numbers that are "voluntarily" retired

[CJR]

No Cards player will wear 57 for a long time if ever. I don't know if they'll retire DK's number, but it's unofficially retired for now.

Similarly, Vladimir Konstantinov's #16 is "unofficially" retired by the Red Wings. They may never officially retire it, but no one is going to wear that number in Detroit for quite awhile, if ever.

[Galwegian]

I believe that Frisman Jackson, who joined the team during the season, is the first person to wear 19 for the Browns since Kosar. I could be wrong though.

[BBTV]

Pelle Lindbergh's #31 will never be worn again for the Flyers, but it was not officially retired. Probably because they do not want to glamorize dying as a result of DWI.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

The Mets have unofficially retired no. 1 for Mookie Wilson. Vince Coleman wore it for a couple of seasons, but changed in 1993. Since then, it has not been given out.

At the press conference where Willie Randolph was introduced as Met manager, they displayed a jersey with no. 1 on it, prompting many angry calls to radio talk shows. Willie has since shown some understanding of the number issue. Not only has he not taken no.1, but he chose no. 12, which was his number the year he played for the Mets in 1992. Also, the fact that he didn't take no. 30, his Yankee number, further illustrates his level of awareness on this question.

The Mets also have unofficially retired no. 24 for Willie Mays, with the notable exception of Rickey Henderson's use of it during his two seasons there. Utility player Kelvin Torve also wore no. 24 for a few games in 1990, but changed after the oversight of its assignment was noticed.

(I have heard the story that Deion Sanders, when he first joined the Yankees, came out for batting practice wearing no. 3, but that he was quickly ordered to change. Don't know if it is true, but I believe it, because the Yankee clubhouse man was basically asleep at the wheel during this period. The Yankees had one instance in 1992 where Guidry's no. 49 was carelessly given out, and several embarassing instances of players taking the field with the wrong number font.)

The interesting thing about Rickey Henderson's attachment to no. 24 is that he didn't begin wearing that number until he came to the Yankees in 1985, and found his established no. 35 being worn by Phil Niekro. Rickey liked his new number so much he that wore it everywhere he could the rest of his career, including during subsequent stints with the A's. Exceptions: Seattle, where no. 24 is unofficially retired for Griffey; Boston where Ramirez wears no. 24; and the Dodgers, where no. 24 is retired for Alston. In the first two cases, Rickey reverted to his old no. 35; with the Dodgers he wore no. 25 (don?t know why he didn?t take no. 35 there, too).

There is yet another ex-A's player who had to change his established number upon joining the Yankees and who then became even more identified with his new number -- Reggie Jackson. Reggie wore no. 9 with the A's (and with the Orioles for one season), but could not do so with the Yankees because Graig Nettles was wearing it. Reggie's no. 44 then became iconic. Like Rickey, Reggie later wore his newer, Yankee-originated number the rest of his career, even upon his return to Oakland as an active player.

The A's finally retired Reggie's no. 9 last season, but it had not been unofficially retired in the interim. Whereas, when the Yankees retired no. 44 for Reggie a few years ago, it had indeed been on the shelf for the prior several years. But, going back a few more years to the late 80s, it had been worn by coach Jeff Torborg.

Gothamite mentioned that he thinks the Cubs will retire no. 31 for both Jenkins and Maddux. I wanted to add that the Mariners may face the same question concerning the no. 51 of Randy Johnson and Ichiro, and the Mets could conceivably have their own no. 31 dilemma regarding Franco and Piazza. Gothamite cited the Yankees' example of retiring no. 8 for both Berra and Dickey. A more recent example of this was the Expos' retiring of no. 10 for both Staub and Dawson.

(Incidentally, this raises the question of whether the Washington Nationals will continue to recognize the Expos' retired numbers. Paul Lukas addressed this issue last fall, and I wrote him an e-mail in response, disputing his assumption that they wouldn't. I was lucky enough to be mentioned in a later column when he printed the information that I had sent him.)

Beantown expressed his outrage over the Patriots giving out Steve Grogan's no. 14. I wonder how he felt about the Red Sox giving Dwight Evans's no. 24 to Ramirez! I didn't like that at all, and I hate the Red Sox!

My own number-related beef is about the act of retiring a number league-wide. This is not a good thing, particularly as it pertains to Jackie Robinson. I say this because, in every story I read about Mo Vauhgn early in his career or about Butch Huskey during his time as a Met, it was always mentioned that each guy wore no. 42 in honor of Robinson. It struck me then that there is some kid reading these articles who is encountering the name "Jackie Robinson" for the first time, or who is just then learning of his magnitude -- a scenario which was surely part of the players' motivation for taking the number. Now, however, because of this ostensible "tribute", no player can do this, and hence fewer stories are written that reference Robinson. So, this well-intentioned act actually does a disservice to Robinson's memory by foreclosing opportunities to impress upon kids his importance.

[Bulldog64]

When Reggie first came to the Yankees in 1977 he wore 20-spring training only.

[CC97]

The interesting thing about Rickey Henderson's attachment to no. 24 is that he didn't begin wearing that number until he came to the Yankees in 1985, and found his established no. 35 being worn by Phil Niekro. Rickey liked his new number so much he that wore it everywhere he could the rest of his career, including during subsequent stints with the A's.

Rickey had a number issue when he first came to the Jays -- I think he wore #21 for the first few games before buying #24 from another teammate.

[Galwegian]

Interesting perspective on Robinson- however, it seems to me that most teams have Robinson's 42 on display with all of their own retired numbers around their stadiums- often in Dodger blue, so it stands out. I think that brings it a lot of attention in its own right, and gets people interested- "Why is that 42 blue when all of the other numbers are red?" or "Who was 42 on the Indians?" and so on.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

Bulldog -- you are correct! I had actually intended to mention that Reggie wore no. 20 in 1977 spring training in my first post, but that sentence was among those that I dropped as I edited. The 1977 Yearbook (at least the first printing) shows some shots of him wearing that number.

However, he switched to no. 44 in honor of Henry Aaron, who had retired after the previous season. Reggie said that he "wanted to keep no. 44 circling the bases a little longer."

Chris -- Yes, Rickey couldn't get no. 24 at first with the Blue Jays. His first game with the Jays was against the Yankees, and I think he wore no. 14 or no. 11. He also wore no. 22 for a few games in his second A's stint until he could get no. 24 from Ron Hassey.

Galwegian -- Since the decision to retire Robinson's number league-wide cannot be reversed, I would say that the next-best possible solution is the one you described -- to have it distinct from the team's own numbers, and in Dodger blue. If you are saying the Indians do it that way, then that is good. (Don't the Red Sox do that, too?) The Yankees, on the other hand, display it in the same way as they do their own numbers. I can only hope that maybe this will change if they retire no. 42 again for Rivera. Maybe they will have one no. 42 in dark-blue full-block backed by pinstripes, and one no. 42 in light-blue block on plain white.

[rynoz10]

The Steelers only allow certain numbers to be used in the preseason, but don't allow some numbers to be used:

#12 Bradshaw

#32 Harris

#52 Webster

#58 Lambert

#59 Ham

#75 Greene

I haven't seen a Steeler wear these numbers since these players had them, now other players like

#26 Woodson

#82 Stallworth

#88 Swann

#20 Bleier

have been used in games (both preseason and regular season) and don't seem to be "untouchable" like the numbers above.

[Gothamite]

The Brewers don't - they hang Jackie's number as though he wore it in Brewer rather than Dodger Blue.

It also heightens a pet peeve of mine - the retired numbers at Miller Park are all in the style of the current uniforms. It would be so much more interesting to me if they had the retired numbers in the style worn by the player. Even better, they could have jersey graphics like the Reds do (did?).

They could showcase all the old uniforms:

Hank Aaron: 1977 all-white jersey

Rollie Fingers: 1982 road blue jersey

Robin Yount: 1982 pinstripe, or 1977 blue road jersey

Paul Molitor: 1982 pinstripe

As far as "unofficially" retired numbers, the Brewers never issued another #15 after Cecil Cooper until Ben Sheets was called up. The Olympic hero and future savior of the franchise was enough to put the number back in circulation, and they apparently asked Cooper for permission before they did it.

[Sec19Row53]

Paul Hornung's #5 was unofficially retired by Vince Lombardi, but has been mistakenly handed out a few times since then. I beleive Don Majkowski was the first, wwearing it during his rookie season. I could look it up at Packers.com, but I'm feeling lazy right now

[Gothamite]

You're right - I had forgotten about #5.

The Packers retired the "jersey" of Reggie White for a while, but will now officially retire #92.

[Moser316]

The Brewers don't - they hang Jackie's number as though he wore it in Brewer rather than Dodger Blue.

It also heightens a pet peeve of mine - the retired numbers at Miller Park are all in the style of the current uniforms. It would be so much more interesting to me if they had the retired numbers in the style worn by the player. Even better, they could have jersey graphics like the Reds do (did?).

They could showcase all the old uniforms:

Hank Aaron: 1977 all-white jersey

Rollie Fingers: 1982 road blue jersey

Robin Yount: 1982 pinstripe, or 1977 blue road jersey

Paul Molitor: 1982 pinstripe

As far as "unofficially" retired numbers, the Brewers never issued another #15 after Cecil Cooper until Ben Sheets was called up. The Olympic hero and future savior of the franchise was enough to put the number back in circulation, and they apparently asked Cooper for permission before they did it.

They're cramming the new style down your throat, deal with it

Speaking of "voluntarily" retired numbers for the Crew, I don't believe I've seen Jim Gantner's #17 worn by anybody other than Gumby (as a player or a coach)...

[DGivens87]

No one on the Red Sox wears #6 (Johnny Pesky, also #66), #5 (Nomahhh), #45 (Pedro). Rice wore his #14 when he was brought back as a hitting coach.

The infamous Bill Buckner wore #6 for the Sox in 1986, as did Rick Cerone in 1989...but I think since then, the Sox have voluntarily retired Pesky's #6.

[Gothamite]

Speaking of "voluntarily" retired numbers for the Crew, I don't believe I've seen Jim Gantner's #17 worn by anybody other than Gumby (as a player or a coach)...

You're right - Gumby's another one in the Twilight Zone - beloved enough to keep the number out of circulation, but not quite important enough to the club to retire.

Interesting what criteria the teams use to decide when to retire a jersey. The Yanks and Packers are at opposite ends of the spectrum - the Yanks retire too many and the Packers are incredibly stingy. Two players from each of the championship eras.

I'd rather see teams follow the lead of the Packers than the Yanks on this one.

[Beantown77]

No one on the Red Sox wears #6 (Johnny Pesky, also #66), #5 (Nomahhh), #45 (Pedro). Rice wore his #14 when he was brought back as a hitting coach.

The infamous Bill Buckner wore #6 for the Sox in 1986, as did Rick Cerone in 1989...but I think since then, the Sox have voluntarily retired Pesky's #6.

Gary Gaetti wore it in his short stint with the Sox as well as Tony Pena for a few years.

[Bulldog64]

Red Sox number 6s: Some interesting names.

Johnny Pesky 1942, 46-52, 61, 81-84

also:

Roy Partee 1943-44

Skeeter Newsome 1945

Johnny Lipon 1952-53

Harry Agganis 1954-55

Mickey Vernon 1956-57

Vic Wertz 1959-61

Lu Clinton 1962-64

Lee Thomas 1964-65

Rico Petrocelli 1966-76

Bill Buckner 1985-87

Rick Cerone 1988-89

Tony Pena 1990-93

Damon Berryhill 1994

Chris Donnels 1995

Gary Gaetti 2000

[yh]

For the Blues, 16 hasn't been worn since Brett Hull left, and unless he returns I don't expect it ever will be.

Correct. And it will be retired once he retires, so long as the present ownership remains in place (assuming any NHL team returns).

[Newmaniac]

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Toronto Maple Leafs let any putz wear the number of their former greats. Frank Mahavolich and Darryl Sittler's #27 have been worn by such "great" players like:

Lucien Deblois

John Kordic

Dave Semenko

Bryan Marchment

Shane Corson

Miroslav Ihnacak

There are lots of other examples of great Leaf players' numbers being worn by stiffs because the leafs have only two retired numbers (5 and 6). Saying that, however, the Leafs have a history of having two great players wear the same number. Like Sittler and Mahavolich:

Syl Apps and George Armstrong (#10)

Johnny Bower and Turk Broda (#1)

Tim Horton and King Clancy (#7)

Dave Keon and Dave Andreychuk (#14)

Finally, and don't quote me on this, but Toronto Maple Leafs are the only team to have a player wear #99 whose name wasn't Wayne Gretzky (Wilf Paiement)

[DGivens87]

Beantown expressed his outrage over the Patriots giving out Steve Grogan's no. 14. I wonder how he felt about the Red Sox giving Dwight Evans's no. 24 to Ramirez! I didn't like that at all, and I hate the Red Sox!

I remember this was big deal too when Manny first came on board with the Sox in 2001. But Dewey gave his blessing to Manny to have #24. The sad thing is, as much as I love Manny the ballplayer, the dude has no sense of history at all, as displayed by "forgetting" shake the hands of the Red Sox greats during last year's Opening Day ceremony at Fenway.