Josh Reddick trades jersey number to new A’s DH Billy Butler for an XBox

By Brandon C. Williams | Mar 3, 2015

September 6, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick (16) bats during the ninth inning against the Houston Astros at O.co Coliseum. The Athletics defeated the Astros 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Oakland Athletics outfielder Josh Reddick’s price for exchanging his number to Billy Butler? Oh, nothing like an XBox to solve matters.

WWE Hall of Famer Ted “Million Dollar Man” DiBiase once said, “everybody’s got a price.” In the case of Oakland Athletics outfielder Josh Reddick, the price for trading his jersey number with newcomer Billy Butler fell far short of expensive jewelry, a vacation at a top-end resort or a new vehicle.

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Nah….all Reddick wanted was an XBox. Seriously.

A player who made $2.7 million last season simply wanted an XBox in exchange for his jersey number 16, the number that Butler wore with the Royals before signing with the Athletics as a free agent this past winter. For Reddick, giving up his number really wasn’t that big of a deal.

“When I first signed here with the A’s, I wasn’t sure who had the number, and when I realized it was Josh, I thought I’d be looking for another number,” Butler said. “But we talked, he offered it to me, and we worked out a deal.

“I really respect what he did, because he didn’t have to do it.”

Tradition states that a younger player normally gives up his number to a veteran, which meant that Reddick, who has more than four years of major league service, was entitled to give his number 16 to Butler, who has more than seven seasons in the bigs.

Butler was more than happy to ante up an XBox to Reddick, considering that number 16 is the only number he has ever worn since little league, with the half-season exception in 2007, when he wore number 21. Butler had to settle for that jersey number since veteran Reggie Sanders possessed it, yet when Sanders retired after that season, Butler wasted no time in grabbing it.

Reddick, who will wear number 22 this season, is donning his fifth jersey number in his brief time in the majors. He broke in with number 68 during his rookie year with the Red Sox in 2009 before sporting numbers 46 and 39 in 2010. He wore number 16 during his final season with Boston in 2011.

“I do like 16, but 22 is good, too,” he said. “It’s the number my high school coach had, so that’s cool. And it’s part of the unwritten rules of baseball to give the guys with the most playing time priority.

“Maybe I’ll be one of those guys one day, but I’m just at 4.5 years of service time now. I can wait.”

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