my retired number collection - 45

this is the 43rd 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.

so, without further ado, here are the two people for whom number 45 has been retired:

bob gibson (retired by the cardinals in 1975) 1999 upper deck century legends

the cardinals retired number 45 for their longtime ace bob gibson on "bob gibson" day, which was celebrated on september 1, 1975, two days before gibson would take the mound for the final time in his big league career. not quite six years later, gibson was enshrined in cooperstown, having been voted into the hall of fame on his first ballot.

gibson spent his entire career with the cardinals, and was the mvp of both the 1964 and 1967 world series. he led the cardinals to the pennant in 1968 as well (and also won both the cy young and the mvp award that year) but the cardinals fell to the tigers in the fall classic. 

the card i chose - from one of my favorite sets (1999 upper deck century legends) - shows gibson during the 1967 world series against the red sox. gibson won three games during that series, throwing complete games in each of his starts. he remains to this day the franchise's all-time leader in wins, shutouts, strikeouts, and complete games, among other categories. it's no wonder that the cardinals made darn sure no other person would wear number 45 after him.

pedro martinez (retired by the red sox in 2015) 2001 upper deck ovation

pedro martinez spent seven seasons in boston, and finished in the top four in the cy young voting in six of those years. he won two cy young awards for the red sox, including in 1999 when he won the pitching triple crown and had more first place mvp votes than the winner, ivan rodriguez. overall, he was 117-37 with 1,683 strikeouts during his tenure with the red sox, but is probably best remembered for his postseason performances, particularly in 2003 when grady little left him in game 7 a bit too long, and in 2004 when he helped the red sox break the curse of the bambino and claim the world series title.

pedro left the red sox after the 2004 postseason and continued to pitch into 2009. no red sox personnel wore number 45 after his departure, however, and the team retired it on july 28, 2015 - a couple of days after pedro was inducted into the hall of fame. i chose his 2001 upper deck ovation card because it shows his number better than any other card i could find of his (that was also in my old player collection box) from his red sox days.

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

retired numbers by team (through the 43 posts so far):

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 20, 21, 23, 32, 37, 42, 44

giants - 3, 4, 11, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 30, 36, 42

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9, 11, 20, 21, 33, 40, 42, 44

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

red sox - 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 14, 26, 27, 34, 42, 45

phillies - 1, 14, 15, 20, 32, 34, 36, 42

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 14, 17, 20, 23, 24, 42, 45, 85

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

braves - 3, 6, 10, 21, 25, 31, 35, 41, 42, 44

astros - 5, 7, 24, 25, 32, 33, 34, 40, 42

mets - 14, 16, 17, 18, 24, 31, 36, 37, 41, 42

orioles - 4, 5, 8, 20, 22, 33, 42

dodgers - 1, 2, 4, 14, 19, 20, 24, 32, 34, 39, 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, 44

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 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. 43

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 10 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)

39 - retired by 1 team

40 - retired by 2 teams

41 - retired by 2 teams

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

43 - retired by 1 team

44 - retired by 4 teams (retired by brewers and braves for same person)

45 - retired by 2 teams

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): 156

running total of non-hall of famers: 53