[BigRed75]

IIRC, Football Manager has a "preferred number" field in their player database.

Now, how easy or difficult the programming would be to correctly use the preferred number field, I have no idea.

Re: the Harper thing, it might have been even worse. It's entirely possible that Harper got bumped to #38 because 34, 35, 36 and 37 were already taken at Syracuse when he went to rehab there, and the game gave him the next available Syracuse number, which became "his" number, and we given to him when he went back to Washington after rehab ended.

Also, I've noticed that when a player can't get the number he used to have, the game always looks for the next biggest available number, never the next smallest. It's especially glaring in the offseason. Say Harper signs a FA contract in spring training, after NRIs have been assigned. He might end up with a number in the 60s or 70s, and the game never checks to see if 33 or 32 is available.