this is the 48th 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 three people for whom number 51 has been retired:
hoffman retired after the 2010 season with 601 career saves. he earned 552 of them as a padre, filling the closer role in san diego from 1993 through 2008. interesting to me is the fact that hoffman first wore 34 with the padres (that was rollie fingers' number) after joining them during the 1993 season, but switched to 51 for the 1994 campaign. that number shows up nicely on his 2000 topps card above, as does the easily identifiable orange on the jack murphy stadium outfield wall.
the padres officially retired number 51 for hoffman on august 21, 2011. they had not issued the number since he left the club after the 2008 season, so he was the last to wear it for the pads. he is the franchise leader in games pitched, saves, era, k/9, and a host of other metrics. one of the greatest closers in history, hoffman was elected to the baseball hall of fame in 2018 on his third ballot.
johnson spent a total of eight seasons in two separate stints with the diamondbacks. his first run, from 1999 through 2004, is the stuff of legend. in those six seasons, johnson won the cy young award four times and finished second in one of the other two years. he won 103 games in those six seasons, and 118 as a dback overall. he won the pitching triple crown in 2002 and led the league in strikeouts four other times and era twice while pitching in arizona. he sits atop the team's all-time leader board in many pitching categories, including strikeouts and era. most notably, perhaps, he was a co-mvp of the 2001 world series wherein he was 3-0 in two starts and a memorable relief appearance in game 7 against the yankees.
his 1999 topps card features his number 51 thanks to the numbers on the front of the diamondback jerseys, and i had it in my long discarded pc box so it makes its way into the collection. when johnson left arizona for the yankees prior to the 2005 season, the team did not reissue his number. he wore it when he returned for the 2007 and 2008 seasons and it was formally retired without anyone else wearing it on august 8, 2015. that coincided with johnson's election to the baseball hall of fame on his first ballot.
randy johnson wore number 41 when he pitched for the yankees because 51 belonged to bernie williams. i think his 2002 topps card is a great one and would have fit in my "name/number on the back" collection if i hadn't pegged it for this one early on.
williams spent his entire career with the yankees, spanning from 1991 through 2006. he wasn't officially part of the "core four", but he did contribute to four of the yankees' world series titles won during the era of jeter, pettitte, rivera, and posada. he was the 1996 alcs mvp and finished his career with 22 postseason home runs.
while not a hall of famer, the yankees held out his number following the 2006 season and formally retired it on may 24, 2015. it makes sense for the yankees to have retired the number given the fact that williams is squarely within the top 10 in many offensive categories on the franchise's all-time leader board.
i fully expect the mariners to retire number 51 next year in honor of both randy johnson and ichiro, as ichiro should be inducted into the hall of fame in the summer of 2025. i already have cards in my collection to fit the honor, just as i have with stephen strasburg should the nationals decide to follow through on their earlier intent to retire number 37. for ichiro, i have his 2012 topps chrome orange refractor parallel
and for the big unit, i have his 2022 topps stadium club xfractor parallel
now it's up to the mariners to not let me down!
i am tracking a few things as we go, even though the information is already available elsewhere.
retired numbers by team (through the 48 posts so far):
yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 20, 21, 23, 32, 37, 42, 44, 46, 49, 51
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, 47
astros - 5, 7, 24, 25, 32, 33, 34, 40, 42, 49
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, 47
cubs - 10, 14, 23, 26, 31, 42
royals - 5, 10, 20, 42
padres - 6, 19, 31, 35, 42, 51
athletics - 9, 24, 27, 34, 42. 43
angels - 11, 26, 30, 42, 50
expos - 8, 10, 30, 42
rangers - 7, 10, 26, 34, 42
major league baseball - 42
rays - 12, 42, 66
diamondbacks - 20, 42, 51
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
46 - retired by 1 team
47 - retired by 2 teams
49 - retired by 2 teams
50 - retired by 1 team
51 - retired by 3 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): 160
running total of non-hall of famers: 58
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