For all the familiarity Kiké Hernández has with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, his return has come with a noteworthy change.
Whereas Hernández wore No. 14 during his first stint with the Dodgers from 2015-2020, he needed to switch to a new number due to that being retired for Gil Hodges. “Very selfishly didn’t want to unretire it for me,” Hernández joked.
Hernández decided on No. 8 for his new jersey number, which sports fans in Southern California easily associate with Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant.
“So my options were (Nos.) 8, 10 and 29. I don’t love 29. I like single digits,” Hernández continued. “I like No. 10 a lot, but we all know who wore No. 10 here for a long time. When D.P. (David Price) was here, he told me was considering changing his number to 14, but there were still a lot of Hernández 14 jerseys around.
“So I didn’t want to be No. 10 when the whole stadium is wearing 10 for (Justin) Turner. So I figured I’d honor Bob Geren with No. 8, and also Kobe Bryant. Mamba Day in L.A. is on my birthday, so I figured No. 8 is significant in this city and I might as well take a shot with it.”
Hernández was among several Dodgers players who took to social media to express their sadness when Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others tragically were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas.
Bryant attended multiple games at Dodger Stadium, even as recently as Game 4 of the 2018 World Series. He also developed a relationship with Cody Bellinger by way of both players being Nike athletes.
In May 2018, Bryant sent Bellinger an autographed pair of the Nike Zoom Kobe 1 Protro ‘Final Seconds.’ Prior to the 2020 MLB season, Bellinger attended multiple Lakers games, including one at Staples Center with Kenley Jansen.
Kiké Hernández wore No. 8 for Kobe
When the Dodgers paid tribute to Kobe and Gianna on August 23, 2020, players wore his Lakers jerseys and stood along the third-base line while a video narrated by Vin Scully played.
In that instance as well, Hernández chose to wear a No. 8 Bryant Lakers jersey. He went on to hit a three-run home run in the Dodgers’ 11-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies, and celebrated with a shooting motion as he crossed home plate.
“Kobe, for 3!” Hernandez explained of the celebration. “It was a three-run homer, like when you shoot a 3-pointer. We lost Kobe a little too soon. What he meant to not only this city but the entire world, to see the impact he had not only on basketball players but athletes and non-athletes all over the world, I think that tells you what type of person he was.
“Not just on the court but off it as well. He helped a lot of people. For us to be part of something like that before the game was really meaningful. I’m glad we did something really nice before the game and we were also able to win that game for him. It’s one of those that I’ll always remember.”
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