List of Major League Baseball retired numbers
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Major League Baseball and its participating clubs have retired various uniform numbers over the course of time, ensuring that those numbers will always be associated with particular players or managers of note. The use of numbers on uniforms to better identify one player from another, and hence to boost sales of scorecards, was tried briefly by the Cleveland Indians of 1916, and the St. Louis Cardinals of 1923. The first team to permanently adopt the practice was the New York Yankees of 1929. By 1932, all sixteen major league clubs were issuing numbers, and by 1937, the leagues passed rules requiring it.
The Yankees' original approach was to simply assign the numbers 1 through 8 to the regular starting lineup in their normal batting order. Hence, Babe Ruth wore number 3 and Lou Gehrig number 4. The first major leaguer whose number was retired was Gehrig, in January 1940, following his retirement due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which became known popularly as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Since then, over 150 other people have had their numbers retired. This includes managers and coaches, as Major League Baseball is the only one of the major North American professional leagues in which the coaching staff wear the same uniforms as players. Four numbers have been retired in honor of people not directly involved on the playing field—three for team executives, and one for a team's fans. Some of the game's early stars, such as Ty Cobb and Christy Mathewson, retired before numbers came into usage. Teams often celebrate their retired numbers and other honored people by hanging banners with the numbers and names. Early stars, as well as honored non-players, will often have numberless banners hanging along with the retired numbers. Because fewer and fewer players stay with one team long enough to warrant their number being retired, some players believe that getting their number retired is a greater honor than going into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ron Santo, upon his number 10 being retired on the last day of the 2003 regular season, enthusiastically told the Wrigley Field crowd as his #10 flag was hoisted, "This is my Hall of Fame!"[1]However, Santo will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in August 2012 by voting of the Veterans Committee, nearly two years after he died.
[edit] Alternative methods of recognition
Two teams (the Seattle Mariners, and the Colorado Rockies) have never retired a jersey number.
The Mariners have kept the following numbers out of circulation since the departure of a popular player who wore it: #11 (Edgar Martínez), #14 (Lou Piniella), #19 (Jay Buhner) and #24 (Ken Griffey, Jr.). Similarly, no one has worn #33 for the Rockies since the departure of Larry Walker, but it's speculated that #17 (Todd Helton) will be the first number that the Rockies organization will retire.[2]
Some teams have not formally retired certain numbers, but nonetheless kept them out of circulation. For example, the Cincinnati Reds have only assigned Pete Rose's #14 to one other player after his retirement: his own son. #14 cannot be retired in honor of the older Rose at present, due to his lifetime ban from baseball. The Los Angeles Dodgers' current policy is only to retire the numbers of longtime club members if they are inducted into the Hall of Fame; the lone exception being longtime Dodger player and coach Jim Gilliam, whose #19 was retired when he died of a cerebral hemorrhage during the Dodgers' 1978 postseason run. Nevertheless, the Dodgers have informally kept Fernando Valenzuela's #34 out of circulation since his retirement.[3]
Also, after Darryl Kile's death in 2002, the teams he played for (Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, and St. Louis Cardinals) took his #57 out of circulation, but have yet to formally retire the number.
[edit] Numbers retired by Major League Baseball
Normally the individual clubs are responsible for retiring numbers. On April 15, 1997, Major League Baseball took the unusual move of retiring a number for all teams. On the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking the major league color barrier, his number 42 was retired throughout the majors, at the order of Commissioner Bud Selig. This meant that no future player on any major league team could wear number 42, although players wearing #42 at the time were allowed to continue wearing it (only New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera remains active as of 2011). Starting in the 2007 season, the 60th anniversary of Robinson's Major League debut, players and coaches have all worn the number 42 as a tribute to Robinson on Jackie Robinson Day, April 15.
[edit] List of retired numbers
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Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame |
- ^ Unretired in 2012 for Logan Morrison. First team president, but died in December 1992, four months before the team's first game. The Marlins chose to retire #5 because it was the number worn by Barger's favorite player, Joe DiMaggio.
- ^ a b c d The Montreal Expos retired numbers in honor of four players (Carter #8, Dawson #10, Staub #10, Raines #30). When the franchise relocated to Washington, DC, after the 2004 season, the newly-christened Washington Nationals chose not to recognize any uniform number retired while in Montreal. On October 18, 2005, the NHL's Montreal Canadiens honored the departed team by raising an Expos commemorative banner listing the retired numbers to the rafters of Montreal's Bell Centre.
- ^ Aparicio's number was temporarily unretired by his blessing in 2010 for Omar Vizquel.
- ^ Team founder. The number represents the "26th man"—Major League Baseball rosters are limited to 25 players, except for games played on or after September 1, when rosters are expanded to 40.
- ^ Served as president, chairman, or CEO of the Cardinals from the team's purchase by Anheuser-Busch in 1953 until his death in 1989. The number represents his age at the time the number was retired in 1984.
- ^ Represents the number of consecutive sellouts of Jacobs Field, now Progressive Field, from 1995–2001, at that time a MLB record
[edit] Announced But Not Yet Honored
The Minnesota Twins announced on January 26, 2012 that they would retire Tom Kelly's jersey number, #10, before a September 8, 2012 game. [1]
[edit] Retired in honor of multiple players
The following numbers have been retired in honor of multiple players:
- Chicago Cubs, #31: retired in 2009 for Ferguson Jenkins and Greg Maddux[4]
- Cincinnati Reds, #5: retired in 1940 for Willard Hershberger who had committed suicide during the season; returned to service in 1942; retired in 1984 for Johnny Bench[4]
- Montreal Expos, #10: retired for Rusty Staub in 1993; ceremony to honor #10 for Andre Dawson was held in 1997[5][4]
- New York Yankees, #8: retired in 1972 for Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra[6]
- St. Louis Cardinals, #42: retired in 1997 by all teams in MLB for Jackie Robinson; ceremony to honor #42 for Bruce Sutter was held in 2006[7]
[edit] Similar honors
[edit] Players who pre-date uniform numbers
Four teams have honored players who played before the advent of uniform numbers by placing their names among those of players whose numbers have been retired:
- Philadelphia Phillies: Grover Cleveland Alexander, Chuck Klein; both are denoted with a stylized "P" at Citizens Bank Park (Klein had various numbers in the later years of his career, but never wore one consistently)
- Detroit Tigers: Ty Cobb, Mickey Cochrane, Sam Crawford, Harry Heilmann, Hughie Jennings, George Kell, Heinie Manush; Cobb's name is displayed on the left-field wall of Comerica Park along with the players whose numbers have been retired; the others have their names displayed on the right-field wall (Cochrane actually wore #3 for the Tigers, and Kell wore three different numbers, but the Tigers have not retired these numbers)
- San Francisco (New York) Giants: Christy Mathewson and John McGraw; both are denoted with "NY" and their names at AT&T Park
- St. Louis Cardinals: Rogers Hornsby, denoted with a "STL" and his name at Busch Stadium
[edit] Broadcasters
- Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner – New York Mets; The radio booth at both Shea Stadium and Citi Field are named for the beloved, late Murphy. The television booth at Citi Field is named for Kiner, who still occasionally does game broadcasts for Met home games
- Jack Buck – St. Louis Cardinals; honored with a drawing of a microphone on the wall with the retired numbers.
- Lon Simmons and Russ Hodges – San Francisco Giants; honored with stylized old-style radio microphone displayed in place of a number.
- Marty Brennaman, Waite Hoyt, and Joe Nuxhall – Cincinnati Reds; honored with microphones by the broadcast booth.
- Jerry Coleman – San Diego Padres; a "star on the wall" in reference to his trademark phrase "You can hang a star on that one!" The star is painted in gold on the front of the press box down the right field line, accompanied by Coleman's name in white.
- Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn – Philadelphia Phillies; At Citizens Bank Park, the restaurant built into the base of the main scoreboard is named "Harry the K's" in Kalas's honor. After Kalas's death, the Phillies' TV-broadcast booth was renamed "The Harry Kalas Broadcast Booth". It is directly next to the radio-broadcast booth, which is named "The Richie 'Whitey' Ashburn Broadcast Booth".
- Ernie Harwell – Detroit Tigers; honored with his name alongside the retired players on the Left-Centerfield Brick wall in Comerica Park and a statue & portrait at the stadium's front entrance.
- Bob Uecker – "50 Years in Baseball" along with Uecker's name is next to the Brewers retired numbers at Miller Park.
- Tom Cheek – Toronto Blue Jays; honored with a banner on the Rogers Centre's "Level of Excellence" bearing his name and, in place of a jersey number, 4,306 – his streak of consecutive regular-season broadcasts.
- Harry Caray and Jack Brickhouse – Chicago Cubs: Caray is remembered inside and outside of Wrigley Field. A statue of him leading the crowd in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is near the bleacher entrance (originally at the corner of Addison Street and Sheffield Avenue), and a caricature of him adorns his former WGN-TV broadcast booth. Brickhouse's catch phrase, "Hey hey!" is memorialized in large red letters on each foul pole. (Brickhouse also has a statue on Michigan Avenue.)
- Dave Niehaus – Seattle Mariners; the press box at Safeco Field was renamed the "Dave Niehaus Media Center" on April 8, 2011 prior to the Mariners' home opener against the Cleveland Indians. In addition, a part of First Avenue NW outside the stadium was renamed Dave Niehaus Way.
- Vin Scully – Los Angeles Dodgers; in 2001, the Dodgers honored Scully by naming the press box at Dodger Stadium the "Vin Scully Press Box".
- Arch McDonald and Bob Wolff - Washington Senators: MacDonald and Wolff's names are on the Washington Nationals' Ring of Honor at Nationals Park.
[edit] Owners and contributors
- The initials of former San Diego Padres owner Ray Kroc are painted in gold on the front of the pressbox down the right field line, accompanied by his name in white.
- Charles Bronfman was inducted into the Expos Hall of Fame as its inaugural member in 1993, and a circular patch placed on the right field wall with his name, the number 83, which he used to wear during spring training, and the words "FONDATEUR / FOUNDER".[8]
- On April 8, 2008, the final opening day at Shea Stadium, the New York Mets unveiled a "Shea" logo which was displayed on the left-field fence next to the team's other retired numbers. The stadium was named for William Shea, a prominent lawyer who was responsible for the return of National League baseball to New York.
- Walter A. Haas, Jr., honorary jersey retired (with stylized Old English "A" in place of a number) in 1995, located in right field. Owner of the Oakland Athletics from 1980 until 1995. Haas purchased the team from Charles O. Finley in 1980, saving the team from potentially moving out of the area.
- At the start of the 2007 season, the Kansas City Royals designated Seat #9 in Section 127, Row C at Kauffman Stadium as the "Buck O'Neil Legacy Seat" in honor of Negro Leagues legend and Royals scout Buck O'Neil. During each home game, the Royals honor a fan who exemplifies O'Neil's spirit of humanitarianism and community service by inviting that fan to sit in the Buck O'Neil Legacy Seat.
[edit] Umpires
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Jauss, Bill (September 29, 2003). "Santo: Flag 'my Hall of Fame'". Chicago Tribune. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-09-29/sports/0309290206_1_ron-santo-fame-vote-wrigley-field. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
- ^ Saunders, Patrick (2011-07-02 10:29:41-06:00). "Retired numbers: Whose jersey, besides Elway's, is worthy?". The Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/lunchspecial/ci_18391240. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
- ^ "Big Unit beats Dodgers 2-1 in Manny’s LA debut". Yahoo.com. 08-02-2008. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt=AgK6J8ipvlx..jR3bIdxRN6pu7YF?gid=280801119. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
- ^ a b c baseball-almanac.com (2009). "Retired Uniform Numbers in the National League". baseball-almanac.com. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats10n.shtml. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
- ^ MLB Advanced Media (2009). "Franchise Retired Numbers". MLB Advanced Media. http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/was/history/retired_numbers.jsp. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
- ^ MLB Advanced Media (2009). "Yankees Retired Numbers". MLB Advanced Media. http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/nyy/history/retired_numbers.jsp. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
- ^ MLB Advanced Media (2009). "Cardinals Retired Numbers". MLB Advanced Media. http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/history/retired_numbers.jsp. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
- ^ Blair, Jeff (1993-08-15). "This used to be his playground; Bronfman was always a fan; Original owner steps into Expos Hall of Fame". Montreal Gazette (Montreal Gazette): pp. D.1.
[edit] Additional reading
- Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century, Marc Okkonen, 1991, Sterling Publishing.
