Plaques of numbers retired by the New York Yankees in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.
Photo Source: Wikipedia
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As of 2023, the New York Yankees have won 27 championships; so, it’s probably not much of a surprise that they’ve also retired 22 player numbers, the most in baseball. The only team that is close to retiring that many numbers are the St Louis Cardinals, with 14.
The last Yankee to have his number retired was Paul O’Neill in 2022, who patrolled the outfield for the Bronx Bombers for nine seasons, compiling a lifetime batting average of .288, 281 home runs, and 1,269 runs batted in.
In fact, the Yankees have retired so many numbers that they are now running short of jersey numbers to issue to its current roster. Derek Jeter’s no. 2, which was retired in 2017, was the last single digit number to be retired.
To make up for the scarcity of numbers, the Yankees have petitioned Major League Baseball to ask whether their coaching staff can suit up without numbers. MLB is reportedly reviewing the request.
With 22 numbers retired by the Yankees, many question whether all of these players really deserve such a distinction.
Imagine, Steve Garvey, with a lifetime batting average of .301, an MVP winner in 1974, who won four Gold Gloves, over 16 seasons, has yet to have his # 6 retired by the Dodgers.
Ditto for Detroit Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich, a three time All-Star, who won three complete games in the 1968 World Series, including a critical win over the St Louis Cardinals future hall of famer, Bob Gibson. At the time of his retirement in 1979, Lolich held the Major League Baseball record for career strikeouts by a left-handed pitcher, even surpassing Warren Spahn. Yet, his number 29 has never been retired by the Tigers.
No wonder some joke that “it’s easier to get into the Hall of Fame than to have your number retired.”
When asked whether all 22 Yankee players numbers deserved to be retired, Washington Post columnist, political commentator, and lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, George F. Will, responded that he “would delete #1 – Billy Martin, who was neither a great player or manager.”
Dan Shaughnessy, sports columnist and associate editor for the Boston Globe, thought that retiring the number of “[Paul] O'Neill (# 21) was ridiculous.” “I guess,” Shaughnessy explained, “because he's on television with them now. So many more worthy than him.”
Others question the retiring of Reggie Jackson’s number 44 in 1993. Conceding he was most definitely Mr. October in the playoffs, Jackson averaged a ho hum .279 batting average with 29 home runs and 92 RBIs in his five years in pinstripes, which really dwarfs what he produced for the Oakland A’s, compiling 1,151 hits, 254 home runs and 733 RBI in nine seasons. Though he caused mountains of dissension in New York when it was called the “Bronx Zoo” and infamously clashed with manager Billy Martin, owner George Steinbrenner liked him, which is most likely the reason why his number was retired in the Bronx.
Interestingly, the A’s didn’t retire Jackson’s #9 until 2004.
Still others wonder whether former Yankee first baseman and team captain, Don Mattingly (no. 23) really deserved to have his number retired. In 14 seasons with the Yankees, Mattingly only won one MVP and only appeared in one round of the postseason, in 1995, his final season in pinstripes, in a wild card round against the Seattle Mariners.
It may be surprising to some that the retiring of jersey numbers wasn’t that common until the 1970s, when on June 4, 1972, the L.A. Dodgers retired three numbers simultaneously: Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, and Roy Campanella.
Interestingly, for 31 years, from 1939 through 1970, only 19 MLB numbers were retired. There are now more than 200 retired numbers in Major League Baseball, which now includes executives, broadcasters, and “fans” (as in the case of the Cleveland Indians/Guardians).
Uniform numbers were first introduced by the New York Yankees in 1929. Not until 1932 did all MLB teams adopt numbers. And when the Yankees began wearing them, it was used to designate the number of the hitter in the batting order. In 1929, for example, Earl Combs, the Yankees leadoff hitter, wore no. 1. Third sacker, Mark Koeing, wearing no. 2, was second in the lineup followed by Ruth, Gehrig, and Bob Meusel, who wore jersey numbers 3, 4, and 5 respectively.
Lou Gehrig had his number 4 retired on July 4, 1939 at Yankee Stadium, soon after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), later referred to as the Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Photo Credit: BETTMANN ARCHIVE
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Lou Gehrig was the first Yankee to have his #4 retired by the Yankees on July 4, 1939 during his moving “luckiest man on the face of the earth” speech after being diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The “Iron Horse” compiled some monster numbers for the Yankees: a .340 batting average with 493 home runs, two AL MVP Awards and the 1934 Triple Crown. Gehrig additionally played in 2,130 consecutive games; never missing a game from June 1, 1923, until he voluntarily retired during a game on May 2, 1939. A record that remained until Baltimore Orioles’ shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. broke it on September 6, 1995.
Babe Ruth had his number retired by the Yankees in 1948 and Joe DiMaggio in 1952.
One historic note: the first number officially retired by a team in professional sports was that of hockey player, Ace Bailey, whose number 6 was retired by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1934.
The benchmarks for retiring numbers, it seems, have relaxed over the years. It used to be common practice that a player’s number wasn’t retired until other players had worn them. At least nine Yankee players, for example, wore no. 3 after Ruth left the team.
Other standards adopted by teams was that a player had to distinguish himself with other teams or until he’s been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown before their number would be retired.
Eight players have had their numbers retired by more than one team, six by two teams, while Nolan Ryan had his retired by three teams. Nolan Ryan, along with Carlton Fisk have two different numbers retired. No. 20 is the jersey number which has been retired the most by 11 players, including Frank Robinson, Mike Schmidt, and Don Sutton.
Some players have been ignored entirely because their careers came before the adoption of numbers.
Andrew Zimbalist, an American economist and author of 24 books, including “Baseball and Billions” and “May the Best Team Win: Baseball Economics and Public Policy” thinks the Yankees retire too many numbers, to the point of diluting the honor. “One example that should not have been retired is Paul O'Neill (no. 21),” Zimbalist said.
To put the excess of retired New York Yankees numbers in proper perspective, I checked in with retired New York Times’ sports columnist George Vecsey, who explained to me that teams like the Dodgers have a more demanding policy than the Yankees. “They held off retiring Brooklyn deities like Pee Wee Reese and Gil Hodges until after they were voted into the Hall of Fame.” “I would have voted those two into the Hall much earlier,” Vecsey said, “but appreciate the strict standards.”
Vecsey additionally attributes the glut of retired numbers to George Steinbrenner, the first real Boss, long before Bruce Springsteen assumed the title. “Part of it is the ego,” Vecsey recalls, “that says he can do whatever he darn wants. But the longer he has been gone, the more I think about his sentimentality.”
If it were up to Vecsey, are there any player numbers he would not have retired?
“Definitely not Jorge Posada or Bernie Williams or Paul O'Neill, Andy Pettitte or Ron Guidry; Mattingly was hurt early.” Vecsey would also place big question marks over the retiring of Billy Martin, Roger Maris, and Phil Rizzuto’s numbers.
“If I were being strict”, Vecsey explained, “I'd have retired numbers: #3 (Ruth), #4 (Gehrig), #5, (DiMaggio) #6 (Joe Torre), #7 (Mickey Mantle), #8 (Yogi Berra & Bill Dickey), #16 (Whitey Ford), #37 (Casey Stengel), #42 (Mariano Rivera), and Jeter (# 2) -- sure—as the leader of the dynasty.”
Clearly, George Vescey is right on the money. Steinbrenner was proud of his Yankees, and admittedly, contributed to a number of its world championships. The Boss treated the Yankees like they were a Broadway show, he wasn’t interested in raw, untested talent, or solid position players--much like a Broadway show—he wanted the BIG stars who would bring fans to the Bronx, mega superstars like Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Wade Boggs, and Catfish Hunter, to name just a few. Monument Park at Yankee Stadium, in Steinbrenner’s eyes, was an extension of his Broadway show mentality—when fans came to Yankee Stadium, they would feast their eyes on the vast collection of plaques and retired Yankee numbers (whether deserved or not), drumming in the impression that the Yankees are arguably the greatest sports franchise in the world.
--Bill Lucey
April 14, 2023
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Additional Resources
List of New York Yankee Retired Numbers (MLB)
Baseball Reference: Retired Numbers in MLB
Keith Olbermann’s biting commentary (in 2017) over whether Derek Jeter was the greatest Yankee
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NOTE: To the Sports Editor:
Publication Date: Sept. 30, 2001, New York Times
“I am a longtime Yankees fan who remembers viewing his first Yankees game and first night game in 1954. The retired numbers - 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 16, 32, 37, etc., are sitting as symbols on a fence when they would be better utilized on the backs of active players.
The numbers can still hang on the wall as a tribute to past stars. They could also be used to the Yankees' advantage by giving them to their present players.”
RUSSELL A. ROMAGIA
Woodbridge, Va.
