When starter Ubaldo Jimenez joined the Orioles on a four-year, $50 million contract on February 19, he decided he wanted Kevin Gausman’s number 31. Gausman has gone through a handful of number changes, which CSN Baltimore’s Keely Diven explains:
Jimenez didn’t let the good deed go unrewarded. Fellow starter Bud Norris snapped and then tweeted a picture of the two starters after Jimenez gave Gausman a Rolex watch as a thank-you for giving up the number.
Gausman wore No. 75 in spring training of last year, then switched to No. 37 for his first season in the big leagues. The Orioles’ new pitching coach Dave Wallace wanted No. 37 when he arrived, so Gausman switched to No. 31 in the first week of camp rather than turn down his new coach. That would have been the end of the number saga had the Orioles not signed Ubaldo Jimenez soon after. Jimenez wanted Gausman’s number, and as usual, he obliged and asked for nothing in return. Now, Wallace wears No. 37, Jimenez wears No. 31 and Gausman wears No. 39.
Jimenez didn’t let the good deed go unrewarded. Fellow starter Bud Norris snapped and then tweeted a picture of the two starters after Jimenez gave Gausman a Rolex watch as a thank-you for giving up the number.
Huge props to our boy Ubaldo getting the stud @KevinGausman a #Rolex. Changing of numbers is pricey. #team #birdland pic.twitter.com/bOCHShGyeN
— Bud Norris (@BudNorris25) June 20, 2014