Joe Posnanski

Maybe it’s just because I have spent much of my life staring at the three Kansas City Royals retired numbers. That’s probably it. But through that, I’ve come to believe there are three kinds of retired jerseys in baseball.

– 5. The Greatness retired number. Five’s the number of George Brett, the best player to ever play for the Kansas City Royals, a baseball Hall of Famer, one of the best to ever play the game. As you have seen on the side, I have started a new WB poll — who’s the greatest third baseman ever? Mike Schmidt or George Brett.* We’ll have more to say on that at some point.

*I did strongly consider putting A-Rod on there, but I still cannot view him as a third baseman. I see him as sort of a shortstop whose job was shipped overseas.

– 10. The Emotional retired number. Ten’s the number of the late Dick Howser, the manager of the 1985 Royals, the only Royals team to win the World Series. Howser was a very fine manager, but there were other fine managers in Royals history — Whitey Herzog probably the most important of them all. The reason Howser’s number is retired is because less than a year after winning the Series, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He died less than a year after that. His number was retired in the rush of emotion that hit the community after his death, a tribute*.

*The first retired jersey in baseball history was, of course. No. 4 for the Iron Horse, New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig. That was in 1939, and of course Gehrig certainly was one of the great players in baseball history. But, it was the EMOTION of the moment that created the entire concept of retired jerseys, and so there are many emotional retired numbers around baseball.

– 20. The Importance to the Team retired number. Twenty is Frank White’s number. Frank was certainly a great player … there with Bill Mazeroski and Roberto Alomar (and perhaps Ryan Sandberg — people disagree on this) as the greatest defensive second baseman in the game’s history. Still, Frank’s probably not going to the Hall of Fame* — his uniqueness comes his value to the Kansas City Royals. You could certainly argue that Amos Otis or Hal McRae meant as much to the Royals. But Frank was different. He grew up in Kansas City, came up to the Royals just as the team was emerging, was the defensive force on a team that won seven division titles, two pennants and a World Series in 10 years, played for the Royals for 18 years. He is uniquely Kansas City and held by many in the same esteem as Brett. That’s why his number is retired.

*Though as an Royals fan can tell you, his career numbers and value is almost identical to Hall of Famer Mazeroski. Of course, most people don’t think Mazeroski should be in the Hall either.

So, for your enjoyment, I am listing all of the retired jerseys here in their category. Every player who is in the Baseball Hall of Fame automatically gets the “Greatness” label, even if they don’t entirely deserve it.

Every team

Greatness, Emotional, Importance
42, Jackie Robinson.

Comment: He gets all three categories. I mentioned before that I do not think that Clemente’s 21 should be retired league-wide … and I mean this as no disrespect to Clemente or to the huge impact he had on the Major Leagues and on the way Latin players are viewed throughout the game. He was a true pioneer. And I’m one of his biggest fans. But to me, Robinson stands alone. For one thing, it was Robinson’s breakthrough that led to dark-skinned Latin players like Clemente being given their Major League chance. Ten years earlier, Clemente too would have been playing in the Negro Leagues.

There have been other pioneers. You could argue that Larry Doby’s number should be retired throughout baseball — or at least throughout the American League — because he really went through all the same pain and difficulty as Robinson, maybe even more. You could argue that the number of Minnie Minoso, as the first dark-skinned Latin player, should be retired because he actually DID play in the Negro Leagues, and he was up and playing in the big leagues six years before Clemente, and he was a huge influence. You could argue that Babe Ruth’s No. 3 should be retired by everyone because, after all, who has meant more to the early years of the game?

There is a very strong case for Clemente — stronger than the three I listed in the previous paragraph. He was an icon. He was a humanitarian. He was an amazing ballplayer. He should always be remembered. But, just my opinion, I think there should be one number retired, and it should be the most important player in Major League Baseball history, Jackie Robinson.

Baltimore

Greatness
4, Earl Weaver
5, Brooks Robinson
8, Cal Ripken, Jr.
20, Frank Robinson
22, Jim Palmer
33, Eddie Murray

Comment: All six of the Orioles retired jerseys are also in the Hall of Fame (I can see already that we will be referring to retired jerseys as “people” — just roll with it, please). Baltimore is one of those teams that has two truly iconic players — Robinson and Ripken. At first glance, the one that stood out for me was Frank Robinson, who only played for Baltimore for six seasons. But he did have OPS+ of 150 or more in all six of those seasons, and he did carry Baltimore to their first World Series championship with his 1966 triple crown, and the Orioles did win three World Series with him as the dominant force on all three teams. So yeah, I can see it.

Boston Red Sox

Greatness
1, Bobby Doerr
4, Joe Cronin
8, Carl Yastrzemski
9, Ted Williams
27, Carlton Fisk

Comment: To have your number retired by the Red Sox, you need to get to the Hall of Fame. The Red Sox are keeping Jim Rice’s No. 14 under wraps (or under our guy Paul White’s pillow) until he gets in. I would say the iconic numbers belong to Yaz and Williams.

Angels of Whatever

Greatness
29, Rod Carew
30, Nolan Ryan

Importance
11, Jim Fregosi
Saddle, Gene Autry

Emotional
50, Jimmie Reese

Comment: I have a friend who is a huge Angels fan going just about all the way back, and he swears by Jim Fregosi. His numbers, in retrospect, won’t pop your eyes, but he was the first true Angels star. … Jimmie Reese was a longtime coach and, many people swear, the best fungo hitter in baseball history. I once wrote an entire column about the death of the fungo pop-up behind home plate, and I’m sure I will someday write a 2,000 word blog tome about the same topic. It kills me — nobody can hit the pop-up by behind home plate anymore. Reese should have his number retired just for that.

Chicago White Sox

Greatness
2, Nellie Fox
4, Luke Appling
11, Luis Aparicio
16, Ted Lyons
72, Carlton Fisk

Emotional
9, Minnie Minoso

Importance
3, Harold Baines
19, Billy Pierce

Comment: It really is interesting to see how different teams retire their jerseys. Well, heck, when you’ve been around as long as the White Sox you have to retire some numbers. Billy Pierce was an excellent pitcher for the White Sox who probably would have won at least one Cy Young Award, maybe two, if they were giving Cys to pitchers in both leagues in the 1950s. Baines was a hitting machine. Minoso was a pioneer.

Cleveland Indians

Greatness
3, Earl Averill
5, Lou Boudreau
14, Larry Doby
19, Bob Feller
21, Bob Lemon

Emotional
18, Mel Harder

Ridiculous
455, The Fans.

Comment: Harder pitched for Cleveland for 20 years and won 223 games; he was not a Hall of Fame caliber pitcher but in 1990 — when the Indians needed SOMETHING good to talk about — they retired his jersey. … I will say up front that I’m not at all a fan of retiring pointless numbers like “455” (the number of consecutive sellouts in Cleveland) in order to honor fans or announcers or whatever. That said, maybe someday the Royals will retire the number 389 for “Number of columns I had to write about the Royals being mathematically eliminated.”

Detroit Tigers

Greatness
2, Charlie Gehringer
5, Hank Greenberg
6, Al Kaline
16, Hal Newhouser
Sharpened spikes: Ty Cobb

Emotional
23, Willie Horton

Comment: Cobb played in the era before numbers so they did not have a digit to retire. I’m suggesting here that no one be allowed to sharpen spikes in his honor. Or attack armless men in the stands. Or kill anyone. … I’m not entirely sure, but I tend to believe that while Willie Horton was certainly a fine player, I would imagine his number was retired in large part because he tried to make peace during the 1967 12th Street riot. He was a very good player, and a well-respected one, and if you have not heard the CLASSIC story of George Brett tearing his jacket during a fight, well, I have to share it with you.

Minnesota Twins

Greatness
3, Harmon Killebrew
29, Rod Carew
34, Kirby Puckett

Importance
6, Tony Oliva

Emotional
14, Kent Hrbek

Comment: Minny fans love Herbie.

New York Yankees

Greatness
3, Babe Ruth
4. Lou Gehrig
5, Joe DiMaggio
7, Mickey Mantle
8, Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey
10, Phil Rizzuto
16, Whitey Ford
37, Casey Stengel
44, Reggie Jackson

Emotional
9, Roger Maris
15, Thurman Munson

Importance
32, Elston Howard

Special Yankee Category
1, Billy Martin
23, Don Mattingly
49, Ron Guidry

Comment: Whew. I’m not going to lie to you; when I mocked the notion of the Yankees retiring Paul O’Neill’s number, I was not fully aware of just what kind of jersey-retiring fetish they have going there in the Bronx. I mean, hey, I was a huge Ron Guidry fan — he was the one Yankees player I allowed myself to like when I was a kid (I even remember reading his book in college, the appropriately titled “Guidry”). He was terrific. But, yeah, do you think Yankees fans would scoff if the Royals retired Bret Saberhagen’s number? Sabes was BETTER than Guidry. Man, Yankees fans do fall in love, don’t they?

Even with all that, I still don’t see any case for retiring Paul O’Neill’s number, I really don’t. As much as the Yankees apparently love themselves and their own history, a retired jersey should mean something. Roy White was probably a better player than O’Neill, he played with the Yankees his whole career, where’s his retired jersey? Dave Winfield played with the Yankees for about as long as O’Neill, he was a superior player, he’s in the Hall of Fame, he happened to be there when the Yankees stunk … where’s his retired jersey? Chris Chambliss hit one of the biggest home runs in Yankees history. Willie Randolph was much closer, in my mind to a Hall of Fame caliber player than Paul O’Neill. You may see where I’m going with that.

And that doesn’t include Bobby Murcer, Graig Nettles, Moose Skowron, Hank Bauer … guys, the Yankees have had a lot of really good players. That’s why they have won a billion-shmillion pennants. Let’s not get caught up on retiring a guy’s number because you like the way he whacked the water cooler after hitting into a double play.*

*In the previous column, I wrote a sentence that made people believe that I was downgrading Bernie Williams, and I was not. In the New York phrase, I meant no disrespect. I had never really thought about it before, but I guess I’m of the Small-Hall mentality when it comes to retired numbers. Bernie Williams was an excellent player — better, surely, than Paul O’Neill — but I did not view him, and still do not, as a retired jersey candidate. Seeing the Yankees history, I realize he is more than a candidate — his jersey might has well be plated in gold right now. They’ll retire his jersey, Jeter’s jersey, Rivera’s jersey, Posada’s jersey, Pettitte’s jersey, they’ll have more retired laundry than Madonna. Irabu’s number should still be available.

Oakland Athletics

Greatness
9, Reggie Jackson
27, Catfish Hunter
34, Rollie Fingers
43, Dennis Eckersley

Comment: All are in the Hall of Fame but interestingly — to me, I mean — in my mind’s eye, I don’t think of any of those four guys as Oakland A’s. I see Reggie as a Yankee, Catfish as a Yankee, Rollie as a Brewer and Eck as a young pitcher of my hometown Indians. Now, this is no doubt because of my age — all of them were BETTER as A’s than as anything else. But, sorry, that’s just how I see it. When they retire Rickey Henderson’s number — and I’m not sure what they’re waiting for (they can always unretire it if he decides to sign with the club for the 39th time) — he will be the first A’s retired number that I see as a TRUE A’s player*

*This is what Alanis Morissette would call “ironic” (don’t you think?) since Rickey played for like 38 other teams.

Seattle Mariners

None

Comment: Will they retire Junior’s number someday? What about A-Rod? What about Unit? I don’t know. I’m all for them retiring my friend Raul Ibanez’s 28.

Tampa Bay Rays

Greatness
12, Wade Boggs

Comment: When I think of Boggs, I will always think of him in that Rays jersey.

Texas Rangers

Greatness
34, Nolan Ryan

Emotional
26, Johnny Oates

Comment: Oates led the Rangers to three American League West championships — including their first playoff appearance — then he resigned under pressure, then he, like Dick Howser, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame before he died, and he had his number retired a few months after he died.

Toronto Blue Jays

None.

Comment: Apparently, they don’t retire jerseys in Toronto. Maybe it’s a Canadian thing. They have put nine people into something they call the “Level of Excellence” which, I’m supposing, is somewhere about the “Level of Pretty Good Quality” and the “Level of Decent.” The Blue Jays have not had a Hall of Fame player for any great length of time (they did have Winfield and Paul Molitor for a while — Roberto Alomar will be in the Hall) so I can appreciate the conservative approach. If they were the Yankees, they would have tried Dave Stieb’s 37, Tony Fernandez’s 1, Cito Gaston’s 43, Joe Carter’s (and Jesse Barfield’s) 29, George Bell’s 11, and whatever number Kelly Gruber wore.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Arizona Diamondbacks

None

Comments: I’ll be there for the Brian Anderson ceremony.

Atlanta Braves

Greatness
21, Warren Spahn
35, Phil Niekro
41, Eddie Mathews
44, Henry Aaron

Importance
3, Dale Murphy

Comment: It would be interesting to do a poll (hey maybe I will) but I think that Dale Murphy might be the most popular baseball player in the history of the South. I don’t know how much of Murphy’s popularity has waned (or grown) over the years and as he has become the grumpy old guy neighbor yelling at the kids to get out of his yard and stop using them dadgum steroids. But I think if this poll had been run in 1990, he might have won.

Chicago Cubs

Greatness
14, Ernie Banks
23, Ryne Sandberg
26, Billy Williams

Importance
10, Ron Santo

Comments: Santo should be in the Hall of Fame (ibid). … Interesting that Fergie Jenkins number was not retired. Now it will be, maybe as a co-number with Greg Maddux.

Cincinnati Reds

Greatness
5, Johnny Bench
8, Joe Morgan
10, Sparky Anderson
20, Frank Robinson
24, Tony Perez

Importance
13, Dave Concepción
18, Ted Kluszewski

Emotional
1, Fred Hutchinson

Bizarre
5, Willard Hershberger - 5 (1940 - 1941)

Comments: Hutchinson was the manager of the 1961 Reds team that lost to the Yankees in the World Series (another team carried by Frank Robinson). He was stricken with lung cancer less than three year later — he actually managed the Reds for about half the 1964 season, even after doctors told him that he had only months to live. He was officially the Reds manager until Oct. 19 of that year, and he died less than a month later … There aren’t many stranger stories than the story of Willard Hershberger, the only Major League player who committed suicide in the middle of a season. He apparently was unable to cope with the death of his father — who killed himself with a shotgun — and three days after a Reds loss on July 31 (a loss he blamed himself for), he killed himself. The Reds retired his number, perhaps in shock. Less than two years later, they gave the number to Dick West, a backup catcher.

Reds who wore No. 5 (according to Baseball Almanac)
1942-43: Dick West.
1944-45: Joe Just
1945: Al Unser
1946-48: Ray Lamanno,
1951: Dixie Howell
1953: Frank Baldwin
1954-55: Hobie Landrith
1962: Darrell Johnson
1967-eternity: Johnny Bench

Wonder if some of this will get into a certain upcoming book about the 1975 Cincinnati Reds called “The Machine” that will be published by William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins, in Marcy of 2009. Hmm. … I predict that while it may never get officially retired, nobody will ever wear Pete Rose’s No. 14 in Cincinnati — unless it’s a grandchild of his or something.

Colorado Rockies

None

Comments: Where’s the love for Dante Bichette?

Florida Marlins

Emotional
5, Carl Barger.

Comment: Barger was the first president of the Marlins, and he died of a brain aneurysm before the first Marlins game was played. The Marlins retired his jersey on Opening Day, making them the first team to put one personal number out of circulation before they even played a game. They chose the number 5 for Joe DiMaggio, Barger’s favorite player, so in some ways Joltin’ Joe has his number retired by two teams as well.

Houston Astros

Greatness
34, Nolan Ryan
5, Jeff Bagwell (a sure Hall of Famer, no?)

Importance (I guess)
24, Jimmy Wynn
25, José Cruz
33, Mike Scott
49, Larry Dierker

Emotional
32, Jim Umbricht
40, Don Wilson

Comments: No offense to the fine people of Houston but … that’s a few too many retired numbers for a 1960s expansion organization that has not yet won a World Series. Again, hey, I appreciate respect for the local heroes and all but, you know, you might want to slow things down a bit. … Umbricht, a relief pitcher, battled cancer throughout the 1963 season, and died just before Opening Day in 1964. He was 33 years old. … Wilson was a strong right-handed pitcher who five times placed in the leagues Top 10 in fewest hits per nine innings. His last game was a shutout. He was found dead in his car, which was still running and in the garage, and apparent suicide in January, 1975*. His number was retired in April of that year.

*Brilliant reader Patrick writes in to note that there is much controversy about whether or not it was a suicide. It seemed very out of character for him, and it’s more than plausible that it really was an accidental death.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Greatness
1, Pee Wee Reese
2, Tommy Lasorda
4, Duke Snider
20, Don Sutton
24, Walter Alston
32, Sandy Koufax
39, Roy Campanella
42, Jackie Robinson (the first time)
53, Don Drysdale

Emotional
19, Jim Gilliam

Comments: Junior Gilliam was a very good player for the Dodgers — rookie of the year, take a walk, hardly ever struck out — and then he was one of the first black coaches in baseball. He was a coach for the Dodgers in 1978 when in September he had a brain hemorrhage, went into a coma, and died less than a month later.

Milwaukee Brewers

Greatness
4, Paul Molitor
19, Robin Yount
34, Rollie Fingers
44, Henry Aaron

Comments: I don’t know what it will take to get Sixto Lezcano’s No. 16 retired, but by gosh, I’ll do what I can.

New York Mets

Greatness
37, Casey Stengel
41, Tom Seaver

Emotional and Importance
14, Gil Hodges

Comment: Hodges was, of course, the manager of the 1969 Miracle Mets. He died of a heart attack in April of 1972. His number was retired the next year … The Mets also intended to retire Willie Mays’ No. 24, but in 1990 they gave it to Kelvin Torve by mistake.

Philadelphia Phillies

Greatness
1, Richie Ashburn
14, Jim Bunning
20, Mike Schmidt
32, Steve Carlton
36, Robin Roberts
Bottle of your favorite adult beverage: Grover Cleveland Alexander

Comments: All of the retirees are Hall of Famers. Pete Alexander played and drank heavily in the years before numbers, but I would imagine that if anyone would raise a toast on his behalf, Old Pete would be appreciative. He was a great, great pitcher and sad, sad case. There’s a bar in his hometown of Elba, Nebraska that bears his name. … I kind of wish that instead of retiring 32 for Carlton they would have a drawing with a reporters notebook and an X over it. … Poor Chuck Klein is honored by the Phillies also, but they could not find a number to retire for him. He was 32, but that’s Carlton’s. He wore 36, but that was Roberts’. They just retired the letter P for him*. I believe once a year, they should wear uniforms that say “Hilladelhia Hillies” in his name.

*P? Why not K for Klein? They could do something with that, no?

Pittsburgh Pirates

Greatness
4, Ralph Kiner
8, Willie Stargell
9. Bill Mazeroski
11, Paul Waner
20, Pie Traynor
21, Roberto Clemente
33, Honus Wagner

Emotional
40, Danny Murtaugh

Utterly Inexplicable
1, Billy Meyer

Comments: Meyer managed the Pirates for five years, had losing seasons in four of those and that included the legendary 1952 Buccos that lost 112 games. I have absolutely no idea why his number is retired. None. He was widely respected, according to his Wikipeda entry, and he did have some poor health, which might make him an emotional choice. But, no, I don’t understand at all. Meyer’s two real claims to fame are that:

1. He was a spectacular minor league manager — he won more than 1,500 games in the minors and was the skipper of the 1939 Kansas City Blues that many believe was the best minor league team ever.

2. He was, apparently, the Yankees first choice to be their manager, and when that fell through they hired Casey Stengel instead.

I had all my info wrong on Murtaugh. He managed the 1971 World Series champion Pirates, stepped down, came back to manage the team again from 1974-76. He died in December of ‘76. He’s mostly an emotional choice, though he was a terrific manager as well.

St. Louis Cardinals

Greatness
1, Ozzie Smith
2, Red Schoendienst
6, Stan Musial
9, Enos Slaughter
17, Dizzy Dean
20, Lou Brock
42, Bruce Sutter
45, Bob Gibson
No number, Rogers Hornsby

Importance
14, Ken Boyer

Emotional
85, August Busch, Jr.

Comments: Boyer was so popular that there are Cardinals fans who are STILL mad at Bob Howsam for trading him, even though it’s clear that Boyer was done as a good player when he made the deal. … Gussie Busch was given the number 85 because that is the number of wives he had. No, wait, that might not be right. Maybe it was his age or something.

San Diego Padres

Greatness
19, Tony Gwynn
31, Dave Winfield

Importance
6, Steve Garvey
35, Randy Jones

Comment: Not as egregious as Houston, but close enough. Randy Jones was a perfectly fine pitcher who gave the Big Red Machine fits (did I mention there’s this book coming out …) and won a Cy Young in 1976. Steve Garvey is a Dodger. They’re both big reaches for retired numbers in my book.

San Francisco Giants

Greatness
3, Bill Terry
4, Mel Ott
11, Carl Hubbell
24, Willie Mays
27, Juan Marichal
30, Orlando Cepeda
36, Gaylord Perry
44, Willie McCovey
No number, Christy Mathewson
No number, John McGraw

Comments: See, that’s how you do it. Great players. Hall of Fame caliber players. You retire their number. Everyone else … well, since Will Clark left San Francisco, Rikkert Faneyte, David McCarty, Osvaldo Fernandez, Damon Minor, the ancient Eric Davis, Kurt Ainsworth, Jose Cruz Jr., Dustan Mohr, Mike Matheny and Matt Morris have worn Number 22. And Will Clark was a better player than Paul O’Neill.

Washington Nationals

None

Comments: I don’t like mixing and matching … for instance, I always think it is weird to see St. Louis Football Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams BOTH honored in the St. Louis Rams ring of honor. It makes no sense. That said, even though, the Nationals have no direct connection to the old Washington teams, I would love to see them retire, like, Frank Howard’s number or honor Walter Johnson or something. Maybe they’ve done all of this, and I’m just not paying attention.*

As an aside: It should be noted that Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines and a couple of emotionals had their numbers retired by the Montreal Expos. And I can assure you that no Expos player will ever wear those numbers … or the number of the great Warren Cromartie, for that matter.