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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 known popularly as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Since then, over 150 other people have had their numbers retired, some with more than one team. 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. Four numbers have been retired in honor of people not directly involved on the playing field—three for team executives, and one for a team's fans. 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. 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!"[1]However, Santo will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in August 2012 by voting of the Veterans Committee, nearly two years after he died.
| Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame |
The Minnesota Twins announced on January 26, 2012 that they would retire Tom Kelly's jersey number, #10, before a September 8, 2012 game.[2]
The following numbers have been retired in honor of multiple players:
Two teams, the Seattle Mariners and the Colorado Rockies, have never retired any jersey numbers. Two additional teams, the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals have no retired jersey numbers. The Marlins had previously retired #5 in honor of their first team president, the late Carl Barger, but un-retired it entering the 2012 season. The Nationals franchise had retired jerseys in honor of four players when known as the Montreal Expos, but un-retired them upon moving to Washington.
The Mariners have kept the following numbers out of circulation since the departure of a popular player who wore it: #11 (Edgar Martínez), #14 (Lou Piniella), #19 (Jay Buhner) and #24 (Ken Griffey, Jr.). Similarly, no one has worn #33 for the Rockies since the departure of Larry Walker, but it's speculated that #17 (Todd Helton) will be the first number that the Rockies organization will retire.[7]
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. The Los Angeles Dodgers' current policy is only to retire the numbers of longtime club members if they are inducted into the Hall of Fame; the lone exception being longtime Dodger player and coach Jim Gilliam, whose #19 was retired when he died of a cerebral hemorrhage during the Dodgers' 1978 postseason run. Nevertheless, the Dodgers have informally kept Fernando Valenzuela's #34 out of circulation since his retirement.[8] The New York Mets have not assigned Mike Piazza's #31 since he left the team in 2005; speculation is that if he is elected to the Hall of Fame in 2013 and goes in as a Met, the team will formally retire his number. On opening day of the 2012 season the Mets unveiled a memorial “Kid 8” logo to honor the late Gary Carter. Although no Met has worn the number 8 since Carter's election to the Hall of Fame, it is not retired. Also, after Darryl Kile's 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.
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 wearing it (only New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera remains active as of 2012). Starting in the 2007 season, the 60th anniversary of Robinson's Major League debut, players and coaches have all worn the number 42 as a tribute to Robinson on Jackie Robinson Day, April 15.
Four teams have honored players who played before the advent of uniform numbers by placing their names among those of players whose numbers have been retired:
All translations of List_of_Major_League_Baseball_retired_numbers
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