my retired number collection - crazy 8s

this is the ninth post in a series that shares the cards i have in my retired number mini-collection. you can find the links to the previous posts down at the bottom of this post. if you're eager to learn more right now, you can check out the full list of retired numbers along with what this collection will entail over at my want list site.

without further ado, here are the seven people for whom the number 8 has been retired:

yogi berra (retired by the yankees in 1972) 2021 topps stadium club chrome

and bill dickey (retired by the yankees in 1972) 2001 upper deck sp legendary cuts

the yankees retired number 8 on july 22, 1972, and honored both berra and dickey at the same time. this is the first, but not last, instance of a franchise retiring a number for two players.  dickey was the second yankee to wear the number, and berra was the last, and if it weren't for dickey's two years of military service in 1945 and 1946, there would have only been three yankees total to ever wear the number.

i was happy to find the card for berra showing the number as i could not find any dickey cards showing his back. both players are in the hall of fame, with dickey being voted in in 1954, and berra joining him in 1972 - his induction was a couple of weeks after the number retirement ceremony. yogi, of course, was managing the mets at the time.

dickey was a lifelong yankee and catcher - he never moved to a different position - and had three seasons where he was in the top-five for mvp votes to go along with his eight world series rings. berra on the other hand played one season for the mets after 18 with the yankees, and he played a bit of left field towards the end of his career. he had three mvp awards and ten world series rings as a player.

willie stargell (retired by the pirates in 1982) 1982 topps

here we have some sleeve number representation thanks to pops' 1982 topps card! stargell had his number retired by the pirates on september 6, 1982 which was about a month before his career came to an end. he was obviously the last pirate to wear the number as a result.

stargell's career accomplishments included an mvp award, two world series titles, 475 home runs and 1,540 rbi. he was voted in to the hall of fame in 1988 on his first ballot.

carl yastrzemski (retired by the red sox in 1989) 2009 topps tribute

the red sox retired number 8 for yaz on august 6, 1989; a couple of weeks after he was inducted in to the hall of fame. yaz was the last person to wear the number for boston, and it was the only number he wore over the course of his 23 year career.

yaz was the 1967 american league mvp thanks to his triple crown win, but he had two other batting titles to boot. he finished his career with 3,419 hits and 452 home runs. only pete rose played in more major league baseball games than yaz, who made 3,308 appearances for the red sox.

gary carter (retired by the expos in 1993) 1984 fleer

i really liked the expos uniform with the rare right side front number! carter's number 8 was the first number to be retired by the expo franchise. it was retired on july 31, 1993, the summer after carter retired as a player. he began and finished his career in montreal, where he was a 7-time all-star in his 11-plus seasons with the club. carter led the expos to their first and only postseason berth in 1981, and hit well over .400 in both the nlds against the phillies and the nlcs against the dodgers.

carter, who went in to the hall of fame in 2003, was the last expo to wear the number 8, but the washington nationals put it in to circulation in their second season. since then, seven players have worn the number (most recently carter kieboom). i am keeping carter (and the other expo retired numbers) in this collection even though the nationals don't recognize them as being retired. this is a different case than, say, the marlins retiring number 5 for executive carl barger and then putting it in to circulation a few years later.

joe morgan (retired by the reds in 1998) 2003 fleer flair

sporting the more traditional left side front number, joe morgan's 2003 fleer flair card gives us a good look at his number 8 which was retired by the reds on june 6, 1998. i am not sure why it took the club so long to retire the number, as morgan entered the hall of fame in 1990. maybe because morgan left the reds and played his last few seasons elsewhere had something to do with it? the reds did redistribute his number, and it was last worn by damon berryhill in 1995.

as a player, morgan led the reds to back-to-back titles in 1975 and 1976 as one of the key cogs in the big red machine. he won the national league mvp award both of those seasons as well. between his 2,517 hits and 1,865 walks, morgan was on base over 4,200 times in his career. he scored 1,650 runs and also stole 689 bases. these days, he may be best remembered as a broadcaster whose takes inspired the great website "fire joe morgan". one of the guys behind that website went on to work on "the office" and co-create "parks and recreation". i believe he was "ken tremendous", and somewhere i have an email from him about a comment i made on the site. good times.

cal ripken jr. (retired by the orioles in 2001) 1984 topps

one more front jersey number! the iron man had his number retired by the orioles on october 6, 2001 which was also the final day of ripken's playing career. it was fitting that the lifelong oriole be the last to wear the number, and that the retirement not be delayed.

ripken's career was remarkable for his durability, but he was also a rookie of the year and two-time american league mvp. he led the orioles to the 1983 pennant and won his only ring as they beat the phillies that year. he tallied 3,184 hits and 431 home runs during his career, and was one of the most popular players of his era as evidenced by his 19 all-star game appearances. 

i am tracking a few things as we go, even though the information is already available elsewhere.

retired numbers by team (through the five posts so far):

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

giants - 3, 4

pirates - 1, 4, 8

guardians - 3, 5

red sox - 1, 4, 6, 8

phillies - 1

cardinals - 1, 2, 6

reds - 1, 5, 8

braves - 3, 6

astros - 5, 7

mets

orioles - 4, 5, 8

dodgers - 1, 2, 4

twins - 3, 6, 7

white sox - 2, 3, 4

brewers - 1, 4

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

cubs

royals - 5

padres - 6

athletics

angels

expos - 8

rangers - 7

major league baseball

rays

diamondbacks

blue jays

rockies

mariners

retired number frequency:

1 - retired by 9 teams

2 - retired by 5 teams

3 - retired by 7 teams

4 - retired by 8 teams

5 - retired by 7 teams

6 - retired by 7 teams

7 - retired by 4 teams

8 - retired by 6 teams (retired by yankees for two players)

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 59

running total of non-hall of famers: 7