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Tonight is the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Growing up, I
loved the activities involved with All-Star Week. The home run derby was always my favorite competition. The best power hitters in baseball going head to head was always exciting to see how many home runs each player could hit.
This will be the only game of the year, with the exception of Jackie
Robinson day, that you will see some of the players wearing the same number on their jerseys. During normal regulation games, every player has a different number on the back of their uniform.
Do you know why each player has a different number? If you guessed
for identification purposes, then you are correct.
According to
Wikipedia,
the uniform number first appeared in the 19th century, but the earliest official record is from 1907. The
Reading
Red Roses of the
Atlantic
League numbered its players' jerseys in an effort to help the fans identify them. While it is unknown if the team
ever took the field with numbers, it did mark the beginning of the idea of uniform numbers.
Numbers are used for the purpose of easily identifying each person
on the field as no two people from the same team can wear the same number. Although designed for identification purposes only, numbers have become the source of superstition, emotional attachment, and honor (in the form of a number retirement).
Identity is essential to the Central Sterile department as well. There
are so many trays, baskets and other items being reprocessed that are imperative to track and identify. Many items can be so unique in nature that they even require customized tags to be able to identify or may even require an important message to be included
with them. Be sure you're identifying the players in the Central Sterile game and properly use identification tags for those specialty items and equipment.
Matt Smith
Senior Manager of Marketing
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