my retired number collection - 21

this is the 20th 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 four people for whom number 21 has been retired:

warren spahn (retired by the braves in 1965) 2004 playoff honors

warren spahn pitched in 714 games over 20 seasons with the braves, winning 356 games and amassing just under 2,500 strikeouts in boston and milwaukee. he was the 1957 cy young award winner in the national league, and led the braves to their lone world series title in wisconsin that same year. he is the braves' all-time leader in wins, games started, innings pitched, and among the leaders in a host of other categories. 2004 playoff honors continues to contribute some nice looking cards to this collection!

the braves retired his number on december 11, 1965 shortly after he retired from his playing career, having spent a couple of years with the mets and giants. he was voted to the hall of fame in 1973 and was a member of the all-century team in 1999. although no brave wore spahn's number after he left the braves following the 1963 season, baseball reference shows some players wearing 21 in the last couple of seasons. i believe that is related to roberto clemente day and the team's nominee for the roberto clemente award, rather than an unretirement of the number.

roberto clemente (retired by the pirates in 1973) 2019 topps stadium club

speaking of clemente, his number 21 was retired by the pirates on april 6, 1973 - opening day following his untimely death the previous december. topps reused the photo from clemente's iconic 1971 topps card on his 2019 topps stadium club card, and i've chosen that card for this collection because i don't have a dupe of his '71.

clemente spent his entire career with the pirates (after being selected from the dodgers in a rule v draft), winning the national league mvp award in 1966 and leading the club to two world series titles. he was the mvp of the 1971 world series and won 12 straight gold glovers as an elite defensive right fielder.

clemente was posthumously elected to the hall of fame in 1973 by a special election, waiving the typical five year waiting period. there have been some who have raised the possibility of major league baseball retiring number 21 leaguewide, but so far it has not happened. some players do wear his number on roberto clemente day, however, as mentioned earlier.

bob lemon (retired by the guardians in 1998) 2000 fleer greats of the game

the indians retired lemon's number on june 20, 1998 to honor lemon, their ace who spent his entire major league playing career with the franchise. seven times in 13 years he won 20 or more games, leading the league in that category as well as strikeouts in 1950. lemon won both of his starts in the 1948 world series against the braves, helping the indians win their most recent world series title, and his number retirement ceremony was set so as to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebration of that team and its accomplishment..

lemon was voted into the hall of fame in 1976, his 14th year on the ballot. his election came as he was managing the his 2000 fleer greats of the game card offers a glimpse of the number on his back. the last cleveland player to wear the number before it was retired was greg swindell in 1991, although it looks like jose ramirez has worn it in relation to the roberto clemente day activities.

paul o'neill (retired by the yankees in 2022) 2004 upper deck yankees classics

paul o'neill had his number retired by the yankees on august 21, 2022. he was the right fielder on the team that enjoyed a return to prominence in the mid-to late 1990's and into the early 2000's. after joining the yankees, o'neill (who had won a ring in cincinnati in 1990) helped the yankees to three world series titles before he retired following the 2001 season.

a couple of yankee players wore number 21 after o'neills retirement, the last of which was latroy hawkins in 2008. while o'neill was "one and done" on the hall of fame ballot with only 2.2% of the writers' vote, he was a key contributor and remains connected to the yankee franchise through his broadcasting gig. i was happy to find the 2004 ud yankees classics card since the yankee uniforms do not include numbers on the front like many other teams.

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

retired numbers by team (through the 18 posts so far):

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 20, 21

giants - 3, 4, 11, 20

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9, 11, 20, 21

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

red sox - 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 14

phillies - 1, 14, 15, 20

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 14, 17, 20, 85

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

braves - 3, 6, 10, 21

astros - 5, 7

mets - 14, 16, 17, 18

orioles - 4, 5, 8, 20

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

twins - 3, 6, 7, 10, 14

white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 72

brewers - 1, 4, 19

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 16

cubs - 10, 14

royals - 5, 10, 20

padres - 6, 19

athletics - 9

angels - 11

expos - 8, 10

rangers - 7, 10

major league baseball

rays - 12, 66

diamondbacks - 20

blue jays

rockies - 17

mariners - 11

nationals - 11

marlins

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

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): 100

running total of non-hall of famers: 35