Fun with retired MLB numbers: Yankees vs. the rest and more
Some numbers and fun facts on retired numbers in all of Major League Baseball, specifically measured against the Yankees.
By
Matt Snyder
•
1 min read
News came forth officially Monday that the Yankees will retire three more numbers -- Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams. We also know that Derek Jeter's number two will be joining that list, which means that the Yankees are up to 22 retired numbers. Thus, I wanted to play around with retired numbers here for a bit. Just for fun. Hey, pitchers and catchers still haven't officially reported!
So let's dive in. We're initially only dealing with numbers, as there are many owners and broadcasters honored in parks across the league in similar fashion, but with initials instead.
Most retired player/manager numbers, MLB*
*Excluding Jackie Robinson's 42, which is a league-wide retired number
Yankees, 22 (includes Jeter and also No. 8 is twice retired)
Cardinals, 11
Braves, 10
Reds, 10
Dodgers, 10 (includes Jackie, since that's who he played for)
White Sox, 9
Astros, 9
Pirates, 9
Giants, 9
Fewest retired numbers*
Mets, 3
Royals, 3
Rangers, 2
Blue Jays, 1
Rays, 1
Rockies, 1
Diamondbacks, 1
Rays, 0
Mariners, 0
Players honored as having "number" retired, only not a specific number
Ty Cobb, Tigers (no numbers back in his day)
Chuck Klein, Phillies (wore so many different numbers)
Pete Alexander, Phillies (no numbers back in his day)
Christy Mathewson, Giants (no numbers back in his day)
Rogers Hornsby, Cardinals (no number in first/significant stint with STL)
Funky retired numbers
85, Cardinals, for owner August Busch. The 85 was his age when they retired the number.
455, Indians, for the fans. This is for 455 straight sellouts.
Yankees available numbers, 51 and under: 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 45, 47, 48, 50 (That's 30 left south of 51).
Yankees retired numbers, 51 and under: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 20, 23, 32, 37, 42, 44, 46, 49, 51
This reminds me of Brandon McCarthy's excellent tweet last summer when he was traded to the Yankees:
*Kramer's moviefone voice* "well why don't you just tell me what number isn't retired"
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) July 8, 2014
For those who don't get it ...
On that note, it's probably best to conclude.
