We had a situation in Reno, batter wore #14 but on the lineup card was listed as #17. We alerted the umpire who asked the team if this is true and the scorekeeper admitted she wrote the wrong number on the lineup card. The umpire asked if it was the same player and the team said yes. He basically said all that matters is the name is correct.

If that's true, then why do we announce substitutions by numbers if all that matters is the name is correct? Why must we all have unique numbers and no duplicates? One of our players approached the tournament director and he sided with the umpire saying as long as the name is correct then play ball.

Can someone please clarify this? Thank you.

B. Numbers – An Arabic number of contrasting colors at least 5" (15.24 cm) high must be worn on uniforms. No players on the same team may wear
identical numbers. (Numbers 3 and 03 are examples of identical numbers.)
Players without numbers will not be permitted to play. If duplicate numbers
exist, only one of the players may play at a time. There is no penalty for a
player wearing a wrong number. Correct the number in the score book and
continue play. NOTE: There is no penalty for duplicate numbers. Request
one player to change jerseys, or require a substitute to enter for one of the
players.

I was at a tournament earlier this year and 2 players on a team had same number, but the jerseys were distinctly differently. Ump said it was OK because it was easy to see the difference of their shirts.