my retired number collection - 22

this is the 21st 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 two people for whom number 22 has been retired:

jim palmer (retired by the orioles in 1985) 1976 topps

palmer was 19 when he debuted with the orioles in 1965 and 38 when he made his final big league appearance, still with the o's. in between, he put together a hall of fame career with three cy young awards, three world series championships, 268 wins, and an era of 2.86 in 3,948 innings. speaking of the hall, he was inducted in 1990 on his first ballot. 

the orioles retired retired his number on september 1, 1985 to honor one of the greatest pitchers in their franchise's history. in fact, palmer sits atop the franchise's all-time leaderboard for pitchers in almost every significant category. he was the last oriole to wear number 22, and it was put back in circulation so that he could wear it during his comeback attempt in the spring of 1991. 

palmer's delivery with the arched back provides a good luck at his number on his 1976 topps card. speaking of cards, back in 2020, i was hopeful that topps would issue a card of palmer in the 1985 design to provide a real "final tribute" of sorts. unfortunately, while he was included in some topps checklists, he was not part of the 35th anniversary insert sets. 

will clark (retired by the giants in 2022) 1994 topps

will the thrill was a fan favorite during his time with the giants, that's for sure. the club retired his number on july 30, 2022 as a way of recognizing his eitght year tenure with the team during which time he was a five-time all-star and finished in the top five in the mvp voting four times. as i understand it, the ceremony was supposed to occur in 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic.

clark helped the giants to the postseason in 1987 and 1989. in '89, he propelled the club to their first pennant since 1962 by hitting .650 with 2 homers and 8 rbi in the nlcs against the cubs. clark is one of only two giants to have their numbers retired while not being in the hall of fame (we will get to the other in a few posts), but unlike bonds, clark's number was recirculated for years after he left the club. andrew mccutchen was the last giant player to wear the number (he did so back in 2018).

clark's 1994 topps card shows his number (and name) clearly, making it a good choice in my opinion for this collection. of course, jack clark wore number 22 for the giants in the 70's and early 80's so "clark 22" is not my favorite sight. it's worth noting that the giants display their retired numbers without names, so there is no confusion about which "clark" the giants are honoring.

there is no doubt that the dodgers will eventually retire number 22 for clayton kershaw, and perhaps the pirates will do the same for andrew mccutchen. roger clemens wore the number as a yankee and astro, so maybe 22 will be retired eventually by one or two more franchises as well. only time will tell.

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, 22

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, 22

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

22 - retired by 2 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): 101

running total of non-hall of famers: 36