Quote Originally Posted by Tzigone View Post
I disagree that it's analogous. Numbers were meant to reused and were generic and the same numbers were used by all teams (generally). It was not a name or any sort of unique identifier. Numbers being retired is the exception, not the rule. Which was not the case for code names back then.
Somebody put on the same uniform he did all the way down to the number (which nobody else was wearing), and went out to do the same job that he had always done. That's not "doing his own thing"

One year Yankees outfielder #3 was Babe Ruth, the next year Yankees outfielder #3 was George Selkirk. One year Barry Allen was the Flash, the next year Wally West was the Flash. It's the same situation.