List of Major League Baseball retired numbers

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 to be known popularly as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Since then, over 120 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. 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.

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 with it (see below).

Some^[who?] have advocated giving Roberto Clemente's number 21 a similar treatment. They feel that Clemente's impact on the Hispanic community is equal to that of Robinson's on the black community. The target goal for the retirement was in time for the 2006 MLB All-Star Game in Pittsburgh, where Clemente played. RetireClemente21.com collected over 70,000 signatures for the effort. So far, MLB has taken no decisive action on this request.

Some teams do not retire jersey numbers, and instead celebrate their stars in other ways. The Toronto Blue Jays have a 'Level of Excellence,' where notable individuals in club history have their names posted under the fifth deck of the Rogers Centre.

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!"^{[citation needed]}

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. Also, after Darryl Kile's untimely 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.

List of retired numbers

Retired in honour of multiple players

The following numbers have been retired in honour of multiple players:

• Chicago Cubs, #31: retired in 2009 for Ferguson Jenkins and Greg Maddux^[1]
• 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^[1]
• Montreal Expos, #10: retired for Rusty Staub in 1993; ceremony to honour #10 for Andre Dawson was held in 1997^[2][1]
• New York Yankees, #8: retired in 1972 for Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra^[3]
• St. Louis Cardinals, #42: retired in 1997 by all teams in MLB for Jackie Robinson; ceremony to honour #42 for Bruce Sutter was held in 2006^[4]

Similar honors

Players who pre-date uniform numbers

Six players played before the advent of uniform numbers and have had their uniforms retired:

• Ty Cobb, Detroit Tigers
• Grover Cleveland Alexander, Philadelphia Phillies
• Chuck Klein, Phillies (Klein had various numbers in the later years of his career, but never wore one consistently)
• Christy Mathewson, and John McGraw, San Francisco Giants; both are denoted with "NY" and their names at AT&T Park
• Rogers Hornsby, St. Louis Cardinals , denoted with a "STL" and his name at Busch Stadium

Boston Red Sox

The former official policy of the Red Sox, until 2008 was to retire numbers for players who have played at least 10 seasons with the Red Sox and been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Johnny Pesky who is not in the Hall of Fame but did play 10 years for the Red Sox had his number 6 retired in September of 2008. One player whose number has not yet been retired meets this policy:

• Wade Boggs - 26 (11 seasons with Red Sox, elected to Hall of Fame in 2005. One theory is Boggs poor relationship with the Red Sox owners. No Red Sox player has been issued the number since Boggs' Hall of Fame election.)

Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals

The Montreal Expos retired the following numbers:

• Gary Carter - 8
• Andre Dawson - 10
• Rusty Staub - 10
• Tim Raines - 30

On August 14, 1993, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his first payment to the National League for the Montreal expansion franchise, Charles Bronfman was inducted to the Expos Hall of Fame as its inaugural member. In a pre-game ceremony, a circular patch on the right field wall was unveiled, with Bronfman's name, the number 83, which he used to wear during spring training, and the words "FONDATEUR / FOUNDER".^[5]

The Washington Nationals did not keep these numbers retired after the Expos franchise relocated to DC in 2004. 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.

Broadcasters

• 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 stylised 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 pressbox 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.

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".^[5]
• 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.

Major League players with numbers retired from multiple teams

To date, only eight players and one manager, Casey Stengel, have had their uniform number retired by more than one Major League Baseball team. Nolan Ryan is the only player to have a number retired by three different teams. Ryan, Carlton Fisk, and Reggie Jackson are the only players to have had two different numbers retired.

Hank Aaron's Hall of Fame plaque

Player	Teams	Number(s)
Hank Aaron	Atlanta Braves Milwaukee Brewers
Rod Carew	Minnesota Twins California Angels
Rollie Fingers	Oakland Athletics Milwaukee Brewers
Carlton Fisk	Boston Red Sox Chicago White Sox
Reggie Jackson	New York Yankees Oakland Athletics
Greg Maddux	Chicago Cubs Atlanta Braves	File:BravesRetired31.png
Frank Robinson	Cincinnati Reds Baltimore Orioles
Nolan Ryan	Texas Rangers Houston Astros California Angels
Casey Stengel	New York Yankees New York Mets

External links

• A team-by-team list

Additional reading

• Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century, Marc Okkonen, 1991, Sterling Publishing.

References