He didn't. His junior coach from the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhouds offered the number to him since a teammate wore number 9. At the time of the seventies, double numbers were the new thing, as Phil Esposito wore 77 and even John Davidson wore 00 for the Rangers. Since he liked 9, he wore 99. After that the rest is history.
Anyways, back to baseball.
Jays routed the O's, 11-3. Jays offence clicking, or Baltimore falling back to reality?