San Francisco Giants Legend Excited To Watch His Number Be Worn This Season

The San Francisco Giants are allowing one of their new signees to wear a legend's number this season.

Sep 28, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford (35) hits a sacrifice fly RBI during the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Oracle Park. | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants made a few moves this offseason, and one of their biggest was bringing in Justin Verlander.

With this signing, the Giants are allowing Verlander to wear No. 35, which was the number Giants legend Brandon Crawford wore during his tenure with the franchise.

That number was not worn by anybody during the 2024 season, so this is a pretty big deal in San Francisco.

Crawford was a homegrown player for the Giants. He played 13 seasons in the orange and black. The left-handed hitter was a three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove Award winner, while also capturing the Silver Slugger once.

During his 13-year career in the Bay Area, the Los Angeles native slashed .250/.319/.356 with 146 home runs, 744 RBI and 669 runs scored. Additionally, he is seventh all-time in games played for the team and fourth all-time in defensive WAR.

He may not be heading to Cooperstown when the time comes, but Crawford is a beloved player in San Francisco.

Per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, Crawford admitted it will take some getting used to seeing someone else wear his number. However, the franchise legend also mentioned he is excited to watch the number be represented well in San Francisco by Verlander.

Verlander will be a first ballot Hall of Famer when he decides to hang up the spikes. He spent 13 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, seven with the Houston Astros and he made 16 starts for the New York Mets.

During his 19-year career, the right-handed pitcher has won three Cy Young Awards, one MVP and he has made nine All-Star teams. With that, he has a 3.30 lifetime ERA, 3,416 strikeouts and he is 38 wins away from reaching the coveted plateau of 300.

The two-time World Series champion has worn No. 35 every year since 2006. He made two starts in 2005, but he wore number 59 in those games. Since his true rookie season, though, 35 has been worn on his jersey.

Verlander is looking to rebound from his 2024 season, which was his worst in terms of ERA. He also allowed his highest H/9 and second-highest HR/9. Additionally, the 40-year-old recorded his lowest K/9 since the 2008 season.

The longtime veteran changed his routine this offseason, per Pavlovic.

After that alteration, he is feeling as good as he felt in the past few seasons.

There are still more milestones for him to reach, and San Francisco could be the place for that to happen.

Crawford could very well get his number retired at Oracle Park in the future, but for now, Verlander is more than worthy to sport No. 35.