By Matt Crossman

updated 4:54 p.m. ET May 23, 2007

If infinity exists, there are that many numbers. Thankfully, only the first 100 of them fit on a jersey, at least any jersey worth wearing, thank you very much, Mr. Eddie Gaedel with 1/8 on your back.

In the book “Best by Number,” we picked the best athletes of all time at each number. Now, we're choosing the current best athlete at each number — we considered guys in the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, college football, college basketball and NASCAR.

We heavily weighted our choices toward the present — thus Barry Bonds is the all-time best at No. 25, but he's not the best No. 25 right now. Andruw Jones is. Really, if you had Jones, would you trade him for Bonds? But we'll give Bonds this much: He's the best modern asterisk.

We're not ignoring the past so much as asking, "Who makes each number look best today?"

Today, not tomorrow.

Although potential is important, it doesn't carry much weight in this argument. The future might be as infinite as numbers, but it is also unknowable. Thus Greg Oden, who could turn into one of the best centers in basketball history but to date has just one full season in the NCAA, falls short at No. 20 to Tony Stewart.

While we're on the topic of infinite potential, check out No. 35. Those are broad horizons, no?

Focusing on the immediate present caused a stir at No. 13. When we started this research, Steve Nash merited a slight edge over Alex Rodriguez. But then A-Rod started hitting home runs at a record pace and we got out an eraser.

From 0 to 99, each number is worn by at least one person in the sports we cover. But 100 fabulous integers does not mean 100 fabulous athletes. Frankly, some guys are just holding the numbers until someone better comes along.

At most numbers, there is at least a little debate. When there was more than one worthy guy, we listed the also-rans as contenders. When there was another player who has accomplished something distinctive, we labeled him as worth mentioning.

Some of the decisions were quite difficult. Look at the guys at 24, for example. Or 3. Or 17. We knew that no matter who we picked, the arguments would go on forever, would never end, would stretch into ... well, you know.

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