“Hey, Larry Walker’s 33! » I have to hear this one every week, when I walk around in my Expos jersey, on the way to Père-Marquette Park, where the prestigious Encore Baseball League takes place. Nothing against Larry Walker, whose cannon arm in the right I admired. But as a catcher, the 33 is more of a tribute to Jason Varitek, catcher of the Red Sox when our team was created, around fifteen years ago. Varitek was then the only catcher in history to have been behind the plate for four games without a run or a hit (Carlos Ruiz has since joined him). He was also the captain of the fabulous Red Sox of the 2000s, the only baseball team that had thrilled me since the agony of the Expos. That’s why I wear 33, in baseball and softball, in the excellent media league.
In hockey, in the no less excellent EMF League, it is rather the 40, but in this case, no risk of confusion with Fred Brathwaite, Stéphane Beauregard or Frank Pietrangelo. The name of Darren Pang, who shares vertical challenges with me, is written in big letters.
It depends on the sport. In golf, for example, I don’t wear any numbers, firstly because it’s not a sport and secondly because I never play. In indoor soccer, I wear the number 87, in homage to the year 1887, the year of the first performance of the opera Otello in Milan, Otello being the inspiration of any self-respecting soccer player, who learns very early to feign death in the manner of the mythical character. In real football, I wear number 80, because that number hasn’t been worn often by a Cowboys receiver, so I like to imagine it’s mine. In hockey, I like the 9, which was that of Maurice Richard, a player who is directly responsible for my first name.
I was born on December 12 (12th month of the year) at 8:12 in the morning. So 12 has always been my lucky number for this reason. Unfortunately, I wrote the most virulent article of my career on the most glorious Canadiens player to wear this number, the illustrious Yvan Cournoyer, at the time when he was an assistant coach with the Canadiens. Keith Acton, one of my favorite players as a teenager, also wore it, as did Mike Keane and Darcy Tucker, before the Canadian retired it for eternity. I would have liked 12 when I played two seasons as a cornerback with the Bois-de-Boulogne Cavaliers in the AA Collegiate Football League, but the numbers being distributed randomly, I stuck to 28, which I then wore on occasion in my garage hockey leagues when the 12 was not available. Éric Desjardins lifted the last Stanley Cup won by the Canadian in 1993 with this number on his back. It is worn today by Christian Dvorak. Let’s move on…
When I was younger, I had my loved ones draw numbers to determine which number I was going to wear, one day, in the NHL because I was so undecided! My favorite number is 10, because of my birthday, but strangely I’ve never worn it. It had already been awarded during my first season of minor hockey. So I inherited the 9. But I was never comfortable wearing this number with my last name… Too much pressure. Later, in basketball, I wore 13 in honor of Steve Nash and that number stuck with me. Even today, in garage leagues. Otherwise, if I played in the NHL, I would probably wear 97, to represent the year I was born and to somewhat tickle a certain McDavid.
I obviously have a priority list of numbers. The first one at the top of the list is 11; my brothers and I have often chosen this number over the years for a reason that I unfortunately do not know. If it’s not available, I turn to 27; When I was young, I was a big admirer of Alex Kovalev. Believe it or not, I even had a necklace with the number 27. Just a little intense! If, unfortunately, the 27 is not there, then I take the 4; It’s my lucky number, but I find it strange to wear it as an attacker. The list goes on, but I’ll spare you the rest. You are already good to have made it this far.
When I was young, the coaches’ kids had first choice. Afterwards, we took – or were assigned – a number from the remaining ones. In my second year in pee-wee, I received the 41. Since it was my best season, I took this number later in the garage leagues.
For me, there has always been only one number in my heart: 6. Obviously, inspired by Mario Lemieux’s 66, but I would never dare to wear the full number of the greatest hockey player of the history of humanity. Then, because I scored 66 points in my first season of hockey, the good times when I was a productive forward, before becoming over the years a defensive player with back and knee problems. Then there is son number 1 who was offered number 6 this season in baseball, a number which certainly contributed to his regional title in the U9B category.
And you, what number do you wear when you play on a sports team and why?
