Is Missouri Powberall winner a big fan of the Royals?

We won’t know for sure until the news conference in suburban Kansas City, Mo., sometime Friday, but it sure appears like one of the two winners of last night’s massive Powerball jackpot is a big fan of the Royals.

Just look at the numbers:

05, 16, 22, 23, 29, with a Powerball of 06.

And just look at some of the famous Royals who have worn those numbers:

George Brett (5), Bo Jackson (16), Dennis Leonard (22), Mark Gubicza (23), Dan Quinsenberry (29), and Willie Wilson (6). As Yahoo!Sports’ Jeff Passan points out, all but Jackson are in the Royals Hall of Fame. Jackson, though, certainly was one of the most memorable Royals ever.

The winner apparently already has confirmed their ticket with the Missouri State Lottery, and is set to be introduced to the world tomorrow. Arizona’s winner has yet to come forward.

(It’s doubtful, by the way, that the Arizona winner picked out his/her/their million-dollar numbers in tribute of the Diamondbacks, no discespect to Tony Womack, Quinton McCracken, Chad Moeller, Greg Swindell, Lyle Overbay and Danny Bautista.)

Each will share the record $588 million jackpot, which isn’t as much as it sounds. After splitting it, and after taking the lump sum, and after paying taxes, they’ll be left with less than $200 million.

So, obviously, they won’t be quitting their jobs.

Got me thinking, though.

What if a Tigers fan had played the numbers in a similar way?

Well, hindsight always is 20-20, but had someone done it, they could’ve been seriously rich today, if they just had paid homage to Hank Greenberg (5), Hal Newhouser (16), Willie Horton/Kirk Gibson (23) and Mickey Lolich (29), with Mr. Tiger Al Kaline (6), appropriately, the Powerball.

The only tricky number in Tigers history is 22, assuming there are no rapid Milt Cuyler fans out there.

So a Tigers fan pulling this stunt would’ve settled for only a million bucks.

Then again, someone always could’ve played that last digit for Tigers third-base (for now) coach Gene Lamont, who wears No. 22 — but then the winning ticket might not have made it to the state Lottery Office safely.