This is one part in our series looking at the best players to wear (almost) every number in MLS history. To read the other stories, click here.



Typically, the No. 4 jersey belongs to a traditionally underrated position, the center back— someone like Robin Fraser, who spent 10 MLS seasons playing in that position for the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Colorado Rapids and the Columbus Crew. But Fraser didn’t take that number because he idolized other center backs when he was growing up. For him, players who wore No. 4 weren’t just tragically underappreciated — they were practically unknown.



“Can’t name one,” said Fraser, now 53 and head coach of the Colorado Rapids, when asked if he had ever idolized a player who wore the number.



He said it was just a number that was available when he arrived at Florida International University as a 17-year-old freshman, and it’s the one he stuck with throughout his...