this is the 37th 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 is the one person for whom number 37 has been retired:
casey stengel (retired by the mets in 1965) 2001 topps tribute
overall, the mets won 175 games under stengel which puts him at 11th for the franchise all-time, sandwiched between buck showalter (176 wins) and mickey callaway (163). because stengel was a met at the beginning, and they retired his number immediately after he retired, no other met has ever worn the number.
casey stengel (retired by the yankees in 1970) 2001 topps tribute
for the collection. however, things soured between strasburg and the nationals (as i understand it) due to how his retirement would affect his contract terms, and the plans were scrapped. maybe someday the nats will follow through and if so, i will update the post. for now, i do not include strasburg in the numbers below.
it's fitting, i think, to have cards from the same set (2001 topps tribute) for stengel in this collection, even if neither card shows his number. stengel took number 37 when he began managing the yankees in 1949, and no yankee would ever wear the number again. the franchise retired it on august 8, 1970 - old-timers day at yankee stadium, making stengel the fifth person (after gehrig, ruth, dimaggio, and mantle) to have their number retired by the franchise.
stengel had managed the dodgers and braves (and in the minors) prior to getting the yankee job in 1949, but he had nowhere near the success at the big league level that he would have with the bronx bombers. he won the world series in each of his first five seasons at the helm of the yankees, and he won two more, along with three additional pennants, over the next seven seasons. he was fired after the yankees lost the 1960 world series to the pirates, but had amassed 1,149 regular season wins in his 12 years as their manager with a winning percentage that is only bested by joe mccarthy in the team's history.
stengel was elected to the hall of fame as a manager by the veterans' committee in 1966, becoming only the seventh manager so honored up to that time, and he was certainly the first to have managed in the expansion era.
to date, stengel is the only person to have number 37 retired in their honor, but towards the end of last season there was news that the nationals were going to retire it in honor of stephen strasburg. i was prepared, picking up the wrapper redemption refractor rookie card from 2010 topps chrome
i am tracking a few things as we go, even though the information is already available elsewhere.
retired numbers by team (through the 37 posts so far):
yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 20, 21, 23, 32, 37, 42
giants - 3, 4, 11, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 30, 36, 42
pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9, 11, 20, 21, 33, 42
guardians - 3, 5, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 42, 455
red sox - 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 14, 26, 27, 34, 42
phillies - 1, 14, 15, 20, 32, 34, 36, 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, 35, 42
astros - 5, 7, 24, 25, 32, 33, 34, 42
mets - 14, 16, 17, 18, 24, 31, 36, 37, 42
orioles - 4, 5, 8, 20, 22, 33, 42
dodgers - 1, 2, 4, 14, 19, 20, 24, 32, 34, 42
twins - 3, 6, 7, 10, 14, 28, 34, 36, 42
white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 35, 42, 72
brewers - 1, 4, 19, 34, 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, 35, 42
athletics - 9, 24, 27, 34, 42
angels - 11, 26, 30, 42
expos - 8, 10, 30, 42
rangers - 7, 10, 26, 34, 42
major league baseball - 42
rays - 12, 42, 66
diamondbacks - 20, 42
blue jays - 32, 42
rockies - 17, 33, 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)
32 - retired by 5 teams
33 - retired by 4 teams
34 - retired by 8 teams (retired by astros and rangers for same person; retired by brewers and a's for same person; retired by a's for two players)
35 - retired by 3 teams
36 - retired by 4 teams
37 - retired by 2 teams (retired by mets and yankees for same person)
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): 146
running total of non-hall of famers: 51
Did Strasburg do enough to warrant the retiring of his number?
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with Jon, I was surprised when I read they were retiring it. Still the whole situation is pretty shameful.
ReplyDelete