my retired number collection - 31

this is the 31st 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 four people for whom number 31 has been retired:

dave winfield (retired by the padres in 2001) 1975 topps

dave winfield spent the first 8 seasons of his major league career with the padres, hitting .284 with 154 homers and 626 rbi during that time, while racking up 1,154 hits. he actually spent more time (1 more season) with the yankees, but san diego is where he was a league leader for the only time in his career (1979 rbis), and he decided to wear a san diego cap on his hall of fame plaque, so it makes sense that the team retired his number, doing so on april 14, 2001 just a few months before winfield was inducted into cooperstown.

winfield's 1975 topps card is his second year card, and it gives a nice view of the number which was last worn on the field by matt clement in 2000. even after being gone from the franchise for over 40 years, winfield still remains high on the club's all-time offensive category leader boards - he is second in rbi and runs scored, fourth in home runs, and third in hits and plate appearances. he was definitely an all-time great for the padres. 

fergie jenkins (retired by the cubs in 2009) 1994 upper deck all-time heroes

jenkins had two stints with the cubs, spending most of eight seasons with them early in his career and then returning to close out his hall of fame career with two seasons in the early 1980's. during his first run with the club, jenkins had four seasons in which he finished in the top 3 in cy young award voting, and he won the award in 1971 when his 24 wins were tops in the national league. in all, jenkins posted six straight years with 20 or more wins and he won a total of 167 games as a cub - the most of any modern era cub - and his 2,038 strikeouts as a cub are the most in franchise history regardless of era.

jenkins was voted into the hall of fame in 1991, but the cubs didn't retire his number (which is mostly visible on his 1994 upper deck all-time heroes card) until may 3, 2009 when they also recognized another all-time great pitcher who wore the number after jenkins had retired.

greg maddux (retired by the cubs in 2009) 1988 topps

ray fontenot wore number 31 for the cubs immediately after jenkins retired, but at some point in 1986, greg maddux took the number and eventually became the last cub to wear it on the field, and the number shows up nicely on maddux's 1988 topps card. the cubs retired the number for both jenkins and maddux on the same day - the aforementioned may 3, 2009 - which came shortly after maddux announced his retirement.

like jenkins, maddux had two separate tenures with the cubs. and, like jenkins, maddux won the cy young award as a cub, taking home the trophy in 1992. in his time with the franchise (8 seasons plus two partial seasons), maddux won 133 games and struck out 1,305 batters. he is sixth all-time in strikeouts for the cubs, and fifth in games started. 

greg maddux (retired by the braves in 2009) 1997 topps

greg maddux's 1997 topps card is very similar to his 1988 topps card, and i appreciate having these two similar looking cards representing maddux in this collection. the braves retiring maddux's number - they did so on july 17, 2009 - was a no-brainer. he had his best seasons in atlanta, winning four consecutive cy young awards as well as the 1995 world series title.

maddux won 194 games as a brave and struck out 1,828 batters in his 11-year tenure with the club. those numbers place him among other brave hall of fame pitchers on the franchise all-time leader board, but those pitchers - spahn, niekro, glavine, and smoltz - all spent many more seasons as braves. maddux was the last brave to wear number 31, and he was inducted into the hall of fame in 2014 on his first ballot.

mike piazza (retired by the mets in 2016) 2000 upper deck

the mets kept number 31 out of circulation after piazza left the club as a free agent following the 2005 season, and then retired number it for piazza on july 30, 2016, a few days after his hall of fame induction took place in cooperstown. i like seeing an upper deck flagship card representing piazza, as his career took place entirely within, and almost the entire span of, the upper deck baseball era. the 2000 upper deck card shows his number on the black alternate jerseys that i believe the mets planned on bringing back this season, but there has been a supplier delay as i understand it. seems like fanatics is doing well with uniforms this year.

it's worth noting that john franco, himself a met icon and probably worthy of a number retirement, wore number 31 until piazza showed up. franco switched to 45 so piazza could keep wearing 31 as he had done for the vast majority of his career previously as a dodger and marlin. as a met, piazza hit 220 home runs and batted .296 over seven-plus seasons. he led the mets to the 2000 pennant and cemented himself as a no-doubt hall of famer, although it took him four ballots to get in. 

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

retired numbers by team (through the 31 posts so far):

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 20, 21, 23, 42

giants - 3, 4, 11, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 30, 42

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9, 11, 20, 21, 42

guardians - 3, 5, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 42, 455

red sox - 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 14, 26, 27, 42

phillies - 1, 14, 15, 20, 42

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 14, 17, 20, 23, 24, 42, 85

reds - 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 24, 42

braves - 3, 6, 10, 21, 25, 31, 42

astros - 5, 7, 24, 25, 42

mets - 14, 16, 17, 18, 24, 31, 42

orioles - 4, 5, 8, 20, 22, 42

dodgers - 1, 2, 4, 14, 19, 20, 24, 42

twins - 3, 6, 7, 10, 14, 28, 42

white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 42, 72

brewers - 1, 4, 19, 42

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 16, 23, 42

cubs - 10, 14, 23, 26, 31, 42

royals - 5, 10, 20, 42

padres - 6, 19, 31, 42

athletics - 9, 24, 27, 42

angels - 11, 26, 30, 42

expos - 8, 10, 30, 42

rangers - 7, 10, 26, 42

major league baseball - 42

rays - 12, 42, 66

diamondbacks - 20, 42

blue jays - 42

rockies - 17, 42

mariners - 11, 24, 42

nationals - 11, 42

marlins - 42

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

12 - retired by 1 team

13 - retired by 1 team

14 - retired by 10 teams (retired by mets and dodgers for same person)

15 - retired by 2 teams

16 - retired by 4 teams

17 - retired by 3 teams

18 - retired by 3 teams (includes mets who will formally retire the number in 2024) 

19 - retired by 5 teams

20 - retired by 11 teams (retired by orioles, reds, and guardians for same person)

21 - retired by 4 teams

22 - retired by 2 teams

23 - retired by 4 teams

24 - retired by 8 teams (retired by giants and mets for same person)

25 - retired by 4 teams

26 - retired by 4 teams

27 - retired by 3 teams

28 - retired by 1 team

29 - retired by 4 teams (retired by twins and angels for same person)

30 - retired by 3 teams

31 - retired by 4 teams (retired by cubs and braves for same person; retired by cubs for two players)

42 - retired by 30 teams (retired by cardinals and yankees for individuals in addition to jackie robinson)

66 - retired by 1 team

72 - retired by 1 team

85 - retired by 1 team

455 - retired by 1 team

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 129

running total of non-hall of famers: 44