my retired number collection - this post goes to 11

this is the 12th 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 eight people for whom the number 11 has been retired:

carl hubbell (retired by the giants in 1944) 1999 upper deck century legends

i am a big fan of the 1999 upper deck century legends set, and am very happy that they photo used for hubbell's card in that set shows his number clearly, especially since he pitched for a few years before numbers were a thing. when the giants did first distribute numbers to players, carl hubbell was assigned number 10. the following year, 1933, hubbell took number 11 and wore it for the remainder of his career. his teammate freddie fitzsimmons had worn 11 in 1932 but switched to number 12 in 1933. it turns out that those two were the only ones who would ever wear the number for the giants.

hubbell is a two-time national league mvp (one of only three pitchers with multiple mvp awards) and was a key part of the giants' 1930 world series championship team. hubbell is second to christy mathewson in terms of all-time franchise wins and war for pitchers. while not a strikeout pitcher per se, hubbell famously used his screwball to strike out five consecutive hall of famers - babe ruth, lou gehrig, jimmie foxx, al simmons, and joe cronin - in the 1934 all-star game.

when hubbell's number was retired in 1944 following his retirement at the end of the previous season, he became only the second player in major league history to be so honored, and the first national leaguer. he was voted in to the hall of fame in 1947.

luis aparicio (retired by the white sox in 1984) 2023 topps allen & ginter

this is the newest card in my collection (it replaced a 2002 topps tribute card), and it is the best example i could find showing aparicio's number worn while with the white sox. he played in chicago for the first seven years of his career, winning the 1956 american league rookie of the year award, and then returned to the white sox for three years later in his career.

aparacio was a seven time gold glove winner in his ten seasons with the white sox, and was the runner up to teammate nellie fox in the 1959 mvp voting. he was voted in to the hall of fame as part of the 1984 class, and the white sox retired his number on august 14 of that same year, just a couple of days following the induction ceremony in cooperstown. rudy law had to switch to number 23 to accommodate the retirement of the number, but aparacio allowed fellow venezuelan omar vizquel to wear the number in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, making vizquel the last white sox player to wear 11.

jim fregosi (retired by the angels in 1998) 1989 smokey bear california angels all-stars

this card shows just a very small amount of fregosi's number 11, but it was the best standard card i could find after his 1971 topps card of which i did not have a duplicate. that card shows about the same amount of his number, but there is an oddball card that shows the number fully - it's a 1969 nabisco team flakes card - but i am sticking to standard sized cards for the collection. i suppose i could use the angels' team card from 1979 that shows fregosi in the team photo with his number 11 fully visible, but for now the team issue card gets the slot.

he is probably best remembered as the main player traded by the angels to get nolan ryan from the mets after the 1971 season, but before that, fregosi had established himself as a team leader and face of the los angeles/california angel franchise. fregosi made his debut at the age of 19 in the angels' inaugural season of 1961, and wore number 17 (which shows up on his 1963 topps card). he received mvp votes every year from 1963 through 1970, and was a six-time all-star for the halos during that same stretch. angel owner gene autry convinced fregosi to retire as a player (he was with the pirates at the time) during the 1978 season and made him the team's manager a few days later. in his first full season as the angels' manager, fregosi led the club to their first postseason berth, winning the american league west by three games.

fregosi reclaimed number 11 when he returned as manager, and the team reissued immediately after he was relieved of his duties during the 1981 season. it wasn't retired until august 1, 1998, making justin baughman, who debuted in may of 1998, the last angel player to wear the number.

paul waner (retired by the pirates in 2007) 2001 upper deck sp legendary cuts

like hubbell, waner (big poison to brother lloyd's little poison) was well in to his career when the pirates began wearing numbers. he was the first pirate to wear number 11, which he wore from 1933 through 1939, and he was also the first to wear number 9, which he donned for his final year in pittsburgh - 1940. while 9 is also retired (for bill mazeroski), the pirates later retired number 11 for waner on july 21, 2007. the number was not necessarily revered, however, as humberto cota was wearing that number up until memorial day of that same season.

as a pirate, waner had 2,868 hits, three batting titles, and was the 1927 national league mvp. he hit .333 in the world series that season, but the pirates were up against the yankees' murderers row and lost in four games. i find it interesting that paul waner's number 11 is retired by the pirates, but his brother's number 10 is not. both are in the hall of fame - paul was elected in 1952 and lloyd in 1967. maybe someday. 

sparky anderson (retired by the tigers in 2011) 2017 topps tribute

i was happy to find this 2017 topps tribute card as i think it is the only one out there that shows sparky's number 11 that he wore with the tigers (he wore 10 with the reds, which is also retired). sparky spent 17 years as the manager in detroit, leading the team to two division titles, one pennant, and one world series title.

that title, of course, came in the 1984 season when the tigers led their division from wire to wire, winning a total of 104 games before steamrolling steve garvey and the padres in the fall classic. in total, he won 1,331 games in detroit, and was voted in to the hall of fame in 2000.

longtime tiger fans may associate number 11 with bill freehan, but it was sparky's from the time he joined the tigers in 1979 and was never worn by anyone else. it is worth noting that number 10 was being worn by rusty staub when sparky arrived in detroit, but he was dealt to the expos a few weeks later. i guess sparky decided to stick with number 11, and as a result he is one of just a few people to have different numbers retired by different teams.

barry larkin (retired by the reds in 2012) 1998 topps minted in cooperstown

i like this 1998 topps card of larkin as it shows not only his number 11, but also his captain "c" and the jackie robinson patch worn during the 1997 season. the minted in cooperstown stamp is just a gimmick, but it's the first version of the card i came across in my monster boxes of non-dodger, non-mini collection cards in my basement.

larkin was the first round pick of the reds in 1985 and he made his debut for the club the following season. 19 seasons later, he had put up a hall of fame career despite never having led the league in any major category. he was the 1995 national league mvp and a three time gold glove winner, and was a big part of the reds' surprising 1990 world championship club.  no red wore number 11 after larkin retired following the 2004 season, and the club formally retired it on august 25, 2012 following his induction in to the hall of fame.

edgar martinez (retired by the mariners in 2017) 2016 topps archives

like larkin, martinez's number 11 was held out of rotation by the mariners after martinez retired following the 2004 season, but it was formally retired on august 12, 2017 - a couple of years before martinez was inducted in cooperstown. this 2016 topps archives card features an early career photo of martinez, with his number fully visible.

martinez didn't become a full-time player until his age 27 season in 1990, but from that point through the end of his career, he hit .313 with 500 doubles and over 300 home runs. primarily a designated hitter, martinez won two batting titles and led the league in rbi in 2000. he was a big part of the dominant 2001 mariner team, but is probably best remembered for his walk-off double ("the" double) in the 1995 american league division series that sent the mariners on to the alcs for the fist time in their history.

ryan zimmerman (retired by the nationals in 2022) 2015 topps

you can't miss the number 11 on this 2015 topps card, making it a solid choice for the collection. since the nationals do not recognize the expos' retired numbers, zimmerman's number retirement on june 8, 2022 became the franchise's first for one of their players. he retired after the 2021 season, and so was the last national to wear the number.

zimmerman was a lifelong national. he was their first ever draft pick, taken in the first round of the 2005 draft. in all, he played for them in 16 seasons over 17 years (he sat out the 2020 season) and helped the team to the 2019 world series championship. given his longevity, zimmerman is atop the nationals' all-time leader board in many offensive categories and was considered the face of the franchise later in his career.

it is worth noting that the nationals do have a way of recognizing expo greats and nationals players of note, along with players from the first two iterations of the washington senators and the homestead grays. certain notable players from these teams are recognized in the nationals' "ring of honor".

there was a time when i thought that the dodgers would retire number 11 in honor of manny mota given his lengthy tenure with the club as a player and a coach, but they returned his number to the pool pretty much immediately after he finally retired. he did get a spot in the "legends of dodger baseball", so at least he has that going for him.

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

retired numbers by team (through the 12 posts so far):

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

giants - 3, 4, 11

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9, 11

guardians - 3, 5

red sox - 1, 4, 6, 8, 9

phillies - 1

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9, 10

reds - 1, 5, 8, 10, 11

braves - 3, 6, 10

astros - 5, 7

mets

orioles - 4, 5, 8

dodgers - 1, 2, 4

twins - 3, 6, 7, 10

white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9, 11

brewers - 1, 4

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11

cubs - 10

royals - 5, 10

padres - 6

athletics - 9

angels - 11

expos - 8, 10

rangers - 7, 10

major league baseball

rays

diamondbacks

blue jays

rockies

mariners - 11

nationals - 11

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)

9 - retired by 6 teams

10 - retired by 9 teams (retired by expos for two players)

11 - retired by 8 teams

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 75

running total of non-hall of famers: 15