PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Taijuan Walker takes place in his new team – against Mr. Met.
A day after the Mets finished his $ 23 million three-year deal, Walker said he won his favorite shirt number through the round baseball-headed mascot.
“I was 44 when I was growing up, and I finally got to the Mariners in 2016,” Walker said Tuesday. “And then I was traded at the end of the year, and when I was traded to the Diamondbacks, Paul Goldschmidt was number 44. So I was, okay, I’ll never get that again.”
So Walker thought, “What song can I wear that not many people in the league have?”
He chose 99.
“And I think the only way I don’t wear 99 is if I’m traded to the Yankees,” he said. “So I was, okay, 99 is a safe bet and live with that.”
And then, of course, last year I was traded to Toronto and (Hyun Jin) Ryu is wearing 99. So I thought, okay, that didn’t work. So I’m wearing 00. Something else, again. “
“And this year Mr. Met is 00, of course. So I just started wearing 99 again.”
The only previous Mets No. 99 was Turk Wendell from 1997-2001, according to Baseball Reference.