my retired number collection - check their 6

this is the seventh 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 seven people for whom the number 6 has been retired:

stan musial (retired by the cardinals in 1963) 2013 topps tribute

the cardinals retired musial's number 6 on september 29, 1963 as he finished his playing career and so he became the last cardinal to ever wear the number. it was also the first time that the organization had retired a number. musial had announced his intention to retire about a month earlier, and the cardinals responded with plans to retire his number and move him in to the executive suite. i like the brightness of the 2013 topps tribute card which happens to be one of the best cards as far as showing his number. it beats the 1988 pacific legends card i had originally pulled.

musial went 2 for 3 in his final game, finishing with 3,630 hits and a .331 lifetime average. a three-time mvp and world series champ, musial also won seven batting titles and is fourth all-time in hits and third in total bases. in 1969, he was voted in to the hall of fame on the first ballot.

al kaline (retired by the tigers in 1980) 1969 topps

like musial, kaline's was the first number retired by the tigers franchise. they bestowed the honor on "mr. tiger" on august 17, 1980 after he was inducted in to the hall of fame on his first ballot. the tigers did not reissue number 6 following kaline's retirement at the end of the 1974 season, so they obviously had an inkling that they would be retiring it once he was headed to cooperstown.

kaline had 3,007 hits and 399 home runs during his 22-year career. he won 10 gold gloves for his work in the outfield, but never won the mvp although he did have four top five finishes across a 12 year span. i appreciate the tiger uniforms of the era with the numbers on the shoulders - it made finding a card for kaline a lot easier. 

steve garvey (retired by the padres in 1988) 2003 carl's jr padres

like musial and kaline, garvey's number 6 was the first number retired by the padre franchise. the retirement ceremony took place on april 16, 1988 at jack murphy stadium on steve garvey night. attendees received a nice trifold program and there were some commemorative pins distributed as well. garvey hurt his shoulder in may of 1987 and never returned to the playing field, retiring after he did not receive a contract for the 1988 season. i believe it was at one point determined that he had been a victim of collusion but that decision was later reversed in court. garvey was included in this regional set along with other notable padre players from their first 35 seasons. the 6 is visible enough, i think.

anyway, one has to wonder if the padres were quick to retire the number of a player who had been with them for just four seasons for reasons other than his play on the field. he did help to propel them to their first pennant with a dramatic home run in the 1984 nlcs, and he did bring them some legitimacy as a high profile free agent signing, but even for a big fan like me the gesture was a surprise. still, the number is retired and keith moreland (who wore it for a couple of weeks in 1988 prior to the ceremony) had to give it up. i even created a card that should have been for the event. if only topps now was around back then, although even they don't make cards for every number retirement event.

tony oliva (retired by the twins in 1991) 1974 topps

breaking the streak here - tony o's number was not the first to be retired by the twins. he followed fellow hall of famers harmon killebrew and rod carew in terms of number retirements, getting the treatment from the club on july 14, 1991. it turns out that was just in time for his number to be featured prominently during game 6 of the world series as kirby puckett's game saving catch occurred right above the placard displaying oliva's number 6. coincidentally, killebrew's 1974 topps card is in this collection as his representative, too.

oliva was a hitter. he won the american league rookie of the year award in 1964 as the league leader in batting average. he led the league in batting average again the following year as the twins won their first american league pennant. he later won a third batting title in 1971. oliva also led the league in hits five times and doubles four times, and who knows how things would have turned out had his knees held up in to his late thirties. because oliva had remained with the club as a coach following his playing days, no other twin wore the number between tony o and its retirement. oliva was inducted in to the hall of fame in 2022 through the golden era committee.

johnny pesky (retired by the red sox in 2008) 2003 fleer flair greats

the red sox retired pesky's number on september 28, 2008. i couldn't find a card of his showing the number, so this one will have to do. at the time the number was retired, pesky had been a member of the red sox organization for some 57 years - first as a player and then as a manger, broadcaster, coach and finally an advisor. the club didn't take the number out of circulation, however, and so in 2000, gary gaetti became the last player to wear number 6 for the bosox.

pesky began his career with three straight 200-plus hit seasons, although he missed three years to military service between his rookie year and his sophomore season. he wound up hitting .307 over a 10 year career that included time in detroit and washington dc. pesky is not in the hall of fame, so he may be best recognized for having the right field foul pole at fenway park named after him, although there is not a lot of evidence that he ever hit or came close to the "pesky pole" with his seven career homers at the stadium.

bobby cox (retired by the braves in 2011) 1981 donruss

bobby cox managed the braves in two different stints - first from 1978 through 1981 and second from 1990 through 2010. in between he managed the blue jays. i chose his 1981 donruss card for this collection because it shows the number 6 loud and clear, and i also like the fact that it features a glimpse of the black armband that the braves wore for executive bill lucas.

as a manager, cox won five pennants in nine years with the 1990's braves, and claimed the world series title in 1995. overall, he won 2,504 games as a big league skipper, and was elected to the hall of fame in 2014. he was the last brave to wear number 6, as the club retired the number on august 12, 2011.

joe torre (retired by the yankees in 2014) 2004 topps

so the 2004 topps card i chose doesn't show torre wearing number 6, but the number does appear in the outline inset. it's a nice touch on the part of the card design that has some 1973 or 1976 vibes - just less generic than those two. while torre had a decent playing career, he was voted in to the hall of fame alongside cox in 2014 as a manager. he posted 2,326 career wins as a manager, mostly as the yankee skipper. he also managed the mets, braves (he was cox's successor in 1982), cardinals, and dodgers. 

he won six pennants and four world series championships with the yankees after succeeding buck showalter who had guided the club to a postseason return in 1995. he managed the yankees through the 2007 season, but no yankee ever wore number 6 again, even though the club didn't retired his number until august 23, 2014 following his induction in to the hall of fame.

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

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

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

giants - 3, 4

pirates - 1, 4

guardians - 3, 5

red sox - 1, 4, 6

phillies - 1

cardinals - 1, 2, 6

reds - 1, 5

braves - 3, 6

astros - 5

mets

orioles - 4, 5

dodgers - 1, 2, 4

twins - 3, 6

white sox - 2, 3, 4

brewers - 1, 4

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

cubs

royals - 5

padres - 6

athletics

angels

expos

rangers

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

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 48

running total of non-hall of famers: 7