history:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>JJ Wetherholt (2026-)<\/li>\n<li>Luken Baker (2023-2025)<\/li>\n<li>Ben DeLuzio (2022)<\/li>\n<li>Justin Williams (2020-2021)<\/li>\n<li>Bud Norris (2018)<\/li>\n<li>Seunghwan Oh (2016-2017)<\/li>\n<li>Trevor Rosenthal (2013-2014)<\/li>\n<li>Kyle Lohse (2008-2012)<\/li>\n<li>Scott Spiezio (2006-2007)<\/li>\n<li>Anthony Reyes (2005)<\/li>\n<li>Cody McKay (2004)<\/li>\n<li>Eli Marrero (1997-2003)<\/li>\n<li>Scott Hemond (1995)<\/li>\n<li>Omar Olivares (1990-1994)<\/li>\n<li>Les Lancaster (1993)<\/li>\n<li>Tony Pe\u00f1a (1987-1989)<\/li>\n<li>Rod Booker (1987)<\/li>\n<li>Steve Braun (1981-1985)<\/li>\n<li>Don Hood (1980)<\/li>\n<li>Bobby Bonds (1980)<\/li>\n<li>Dave Hamilton (1978)<\/li>\n<li>Rob Dressler (1978)<\/li>\n<li>Rawly Eastwick (1977)<\/li>\n<li>Doug Capilla (1976-1977)<\/li>\n<li>Luis Mel\u00e9ndez (1970-1976)<\/li>\n<li>Chuck Hartenstein (1970)<\/li>\n<li>Jerry DaVanon (1969)<\/li>\n<li>Ed Spiezio (1964-1968)<\/li>\n<li>George Altman (1963)<\/li>\n<li>Bill White (1959)<\/li>\n<li>Bob Miller (1957)<\/li>\n<li>Jim Davis (1957)<\/li>\n<li>Hal White (1953-1954)<\/li>\n<li>Howie Krist (1941)<\/li>\n<li>Bob Bowman (1939-1940)<\/li>\n<li>Mike Gonz\u00e1lez (1924)<\/li>\n<li>George Toporcer (1923)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some fun names on there!<\/p>\n<p>A pair of Spezios. Bobby Bonds. Kyle Lohse for a decent stretch. Some bullpen arms.<\/p>\n<p>Now, Wetherholt will try to make this number his for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>JJ Wetherholt has arrived. And with his arrival comes an official determination of his jersey number with the St. Louis Cardinals. Prospects like Wetherholt get what amount&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-169050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\ud83d\udca5 MIND-BLOWING TRADITION: JJ Wetherholt Just Became the 37th Cardinal in Franchise History to Rock This Ultra-Rare Jersey Number \u2013 The Secret Meaning Behind It Will Shock You \ud83d\ude31 - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=169050\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udca5 MIND-BLOWING TRADITION: JJ Wetherholt Just Became the 37th Cardinal in Franchise History to Rock This Ultra-Rare Jersey Number \u2013 The Secret Meaning Behind It Will Shock You \ud83d\ude31 - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"JJ Wetherholt has arrived. 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