my retired number collection - 42

this is the 25th 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.

i am skipping ahead a bit here, with jackie robinson day coming on monday. so, without further ado, here are the three people for whom number 42 has been retired:

jackie robinson (retired by the dodgers in 1972) 2008 topps stadium club

the dodgers retired number 42 for robinson on june 4, 1972 in a ceremony that also saw numbers 32 and 39 retired for sandy koufax and roy campanella, respectively. the trio were the first to be honored by the franchise, and i like to think that jackie was the first number retired of the three as he was the first to be enshrined in cooperstown, with his induction taking place in 1962. oddly enough, the dodgers, who had held his number out of rotation since robinson retired, issued the number briefly to ray lamb in 1969.

robinson's 2008 topps stadium club card is a good looking card except for the fact that it is miscut (i don't think i've seen one without the white "border" at the bottom). it gives a good look at his number, and so is appropriate for the collection. as for his career, robinson was the 1947 rookie of the year and the 1949 mvp of the national league. he helped the dodgers get their first world series championship in 1955 and retired after the 1956 season with a .313 lifetime batting average.

jackie robinson (retired by mlb in 1997) 2015 topps the jackie robinson story

in honor of jackie robinson's contribution to the game of baseball as the first black man allowed to play in the major leagues, number 42 was retired across the entire league on april 15, 1997 - the fiftieth anniversary of his debut for the dodgers. active players who were wearing 42 at the time could continue to wear it, but clubs were not allowed to issue it to new players.  here's a list of each team's last player to wear 42 on the field, according to baseball reference:

dodgers: ray lamb (1969)

diamondbacks: franchise began play in 1998 

braves: armando reynoso (1992)

orioles: lenny webster (1999)

red sox: mo vaughn (1998)

cubs: glenallen hill (1993)

white sox: scott ruffcorn (1996)

reds: roger salkeld (1996)

guardians: michael jackson (1997)

rockies: armando reynoso (1996)

tigers: jose lima (2002)

astros: jose lima (2001)

royals: tom goodwin (1997)

angels: mo vaughn (2000)

marlins: dennis cook (1997)

brewers: scott karl (1999)

twins: michael jackson (2002)

expos: kirk reuter (1996)

mets: mo vaughn (2003)

yankees: mariano rivera (2013)

a's: buddy groom (1997)

phillies: toby borland (1996)

pirates: jason schmidt (1997)

padres: pedro martinez (1994)

giants: kirk rueter (1997)

mariners: butch huskey (1999)

cardinals: jose oliva (1995)

rays: franchise began play in 1998 

rangers: marc sagmoen (1997)

blue jays: xavier hernandez (1999)

nationals: franchise began play in 2005

i am not 100% sure about sagmoen for the rangers. he made his big league debut on april 15, 1997 and i would find it surprising that the team would give him number 42 to wear on the night it was being retired. the practice of players wearing 42 on jackie robinson day didn't take hold until later.

bruce sutter (retired by the cardinals in 2006) 1982 fleer

we already know that sutter wasn't the last cardinal to wear number 42, but the team retired it in his honor on september 17, 2006 after being inducted into the hall of fame the month prior. sutter pitched for the cardinals for only four seasons, but he led the league in saves in three of them and was a top-5 cy young award vote getter in those same three seasons.

using his 1982 fleer card here is appropriate as 1982 was the year that sutter helped the cardinals beat the brewers in the world series. he saved two of the cardinals' four wins in the series, and notched the win in a third.

mariano rivera (retired by the yankees in 2013) 1997 topps

rivera was the last yankee and the last player to wear number 42. he was also the only (to date) player to be unanimously inducted into the hall of fame, receiving 100% of the writers' vote in 2019. the yankees, however, had already retired 42 in his honor on september 22, 2013 - just a few days before he made the final appearance of his career. 

rivera is the game's all-time leader in saves with 652. he also saved 42 postseason games as a part of the yankees' resurgence that uncoincidentally coincided with rivera's career which lasted from 1995 through 2013. he was a big part of their five world championship teams during that span, winning the 1999 world series mvp award along the way.

i originally used rivera's 2010 topps card 

for this collection, but moved that card to my name/number on the back collection after i pulled his 1997 topps card from my sportlots inventory.

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

retired numbers by team (through the 25 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, 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, 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, 42

astros - 5, 7, 24, 25, 42

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

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

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

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

royals - 5, 10, 20, 42

padres - 6, 19, 42

athletics - 9, 24, 42

angels - 11, 42

expos - 8, 10, 42

rangers - 7, 10, 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 (includes mets who will formally retire the number in 2024)

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

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): 113

running total of non-hall of famers: 42

42 for everyone

jackie robinson day is this weekend, and it will be great to see every team celebrating his legacy by wearing number 42. i've been busy the last year adding more cards to my 42 collection and my jackie robinson collection in general. let's have a look!

i will start with this 2008 topps stadium club ceremonial cuts photographer's proof gold parallel

it doesn't feature a jersey or anything like that, but rather some bunting from yankee stadium. it's a nice card design for what it is, i think. this, of course, goes in the dodger collection and not the 42 collection.

same goes for this 2019 topps gypsy queen clayton kershaw jackie robinson day variation

with the patches that are worn on the hat and sleeve now, i've seen more cards in base releases that would qualify for this collection except for the fact that the jersey number isn't visible. as a result, i don't put those cards in the collection.  as a reminder, the 42 collection is comprised of cards featuring players wearing jackie's number from 1997 on, but only those who didn't normally wear 42 like mo vaughn or mariano rivera. thanks to nick at dime boxes for sharing a list of 42 cards that included some i was not aware of.

1998 metallic impressions ken griffey jr 5 card set #5

and 1998 upper deck collector's choice ken griffey jr checklist

griffey is the person who started the wearing of 42 on april 15 to honor jackie. i wasn't aware of the metallic impressions card until about a year ago, but i knew about the upper deck card in 1998. it was great of upper deck to capture the moment on a collector's choice card in real time, and that card is a cornerstone of the collection. so, i decided to pick up the checklist that shows that card for the collection, too.

then i had to get another copy of the checklist because it's also a dodger card

2010 topps mariners franchise history - ken griffey jr and ichiro

not quite as obvious, but griffey donned 42 with his mariner teammates, including ichiro, during his second stint in seattle

2010 topps chrome bryan anderson

rookie card 42!

2011 topps attax yadier molina

looks like the photographers were out in force at busch for jackie robinson day!

2011 topps factory set limited edition albert pujols

see what i mean?

2015 topps matt carpenter first home run insert

seriously!

however, one team may give the cards a run for their money when it comes to 42 cards...

2008 upper deck rich harden

2008 upper deck first edition rich harden

2008 upper deck documentary rich harden

2009 upper deck icons matt holliday icons insert, red parallel

2009 upper deck x matt holliday - base and die cut parallel

2009 upper deck signature stars brett anderson

2009 upper deck ultimate collection brett anderson

2010 upper deck brett anderson

2009 upper deck sp authentic jack cust gold parallel

2010 upper deck jack cust portraits

2012 topps yoenis cespedes photo variation

that's a lot of athletics! i have the base version of the sp authentic cust card on my most wanted list because i need more a's cards showing 42 apparently.

now let's take a look at some non-cardinals, non-a's cards

2009 topps update & highlights cesar izturis base and gold parallel

that may be josh hamilton sliding in. whomever it is, i'm thankful for them because they are the only reason this is a 42 card

2010 topps update ike davis

with topps doing the rookie debut cards to double the number of rookie cards, it's a nice thing when that debut happens on april 15.

2010 topps update jeff keppinger

2010 upper deck ian kinsler biography insert

even though it was an insert set, biography was a better executed version of 2008's documentary disaster, although it didn't cover every game the way documentary did. as a result, we got a card featuring a game on jackie robinson day that shows adam jones wearing 42 even though the card is about ian kinsler. it's a great quirky card for sure.

2016 panini diamond kings andy pettitte expressionists insert

2016 topps update alejandro de aza

2018 panini donruss nolan arenado variation

i don't think this is a jackie robinson day variation in the same way that gypsy queen does it, but just a coincidental photo variation

2020 topps now eric sogard

it's nice to see topps now worthy highlights happening on jackie robinson day

because then we get cards with potentially lots of 42s on them, like this eric sogard card from 2020.

2021 panini prizm kyle cody - base, purple prizm, green wave prizm

and teal wave

this was one that i stumbled on when i, for some reason, bought a big lot of panini cards. i wound up adding a couple of the parallels seen above to what was included in that haul.

2022 topps now jackie robinson day

for the record, the players shown on this cards are andrew mccutchen, omar narvaez, mookie betts, and anthony rizzo. i kind of like the anonymity factor applied to the card - i think that's a big part of the point of jackie robinson day. i also like how catchers like narvaez get the number shown even though they are wearing equipment. 

2022 topps now turn back the clock

not a photo from the 4/15/97 game but close. that's butch huskey at the plate for the mets. huskey wore 42 all the time, and tom prince is behind the plate for the dodgers wearing his regular number 15. the universal wearing of 42 didn't start until 2009, although some players chose to wear the number in 2007 and 2008.

the latest addition to the 42 collection is yasmani grandal's 2023 topps card. i showed his base card in an earlier post, but here's a gold parallel

that i picked up at the february card show.

i am looking forward to seeing all of the 42s on saturday and maybe some on cardboard as well!

a debut and player that i remember

i used to make every effort to attend opening day (or night) for the dodgers and sometimes even the angels. this ritual began in the early 1990s when i was living in orange county and had the relative freedom and ability to get to the stadiums easily - i was an adult is what i am saying, i guess. i did this through 1997, but moved to minnesota later that summer and soon targeted opening day at the metrodome instead. i've only been back to dodger stadium for opening day once (2002) since, and i miss it. there is always pomp and circumstance and hope, not to mention usually some special guest or ceremony.

it was similar for the twins - in 1999, kenny rogers (the singer, not the pitcher) performed his song "the greatest" - but by far the most memorable opening day i attended in minny took place on april 5, 2004. that was the day that local boy and number one draft pick joe mauer debuted in the major leagues.

i was hit or miss as far as scoring twins games back then, and i couldn't find a program during a quick look, but here's my stub from that night - seventeen years ago tonight.

good times with friends in the good ol' hubert h. humphrey metrodome.

fast forward twelve years, and i was happy to see topps issue a mlb debut insert set back in 2016, and even happier to see that mauer was included in it. i've added all three versions, plus the medallion manu-patch card, to my "cards featuring games i've attended in person" mini-collection.

2016 topps mlb debut bronze

2016 topps mlb debut silver

2016 topps mlb debut gold

2016 topps mlb debut medallion

here's the back of the gold parallel

mauer's four times on base came about thanks to two hits and two walks in three official at bats. he contributed to the 11th inning rally that ended the game, which was exciting and a great way for the season to begin. the twins went on to win the american league central for the third straight year, but lost to the yankees for the second straight season. i don't think they've won a postseason game since the first game of the 2004 alds in fact.

i'll go ahead and kill another bird with this post and show the card that represents the metrodome in my "stadiums i've attended games in" mini-collection.

that's a card from 1994 score, and it really doesn't do the hubert h. humphrey metrodome justice. it was big and cramped at the same time, with football seats folded up in right field behind the hefty back right field "fence". true story - the first time i set foot in the stadium for a game was in may of 1998, and i laughed when i left the concourse to head to the seats and saw the field and roof for the first time. the fact that it was a day game only made it worse. i am not sorry it's gone.

finally, here are some cards from another mini-collection - the one where i keep a card for each of my "favorite non-dodger through the years".  vladimir guerrero preceded mauer as my favorite non-dodger (he was also my son's favorite player at the time), but mauer's exploits combined with the fact that he was right here in our own backyard pushed him to the top of the list, beginning in 2008. that was the year that i took my son to spring training in fort myers, and even though i got to chat with dusty baker for a couple of minutes before a game between the reds and twins, the real highlight of the trip for me was hanging out with my son and seeing him enjoy himself. one moment that stood out came while we were playing catch behind one of the practice fields and a golf cart approached. i told my son to turn around to see mauer and justin morneau passing by. he did, and mauer waved at him and said hello, and suddenly vladdy wasn't as much of a favorite anymore. 

here are the mauer cards that represent him in my aforementioned favorite non-dodger mini-collection:

2008: topps stadium club

2009: upper deck o-pee-chee moments subset black border

2010: upper deck pure heat insert

2011: topps diamond anniversary parallel

2012: topps allen & ginter

2013: topps target red parallel

2014: topps chrome

2015: topps finest

2016: topps archives

2017: topps chrome

2018: topps

i have another post about mauer in the pipeline, so i'll end this one by noting that i thought about and ultimately failed to attend what turned out to be mauer's final big league game at the end of the 2018 season. it would have been nice to have been there at the end, too.