Sports

Sports Illustrated rates Jeter as best athlete to wear No. 2

Derek Jeter galloped past Secretariat to capture one of the most unique honors of his career — named as the greatest athlete to wear No. 2.

Sports Illustrated’s book “Any Given Numbers: Who Wore It Best from 00 to 99” rates the best players of each uniform number, across all sports.

While racehorses don’t wear the same number from race to race, Secretariat donned No. 2 for his most memorable effort — winning the 1973 Belmont Stakes by an unbelievable 31 lengths.

A stable full of Yankees greats were named best at their number, such as No. 3 Babe Ruth, No. 5 Joe DiMaggio, and No. 8 Yogi Berra.

But not Mickey Mantle, who was topped by Denver Broncos Super Bowl champ QB John Elway.

The Mets were represented by No. 41 Tom Seaver, and No. 57 Johan Santana.

Willie Mays made the list as No. 24 with the New York Giants, as did Brooklyn Dodgers No. 42 Jackie Robinson and No. 39 Roy Campanella.

While Lou Gehrig is on the short list of greatest players of the 20th century, he was frozen out at No. 4 by hockey legend Bobby Orr.