This past Saturday, August 24th, Barry Bonds was elected into the Hall of Fame… of the Pittsburgh Pirates. During his first seven seasons, (in my opinion) should Bonds have only played those seasons, he would have garnered strong consideration for the more notable Hall of Fame located in Cooperstown, New York – The National Baseball Hall of Fame. In reality, Bonds left Pittsburgh for the west coast and the San Francisco Giants, and blah blah blah became the all time leading home run hitter for a single season, crushed offensive slugging and on base percentage numbers, and oh by the way topped Henry Aaron for the most home runs of all-time. Despite his lofty and almost unthinkable numbers and career, Bonds was not a first ballot Hall of Famer, nor was he a second year ballot selectee. He dropped off the ballot completely after several years due to… well I will let you look it up if you do not know the reasons. Let’s get back to the purpose of this blog – retired MLB numbers.

Which is what I thought Bonds was getting with this announcement from the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Instead, there was a pre-game ceremony, some press and praise of Pittsburgh Pirates Bonds, and a nice plaque presentation on the outfield walls of Pittsburgh’s PNC Park. No retired number, which Bonds actually has in San Francisco (#25). Just a commemorative plaque and some long overdue recognition for 7 incredible Pirate seasons to start an incredible and very controversial baseball career.

So, I got to thinking, who else’s number is not retired anywhere? And who’s is? And what team has the most retired numbers (barf, wait until you read this one), and what players have retired numbers with multiple teams? And who are the players you scratch your head as to why their numbers are retired, yet they are not in Cooperstown? And do a few managers have retired numbers with multiple teams? Yes, this is what I think about as my Boston Red Sox slowing walk their way out of a playoff wild card spot in late August. Do you blame me???

Here is what I found out…

• The team with the most retired numbers (and I hope they run out of more so their current players wear numbers in the 90s) is of course the New York Yankees. They have 24 players and 22 numbers retired. There is a bit of a glitch here, I’ll explain. Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey were both Yankee catchers, each wore #8, and both 8s have since been retired. Also, Mariano Rivera and Jackie Robinson’s #42 are retired, rightfully so. Many of you have seen my rant on Donny Baseball (Don Mattingly) not being in the Hall of Fame. Add Andy Pettitte and Ron Guidry to that list. Both Pettitte’s #46 and Guidry’s #49 are NYY retired. Each has a legitimate gripe for their place in baseball history and I believe each belongs in Cooperstown. And no Alex Rodriguez or Roger Clemens on the walls, for your information. We will get to them later…
• With #42 retired on all MLB clubs, Jackie Robinson is the king of retired numbers throughout Major League baseball parks. So, who has the next highest number of retired jerseys in MLB parks? Well, it is a tie. Frank Robinson had a prolific career in the American League as a player (Baltimore Orioles) and as a Manager (Cleveland Indians) as well as the National League (Cincinnati Reds), so he has 3. As does Nolan Ryan, who blew fastballs past hitters for decades wearing the jerseys of the California Angels, Houston Astros, and the Texas Rangers, just to name a few. 3 teams thought enough of these great players to retire their numbers permanently to secure their place in their team’s history.
• How about other multiple team retired numbers players – Rollie Fingers, Greg Maddux, Roy Holliday, Reggie Jackson, Willie Mays, Wade Boggs, Carlton Fisk, Henry Aaron, and Rod Carew. Some started their careers and played a long time for two teams in the same city, like Milwaukee or New York. Others caught and played in World Series games, then left for a different color Sox (painful to write about Mr. Fisk). Some were traded away, and well beyond their control from the juggernaut Oakland Athletics team, which could have easily won multiple World Series if not for a super-cheap owner. Some started their careers with one club, went to other clubs, then finished their careers with the original club. I’m not sure what happened to Boggs, other than I believe he was originally from the Tampa area, so he went there to finish his illustrious career. Pretty cool to have such a powerful impact on two clubs, enough to have your number retired.
• How about managers having their numbers retired by multiple teams? Casey Stengel hit the New York lottery with the Yankees, then the Mets and his number 37 is retired with both MLB clubs. Sparky Anderson was once considered the greatest manager of his era, managing the Big Red Machine aka the 1970s Reds that won a ton as well as the upstart World Champion Detroit Tigers of the 1980s. Both the Reds and Tigers have retired Anderson’s numbers 10 and 11, respectively. Gil Hodges was a player and key figure of the golden eras of Brooklyn, then Los Angeles Dodgers baseball. Then, he became a New York legend as a manager, guiding the Miracle Mets to an improbable 1969 World Championship. Hodges #14 is now retired by both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets.
• Ok, what names are missing from all the 150 or so MLB players that have retired numbers on walls across our amazing network of Major League baseball cathedrals? Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield, Vince Coleman, Satchel Paige? Just some of the names that come to mind. Andruw Jones, Dustin Pedroia, Vida Blue, Joe Carter, Lee Smith, Alex Rodriguez, Eric Davis, Omar Vizquel, Jay Buhner, David Wright – all coming to mind the more I think about this. Hey, this maybe fodder for a future blog or series of blogs should the Sox fall even further out of the 2024 postseason chase, so stay tuned. But seriously, Go Sox!!!

So many more deserving players should have their numbers retired, so what do you think? Who should be on a wall somewhere in St. Louis or Baltimore or Boston or Denver or San Diego? Send me your thoughts, I’d love to hear from you about the player and your argument for retiring their number.