for the love of all that is holy, avert your eyes

it has been a long time since i've looked for - let alone added - a tristar signa cuts card. for whatever reason, i took a peek at available inventory around the start of the year and wound up purchasing this 2008 brutalization of steve howe's 1984 topps card

i will never have certified autographs of all of the dodger rookies of the year, but with this howe card in hand, i have examples of each dodger roy from 1980 on except for 1995 winner hideo nomo. that would mean i have auto cards of these guys:

cody bellinger (2017)

corey seager (2016)

todd hollandsworth (1996)

raul mondesi (1994)

mike piazza (1993)

eric karros (1992)

steve sax (1982)

fernando valenzuela (1981)

steve howe (1980)

i also have certified autos of joe black (1952), don newcombe (1949), and frank howard (1960). howard is my newest addition, thanks to this 2001 topps archives autograph card

that i added not too long ago. this all means i am missing jackie robinson (1947), jim gilliam (1953), jim lefebvre (1965), ted sizemore (1969), rick sutcliffe (1979) and the aforementioned nomo.

of those, i only know of a certified cut robinson dodger autograph. the nomos that i have seen feature him in non-dodger uniforms - same with the sutcliffes. i don't think the other two modern players (lefebvre and sizemore) have any certified autos regardless of team.

and so, i will likely continue to periodically check the airwaves for signa cuts, even though they are destroyers of cards.

fifty cent frenzy at the card show

after missing the last few cards shows of 2024, i made it to the monthly twin cities club show in january. i usually get there a few minutes early and am in the lobby when they open the doors. this time, i got there about five minutes after the doors opened. that made a difference.

one of the regular sellers who has some pretty good bargain boxes was there for the first time in a while, at least the first time he and i were at a show at the same time. by the time i walked to his table, there were already half a dozen guys digging through his fifty cent boxes. one of the guys had abandoned his own tables to dig, and didn't seem to mind missing out on sales while he tore through a box.

i was able to get in at a corner of the table and made sure to ask who was where in the box closest to me and i started going through. i wound up only being able to get to about half of the boxes but still came away with a lot of cards for my collection and the collections of others. the only bad thing about my approach was that once i had an unwieldy stack going, i asked the seller to stack them behind the table and told him to go ahead and start counting. this lack of forethought kept me from double checking some of the cards i had pulled, and so i wound up with a short stack of dodger cards that i really didn't need.

anyway, here's a taste of what i found from these boxes:

i had never seen the 1992 ud minors todd hollandsworth card before - it's an insert - but i was pretty sure i had the jeff shaw own the game card from 2002 and the 2017 topps chrome bellinger rookie, but i set them aside anyway. i was positive that i had the 2022 topps uk clayton kershaw insert but figured someone out there might want it. the others were all cards i needed. 

i was able to feed my vladimir guerrero collection with a couple of cards, including a 1999 upper deck retro and 2004 fleer ultra insert

the retro card is numbered to 1000.

i found a new double play card, too.

that's a 2020 topps robinson cano 1985 35th anniversary insert, blue parallel.

as you can likely infer from those scans, there were inserts, parallels, oddballs, and some base in the boxes. tons of 35th anniversary cards 

and silver pack cards 

and parallels for sure.

his boxes are usually good for at least one variation card, and this was no exception

that's a photo variation from 2016 topps update jameson taillon card.

i will bite every time i see an all aces insert - this one is from 2023 topps update

and features zack greinke, who i have a soft spot for. that is a nice looking insert set, but i am still not officially chasing it.

there were some old school inserts that i grabbed, too, like this barry bonds insert from 1996 topps chrome

a tony gwynn insert

from 1999 fleer tradition and a textured greg maddux insert

from 2000 fleer ultra

the biggest surprise i had when i was going through the cards - this was after i had purchased the stack - was this one from 2024 topps series 1

that's an umbrella parallel, or maybe a rain umbrella parallel, as there were different umbrella parallels in series 2. anyway, the card is numbered to only 10

it's a lame parallel, but still.

the next stop i made was at the seller who has dime boxes under his table. this time, there was a quarter box as well as a dime box, but there were two other people trying to get at them. i was able to join in once they were clear of the quarter box, and then i made my way to the dimes. here are most of the quarter box cards i pulled:

the only dodgers i took from that box were these jackie robinson and mookie betts cards

from 2024 topps allen & ginter.

here's some of the 190 cards i took from his dime box:

this was the first time i saw these 2024 ginter oregon zoo inserts in person. i was enthralled.

2022 topps 206 pairing of gary sheffield and gil hodges

i might have passed on these, but i just picked up a few mini ultra pro sheets so i knew these guys would have a good home in my 2022 dodger binder.

2023 topps chrome update will smith all-star game insert

after making the 2022 cards like this a priority, i slacked off last year.

2024 topps update blake treinen royal blue parallel

i will take any dodger parallel for a dime.

2023 topps chrome platinum anniversary pee wee reese

this is a base card, but it's one of the few i still need(ed) for the team set. not sure if and when the 2024 version of this set will be released.

here's a smattering of some other dime box cards

that 1995 bowman calvin "pokey" reese does look like it was signed by pokey himself, and i will help myself to a 1979 topps bump wills error card for a dime all day long thank you very much.

here's another vladdy i was able to add - 2023 topps black & white

plus a dodger stadium card from 2023 topps stadium club

this is giancarlo stanton hitting a home run in the 2022 all-star game. i get a kick out of this big moment happening while the marlins guy is looking at his phone.

two more dime box cards to show and then i will move on. this is a 2012 topps chrome orange refractor troy tulowitzki parallel

and a 2017 topps chrome dee gordon prism refractor parallel

that fit into my double play collection. bonus for ichiro running around in the background of gordon's card.

next up i stopped at a table that was packed with cards separated out by sport and many by player. i mean, when's the last time you saw raul mondesi cards tabbed out specifically? i didn't spend a lot of time but did grab four cards from this seller for a grand total of $11.50. two were keepers for me - a 2002 fleer authentix paul loduca ripped jersey insert/parallel

and a 2001 topps archives ron cey autograph

the cards were heavily discounted, so the loduca was $0.75 and the cey was five bucks. the other two cards i bought were from the same two sets just of different players/teams and i hope to hand them off to my intended recipient in person later this year.

i wasn't 100% sure whether or not i had the cey card already, but it turned out i did not. i was aware of the large number of dodger autographs that were available in this set back in 2001 when i was chasing after the base set (the box i bought included a bob feller autograph that i now have in my hall of famer collection), but i guess i didn't seek any out on ebay which was really the only source available to me back then. i may prioritize these autos now.

one of my goals for the show was to find some 2024 topps archives singles and parallels, and i did just that when i stopped at a regular seller's table. he always has newer releases broken out for set collectors and he had archives. he listed them for sale as a quarter for loose and fifty cents for sleeved cards. i found two of each and went to give him $1.50. at that point the guy said that archives hadn't been priced yet. i showed him his sign and he said that he shouldn't have put the cards out. now, i could probably find the four cards i chose on ebay/sportlots for not much more than $1.50 but he was determined to get more from me than he had listed the cards for so i told him to pound sand. this is the same guy i ran into once a few years ago at a local target where he was pack searching. i've bought singles from him before but will probably shy away from now on.

my last stop was at one of the vintage bargain box sellers, and i wound up achieving one of my other goals for the show by adding to my 1955 bowman set build. those cards will show up in later posts as i continue to show off my progress on the set.

in all, it was a decent show and i spent almost 200 bucks which might be the most i've ever spent at one of these shows. plus, i was able to talk with brian from highly subjective, completely arbitrary at a couple of the tables, and we exchanged some cards although we didn't snap a photo of our wallet cards. i will share the fantastic stuff he handed over to me in another post.

ps - i didn't pick this card up at the show, but i've had it in my scanned folder for a long while now.

that's jeff torborg's 1978 topps card, and i made the decision a few months back to go ahead and put it in my dodgers binder since he is shown as a dodger in his playing days photo. torborg passed away a couple of weeks ago, and as one of the first former dodgers i was ever aware of, i felt an impact from the news and wanted to be sure to acknowledge his passing here.

lou whitaker is in my hall of famer collection

i've got one more current non-hall of famer that i've added to my hall of famer collection, and it's lou whitaker. here's the card i have as his entry:

that's a 2001 topps archives autograph card. here's the back:

i would expect to see whitaker on the contemporary era committee ballot at the end of 2025 as though he received some support his last time on a committee ballot (2020) when he got halfway to the required number of votes for induction.

we've come a long way since 2001 when he was one and done on the writer's ballot, and since then there has been a growing appreciation of whitaker's career. baseball reference lists his top three similar batters as ryne sandberg, alan trammell, and roberto alomar, all hall of famers. and, like bobby grich, whitaker's career war is higher than sandberg, craig biggio, or alomar. however, unlike grich, his peak seven year war is less than each of those players. still, longevity counts for something, and whitaker amassed 2,369 hits and 244 home runs to go along with 1,386 runs scored over his 18+ seasons. the 1978 american league rookie of the year, whitaker also won some gold gloves and silver slugger awards, but was never a league leader or serious mvp candidate. 

i don't think i ever saw whitaker play in person, but i did appreciate his longevity and partnership with double play partner trammell. i held those two, and paul molitor, in high regard as i entered the card collecting world as they were starting their big league careers. hopefully whitaker will join those guys in cooperstown in 2026!

as a reminder, you can see whitaker and all of the members of my hall of famer collection here.

my retired number collection - 39

this is the 38th 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.

you may have noticed that we skipped number 38. that's because it is the first number that has not been retired by any team. so, without further ado, here is the one person for whom number 39 has been retired:

roy campanella (retired by the dodgers in 1972) 2001 topps archives

the dodgers retired campy's number on the same day that they honored jackie robinson and sandy koufax - june 4, 1972. together, they were the first three to have their numbers retired by the franchise, and campy is the last of that trio to be featured in a post. his 2001 topps archives card gloriously reprints his 1957 topps card, showing his number 39 in its red glory on front of his jersey, and we get a glimpse of it on his back, too.

campanella spent his entire post-negro league career with the dodgers, winning three mvp awards and leading the club to five pennants (and their 1955 world series win) in his ten years as a dodger. he did not play for the dodgers after they left brooklyn because he was injured in a car accident in january of 1958 and was paralyzed as a result. he remained a part of the franchise, however, coaching the team during spring training and later joining the team as a member of their community relations department.

eventually, campanella's number was recirculated in los angeles by the dodgers and was worn by a few players, with bob lee in 1967 being the last to wear number 39. campanella's 242 home runs are still fourth on the franchise's all-time leader board, and only mike scioscia, john roseboro, and steve yeager are ahead of him in number of games caught as a dodger - all coming after campanella's career ended. he was elected to the hall of fame in 1969 on his seventh ballot which seems crazy to me.

when i think of 39, in addition to roy campanella, dave parker is the guy who comes to mind. i would expect the pirates at some point to retire that number given how great parker was for that franchise.

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

retired numbers by team (through the 38 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, 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

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)

39 - retired by 1 team

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): 147

running total of non-hall of famers: 51

my retired number collection - perfect 10s

this is the 11th 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 ten people for whom the number 10 has been retired:

phil rizzuto (retired by the yankees in 1985) 2000 upper deck yankees legends

number 10 was retired by the yankees in honor of rizzuto on august 4, 1985 making him the 12th yankee to be so recognized. rizzuto played for the yankees for 13 years, 11 as their regular shortstop. he was the 1950 american league mvp and was a big part of nine pennant winning teams with seven world series titles. he missed three years due to military service so his counting stats were not as great as they might otherwise have been. as a result, rizzuto was not elected to the hall of fame until 1994 when it was up to the veteran's committee. 

rizzuto remained with the yankees as a broadcaster until 1996. several yankees wore number 10 after rizzuto retired, including dick howser (more on him in a moment) and chris chambliss, although rick cerone was the last to do so, giving up the number after the 1984 season. the 2000 upper deck yankees legends card was the best one i could find showing rizzuto's number, and it's a double play card to boot.

dick howser (retired by the royals in 1987) 1985 topps

i could not find a standard card for howser showing his number 10, so i went with his 1985 topps card which comes from the season in which he led the royals to their first world series title. howser's teams had been winless in the post season three times prior to 1985 (1980 yankees, 1981 royals, and 1984 royals) before they beat the blue jays and cardinals in the 1985 postseason, with both series going seven games.

no royal wore number 10 after howser, who stepped down from his role during the 1986 season following the all-star game due to a malignant brain tumor. while he attempted to return to managing during spring training the following year, he was unable to do so and passed away on june 17, 1987. the royals retired his number posthumously on july 3, 1987.

rusty staub (retired by the expos in 1993) 1994 ted williams

and andre dawson (retired by the expos in 1997) 1981 topps

this is the first instance of a team retiring a number for two different players at two different times. the expos retired the number of staub, an original expo, on may 15, 1993 just a couple of months before they bestowed the same honor on gary carter. it is fitting that they made staub the first in franchise history to receive the recognition as he was a fan favorite from the start of the franchise's first season, and was their first all-star representative.

nicknamed "le grand orange", staub played only three seasons in montreal, plus a late-career partial season in 1979, so he didn't accumulate a ton of stats as an expo. his ops is second only to vladimir guerrero's in expo history, however.

andre dawson came along a few years after staub was traded to the mets and promptly won the national league rookie of the year award in 1977. he won six gold gloves while with the expos and still shows up high on the franchise leader board in a number of categories, even factoring in nationals players. dawson left montreal after the 1986 season for the cubs, where he promptly won the mvp award. he was voted in to the hall of fame in 2010, although the expos retired his number on july 6, 1997 immediately following the end of his playing career.

obviously, staub was not the last expo to wear number 10, but dawson was. the nationals do not recognize the numbers retired by the expos, and so 10 has been in circulation with yan gomes wearing it most recently. while the nationals don't recognize the numbers, i do in terms of this collection if for no other reason that the expos need to be remembered. the 1994 ted williams staub card has long been a favorite of mine, and the 1981 topps dawson card is one of my favorites of the hawk. i am happy to be able to put both cards in this collection!

ron santo (retired by the cubs in 2003) 2005 topps all-time fan favorites

i continue to be thankful for teams who show uniform numbers on the front (and sleeves) as it makes it much more likely that the numbers will be visible on cards like this 2005 topps all-time fan favorites card. i am also thankful that card companies began making sets featuring retired players to increase the likelihood of a photo of guys like santo showing their number would be used as opposed to the old standard portrait images.

santo was the cubs' third baseman for 14 seasons, and he was a gold glover in five of those campaigns. being a cub in the 1960's and 70's meant that he never made the postseason, but he did turn in a number of strong offensive years and finished his cub career with 337 home runs. he was traded to the white sox after the 1973 season, which prevented him from being a lifelong cub like teammate ernie banks.

billy grabarkewitz wore number 10 immediately after santo's departure, but the team took it out of circulation in the late 1990's, making terrell lowery the last cub to wear the number before it was retired on september 28, 2003. unfortunately, santo passed away just over a year before he was elected to the hall of fame by the golden era committee in 2012.

sparky anderson (retired by the reds in 2005) 2001 topps archives

i didn't have a double of sparky's 1971 topps card, but this 2001 topps archives card does the trick just as well. anderson managed the reds from 1970 through 1978. he led them to four pennants and two world series titles - back to back championships in 1975 and 1976.

the team was stacked during those years with the "big red machine" in full display, featuring pete rose and future hall of famers johnny bench, joe morgan, and tony perez. anderson also received the call to the hall in 2000, thanks in large part to his tenure in cincinnati. even though he was a hall of famer, the reds did not immediately take sparky's number out of rotation, meaning that jason romano was the last red to wear it during the 2004 season.

tony larussa (retired by the cardinals in 2012) 2004 topps

larussa went out on top when he retired after the 2011 season. he had just led the cardinals to a world series title, his third as a manager and second in st. louis. the team responded by retiring his number on may 11, 2012. his 2004 topps card shows the number nicely, along with larussa in his managerial postgame handshake position, so it's a good fit for this collection.

as the cardinals' manager, larussa led the team to three pennants in 16 seasons, along with seven division titles. he was the last cardinal to wear number 10, and he was inducted in to the hall of fame as a manager in 2014.

tom kelly (retired by the twins in 2012) 1989 donruss all-stars

kelly led the twins to a world series title in 1987, his first full year as their manager. as a result, he got to manage the american league in the 1988 all-star game which is how he ended up on this 1989 donruss all-stars card. i am thankful for that, as it shows his number better than any other card i could find. i should note that while kelly wore 16 for the twins as a player, he chose 10 as 16 was being worn by frank viola in the 1980's. it turns out that kelly was the last to wear the number for the twins.

kelly also led the twins to the world series championship in 1991, and he was named the league's manager of the year that season as well. his other twin teams did not fare so well, never finishing atop the division or making the postseason, and after the 2001 campaign he was replaced by ron gardenhire. still, the twins inducted him in to their hall of fame and retired his number on september 12, 2012.

chipper jones (retired by the braves in 2013) 2004 donruss team heroes glossy

i like chipper in the throwback uniform on that 2004 donruss team heroes card, enough so that the chip on the bottom of the card doesn't bother me. jones played for the braves for the entirety of his career, hitting 468 home runs and amassing 2,726 hits. he was the 1999 nl mvp and was part of the dominant braves teams of the 1990's. 

jones was the last brave to wear number 10, as the team retired the number on june 8, 2013 - the year after he retired. he was elected to the hall of fame on his first ballot in 2018. 

michael young (retired by the rangers in 2019) 2004 donruss throwback threads

i don't believe that i've shown any cards from this set on this site before. this was one of the many donruss sets that flooded the market in the early 2000's, but it had some decent inserts that i chased down for my steve garvey collection. as for young, he finished his career as a dodger (and also spent time with the phillies that same season) but spent the rest of his career in texas.

in 13 years with the rangers, young put up 2,230 hits and a .301 batting average. he was a key component of their pennant winning teams in 2010 and 2011, and is the franchise's all-time leader in games, runs, hits, doubles, triples, and times on base. in recognition of his time with the franchise, the rangers retired his number on august 31, 2019, although no ranger had worn the number since young left the team after the 2012 season.

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

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

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

giants - 3, 4

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9

guardians - 3, 5

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

phillies - 1

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9, 10

reds - 1, 5, 8, 10

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

brewers - 1, 4

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

cubs - 10

royals - 5, 10

padres - 6

athletics - 9

angels

expos - 8, 10

rangers - 7, 10

major league baseball

rays

diamondbacks

blue jays

rockies

mariners

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)

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 70

running total of non-hall of famers: 12

my retired number collection - dressed to the 9s

this is the tenth 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 six people for whom the number 9 has been retired:

ted williams (retired by the red sox in 1960) 1996 topps ted williams tunnel opening day commemorative

i bought this card directly from topps through the mail back in 1996, and now it finally has a set place in my collection thanks to its display of the splendid splinter's number. the central artery tunnel in boston that opened in late 1995 is also the ted williams tunnel. williams also has a highway named after him in san diego, for what it's worth.

the red sox retired number 9 for williams in may of 1984 (along with joe cronin's number 4), making them the first red sox players to be so honored. unlike cronin, the red sox did not issue williams' number to anyone after he retired in 1960, making him the last member of the franchise to wear the number.

as a player, few were better than williams. he is currently the last person to hit over .400 in a season and he won six batting titles and two mvp awards while accomplishing the triple crown twice. elected to the hall of fame in 1966 in his first year of eligibility, i would submit his name as a candidate for the person who had the greatest american life. 

minnie minoso (retired by the white sox in 1983) 2001 topps archives

minoso had five different stints with the white sox, if you include his two "stunt" returns in 1976 and 1980. while he was not elected to the hall of fame until 2022, the white sox retired his number on may 8, 1983. the 2001 topps archives card i chose is, of course, a reprint of his 1964 topps card, and shows his number prominently on his sleeve. the white sox did not immediately retire his number, but with his final appearances in 1976 and 1980, he was officially the last player to wear the number for the team.

1964 was the final season of his "initial" major league career, and he only appeared in 30 games for chicago. however, in his previous 11 years on the southside, minoso had four top-4 mvp finishes and was the runner up to gil mcdougald in the 1951 american league rookie of the year voting. in all, he posted over 1,500 hits and had a .304 average as a member of the white sox.

roger maris (retired by the yankees in 1984) 2001 topps archives

the yankees retired number 9 for maris during their oldtimers game on july 21, 1984 (the same day the retired number 32 for elston howard - more on that in a future post). the timing for maris' number retirement is curious to me - is it because graig nettles, who had worn number 9 for the previous 11 seasons (and so became the final yankee to wear it) had left for san diego? in fact, one could argue that a dual retirement for both maris and nettles would make sense for the yankees.

anyway, i chose the 2001 topps archives card reprint of maris' 1961 topps in action card not just because it shows his number 9 clearly, but because home run number 61 was a huge thing for me as a young fan learning about the game.

maris' claim to fame is his 61 home runs in 1961, but he was a two-time mvp winner (one of two eligible players not in the hall of fame). as a yankee, maris hit just over 200 home runs in seven seasons, but helped them to five pennants and two world series titles during his tenure. 

bill mazeroski (retired by the pirates in 1987) 1965 topps

bill mazeroski was largely responsible for denying maris a third world series ring, thanks to his series ending home run in game 7 of the 1960 fall classic. a heralded defender, maz may be best known for that home run. i think it certainly kept him in the baseball conversations until the veteran's committee voted him in to the hall of fame in 2001. his 1965 topps card displays his number nicely.

his reputation as an elite defender is supported by the fact that he won eight gold gloves as a second baseman and at one time held the modern day all-time assist record for the position, as well as by modern metrics such as total zone fielding runs for which he sits atop the all-time leader board for second basemen. following his playing career which was spent solely with the pirates, maz coached for the pirates in 1973 and then served mainly as a spring training instructor. he was the last pirate to wear number 9, although the club did not officially retire the number until august 7, 1987. 

enos slaughter (retired by the cardinals in 1996) 2005 upper deck pastime pennants

slaughter's number 9 is mostly visible on his 2005 upper deck pastime pennants card, which was the best example i could find. i tend to think of enos slaughter as an old-timey player like tris speaker, but then i see him in the late 1950's topps sets and am reminded that he's a peer of ted williams'. speaker's career began in 1938 and ended in 1959, and although he played for four different franchises, he left his mark in st. louis cardinals history.

it was his "mad dash" in game 7 of the 1946 world series - he scored from first on harry walker's two-out double in the top of the ninth inning to give the cardinals a one-run lead - that is probably most well remembered. he never led the league in any category, but amassed some big numbers in his 13 years with st. louis - over 1,000 runs scored; more than 2,000 hits and over 1,100 rbi with a .305 batting average - that are worthy of his number being retired by the franchise.

thirteen cardinals wore number 9 after slaughter was traded to the yankees in 1954, including minnie minoso, roger maris, and terry pendleton (the last cardinal to wear the number) before the cardinals finally retired it on september 6, 1996. this was a full 11 years after the veteran's committee elected slaughter to the hall of fame, and it seems like the club was doing some catching up with retired numbers as they honored red schoendienst, slaughter, and the newly retired ozzie smith all during the '96 campaign.

reggie jackson (retired by the athletics in 2004) 1973 topps

this particular 1973 topps reggie jackson card of mine is not in the best shape, but i've had it for about 40 years. the one in my 1973 complete set is much nicer, so this one was available to represent reggie in this collection thanks to the prominence of his number on the front of the colorful a's vest jerseys. 

while the a's didn't retire reggie's number until may 22, 2004 (making olmedo saenz the last oakland player to wear the number), he was elected to the hall of fame in 1993 based on a stellar career that began with the franchise in kansas city. chosen second in the 1966 draft after the mets did mets things and took steven chilcott first overall, reggie joined the a's in 1967 and was an all-star earning mvp votes two years later. he won his lone mvp award in 1973, and twice led the american league in home runs, runs scored, and ops as a member of the a's.

he helped them to five straight postseason appearances, including three consecutive american league pennants and world series titles from 1972 through 1974, although he was injured in the 1972 alcs and did not appear in that year's fall classic. when he left the a's for baltimore after the 1975 season, reggie was the franchise's modern era leader in home runs and rbi. of course, the notoriety that he brought to his career following his time with the a's contributed to his status as a hall of famer, and i'll cover some of that later on, as graig nettles did not relinquish number 9 to jackson when he joined the yankees in 1977, and reggie settled for his third choice - 44. and, while jackson wore number 44 during his final season which came as a member of the a's, only number 9 is retired for mr. october in oakland.

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

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

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

giants - 3, 4

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9

guardians - 3, 5

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

phillies - 1

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9

reds - 1, 5, 8

braves - 3, 6

astros - 5, 7

mets

orioles - 4, 5, 8

dodgers - 1, 2, 4

twins - 3, 6, 7

white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9

brewers - 1, 4

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

cubs

royals - 5

padres - 6

athletics - 9

angels

expos - 8

rangers - 7

major league baseball

rays

diamondbacks

blue jays

rockies

mariners

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

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 64

running total of non-hall of famers: 8

my retired number collection - they're number 1!

this is the third 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 eight of the nine people for whom the number 1 has been retired:

1 billy meyer (retired by the pirates in 1954) - 1983 topps '52 reprint

i was not familiar with meyer, but when i found out his number had been retired i figured he must have led the pirates to a world series title, but he did not. he had a successful minor league managerial career before getting the pirates' job for the 1948 season. he was named the manager of the year for his efforts during that campaign. leading the pirates to a 21-win improvement over their 1947 season, although that was only good enough for a fourth place finish. that was as good as it got for meyer, and he resigned after a very bad 1952 season. he stayed with the club as a scout and "troubleshooter", and the team retired his number in 1954, a year before his death. there is not a lot of information surrounding the number retirement, but it is a huge display of respect, so he must have served the club in a meaningful way. 

1 fred hutchinson (retired by the reds in 1964) - 1964 topps

hutchinson was a fairly successful pitcher for the tigers before becoming a manager - first in detroit and then in st. louis with the cardinals. he took over the reds during the 1959 season and led them to the world series in 1961. it was their first pennant since 1940, but they lost the fall classic to the yankees. hutchinson stayed on as manager for the next three years even though he was diagnosed with cancer after the 1963 season. he was ultimately unable to complete the 1964 season, taking leave in august and resigning his post in october, just a few weeks before he passed away. 

he is the inspiration and namesake for the annual hutch award, given to the active player who best exemplifies his fighting spirit. the award has been dormant for a couple of seasons, but will hopefully be resurrected this year. my understanding is that his number was officially retired by the team in 1965, although nobody wore it after his resignation from the club the year prior. i will have more to say about the reds' retired number history in a few posts, but hutchinson's number is officially recognized as the first to be retired by the reds.

1 richie ashburn (retired by the phillies in 1979) - 2001 topps tribute

here we have the first appearance by 2001 topps tribute in the collection. i love this set as it focuses on retired numbers, and it was the first tribute set issued by topps. i eventually completed it a few years ago, and i wish topps would put out a follow up set to cover the players and managers that they missed the first time around.

as for ashburn, he was voted in to the hall of fame by the veteran's committee in 1995 following a 15 year career (12 with the phillies) that resulted in over 2500 hits, two national league batting titles and a .308 lifetime batting average. after his retirement, he spent 35 years as a broadcaster with the club. his number was retired on august 24, 1979 as part of his enshrinement in the team's hall of fame. jose cardenal was the last phillie to wear number 1, having worn it until he was sent to the mets three weeks before it was retired.

1 pee wee reese (retired by the dodgers in 1984) - 2001 topps archives

here's the first card in this post where you can see the uniform number that is the subject of the post, and you can see it twice! the dodgers retired reese's number on july 1, 1984 following his election to the hall of fame. reese spent his entire career with the dodgers and was a 10-time all-star who lost three years of his career to military service during world war ii. he finished his career with 2,170 hits, over 1,300 runs scored and 1,210 walks. reese received mvp votes in 13 of his 16 seasons, although he only finished in the top 5 once.

i associate reese with number 1, although i remember derrel thomas and gary weiss both wearing it for the dodgers during my youth. weiss, who wore it in 1980 and 1981, is the last dodger to don the number.

1 billy martin (retired by the yankees in 1986) - 2021 topps x sports illustrated

the yankees retired martin's number 1 on august 10, 1986 after he had completed his fourth stint as the team's manager. while he also played for the yankees in the 1950's, he is best remembered as their on-again off-again manager during george steinbrenner's early reign. martin took over managerial duties during the 1975 season, and in his first full season, guided the team to their first pennant in 11 years. he repeated that feat the next year in 1977, and this time led them to their first world series title since 1962.

martin was fired during the 1978 season, and his replacement (bob lemon) led the team to the world series title. lemon was out partway through the 1979 season, however, and martin was brought back, but the team finished in fourth place in the nl east. after four seasons managing the oakland a's, martin returned to the yankees for the 1983 season. he was fired at the end of the year but then brought back early in the 1985 campaign. after being fired once again, the team retired his number, although they later brought him back to manage once again to start the 1988 season. he made it through 68 games before being fired again.

as far as yankee managers go, he has fewer pennants and world series championships to his name than ralph houk and the same number as bob lemon, neither of whom have their numbers retired. then again, they didn't have martin's personality.

i was really happy to find that card, by the way, as it shows the number which is only worn on the backs of yankee uniforms. obviously, martin was the last to wear the number for the team, but bobby murcer was the last to wear it as a player. 

1 bobby doer (retired by the red sox in 1988) - 2003 topps retired signature

doerr was elected to the hall of fame in 1986, but the red sox didn't retire his number until may 21, 1988. it was last worn by chico walker who saw limited action with the club in the early 1980s. doerr spent the entirety of his 14 season career with the red sox, which ended perhaps a bit prematurely due to a back injury. he was a nine-time all-star, hit over .400 in the 1946 world series, and amassed just over 2,000 hits and 1,200 rbi.

the 2003 topps retired signature card i chose shows just a bit of his number 1 on the back.

1 ozzie smith (retired by the cardinals in 1996) - 1996 donruss press proof

smith's number 1, clearly visible in this parallel that was languishing in one of my monster boxes, was retired by the cardinals on september 28, 1996 - the day before smith played in the final game of his career. while he is best known for his glove (he won 13 gold gloves - 11 with st. louis) he also recorded over 2,400 hits and 580 stolen bases during his career. he also hit a big home run in the 1985 nlcs.

he was the last cardinal to wear number 1, and was elected in to the hall of fame in 2002 on his first ballot.

1 lou whitaker (retired by the tigers in 2022) - 1990 score

it may be a bit weird to have a junk wax era base card in this collection, but this card shows off whitaker's number 1 pretty well so here we are. while not (yet) in the hall of fame, whitaker had his number retired by the tigers on august 6, 2022. he played 19 seasons for the tigers and was a five-time all-star who won four gold gloves and three silver slugger awards.

he was the 1978 american league rookie of the year, so i've always had a soft spot for whitaker as that was the first full season that i followed baseball. he is considered by many to be a borderline hall of fame candidate, and i fall on the "in" side of that line.

i mentioned up top that there was a ninth person for whom this number has been retired. that would be bud selig who had a number retired by the brewers in 2015 following his run as the baseball commissioner which began after he abdicated his role as the brewers' owner. no conflict of interest there, because the commissioner has always been more aligned with ownership than the players. anyway, selig didn't wear a uniform, so i don't have him in this collection although i will include him in the tally below as a hall of famer (which is a shame in my opinion).

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

retired numbers by team (shown in chronological order of their first number retirement):

yankees - 1, 4

giants - 4

pirates - 1, 4

guardians 

red sox - 1, 4

phillies - 1

cardinals - 1

reds - 1

braves

astros

mets

orioles - 4

dodgers - 1, 4

twins

white sox - 4

brewers - 1, 4

tigers - 1

cubs

royals

padres

athletics

angels

expos

rangers

major league baseball

rays

diamondbacks

blue jays

rockies

mariners

retired number frequency:

1 - retired by 9 teams

4 - retired by 8 teams

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 25

running total of non-hall of famers (including those without numbers): 4