Joe D wore #18?
 

I just made a discovery today and thought that I would share it here. The Baseball Reference website indicates that Joe DiMaggio wore uniform #9 only during his rookie season of 1936 before switching to his now familiar #5 thereafter. However, one DiMaggio rookie card pictures him in a uniform #18. How can this be?

Well, during spring training of 1936, Joe D was initially assigned #18 and wore that during the early part of spring training before switching to #9 prior to the start of the 1936 regular season. Thus, the 1936 National Chicle rookie card of DiMaggio pictures him wearing #18. As far as I can tell, this is not only a unique case as it pertains to baseball cards but I have not been able to locate any other image of DiMaggio wearing uniform #18. Does anyone know of the existence of another?

In today’s hobby where the “earliest” and “first” have taken on an increased significance, can we expect this particular card to exhibit heightened demand in the future?

Interesting. Similar situation to Musial and #19.

https://thecardinalnation.com/now-ba...tanley-musial/