21 days remain until Athletics Opening Day at the Toronto Blue Jays on March 27, 2026. With Las Vegas on the horizon, this daily countdown tracks the best A’s players by jersey number.
Today, March 6, 2026, the number is 21.
Vida Blue, No. 21
Vida Blue, though he wore No. 35 for most of his career, is the best Athletics player to wear No. 21 because the career value and peak season both separate him. Even in a jersey group with plenty of recognizable names, his resume stands above the rest.
Blue wore multiple numbers with the A’s, including 21, 28, 17, 35 and 14. Still, he wore No. 21, and his impact makes him the clear pick.
Why Blue gets No. 21
Blue finished with 45.1 career WAR, 209 wins and a 3.27 ERA across 17 seasons. That is the strongest career profile tied to this number group.
His 1971 season is the separator in this story. Blue went 24-8 with a 1.82 ERA, struck out 301 in 312 innings, and won the AL Cy Young and AL MVP.
Career start and background
Blue was born July 28, 1949, in Mansfield, La. He attended De Soto High School in Mansfield, then went to Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge.
The Kansas City Athletics drafted him in the second round of the 1967 MLB June Amateur Draft. He debuted with the Athletics on July 20, 1969.
Other notable No. 21s
- Dwayne Murphy, 1979-1987
- Mark Kotsay, 2004-2007
- Stephen Vogt, 2013-2022
- Tyler Soderstrom, 2024-2025
Career check
No. 21 has plenty of familiar Athletics names, but only one MVP and Cy Young season. Blue owns the number on career value and a peak that still jumps off the page.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
