my retired number collection - 25

this is the 24th 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 25 has been retired:

jose cruz (retired by the astros in 1992) 1979 topps

jose cruz was one of the first nemeses that i recognized in my early fandom days. the dodgers and astros played each other a lot, and cruz was always in the lineup for houston. he spent 13 years there, earning a couple of all-star nods and two silver sluggers as an astro. he helped the club to their first postseason appearance in the history of the franchise by leading the charge against the dodgers in game 163 of the 1980 season. his fielders choice in the top of the first inning resulted in the astros' first run of the game, and they never looked back.

his 1979 topps card gives us the best view of his number of any cards i could find, thanks to the uncommon pant numbering. although it was last worn by denny walling in april of 1992, the astros retired 25 for cruz on october 3, 1992 in a ceremony fitting for the player who was not a hall of fame player, but was the franchise's all-time leader in games played and most non-power offensive categories at the time. of course, the astros were facing the dodgers that day.

barry bonds (retired by the giants in 2018) 1995 topps

like his father, barry bonds wore number 25 for the giants. he spent the last 15 years of his career with the team, slugging 586 home runs and winning five national league mvp awards during that time. the team rewarded him with a number retirement ceremony on august 11, 2018 - almost 11 years after he played in his final game. the giants kept the number out of circulation, so he was the last person to wear it.

it's only because willie mays spent his entire career with the giants that bonds doesn't dominate the all-time leader boards for the franchise, although he does lead in obp and ops. no matter what you think about bonds, he was a dominant player and the pose captured on his 1995 topps card is one that we saw literally hundreds of times during his career. while not in the hall of fame, i believe that bonds' career is certainly worthy of recognition by the eras committee in the future.

jim thome (retired by the guardians in 2018) 1994 topps

thome spent nine full seasons in cleveland, along with parts of four others (including a short return stint in 2011), and hit 337 of his 612 career home runs during his time with the indians. 336 of those were hit while wearing number 25, and he is well above albert belle on the franchise's all-time leader board for round trippers. it's no surprise that the club retired the number in thome's honor on august 18, 2018 following his induction into the baseball hall of fame.

thome's number 25 is visible on his 1994 topps card which coincides with his first full season in the majors. he spent time in cleveland in each of the three previous years, but 1994 was when he took over the third base position full time. he left as a free agent after the 2002 season, and the indians reissued his number. he reclaimed it in 2011, but the team still reissued it in 2012. jason giambi was the last player to wear the number, doing so in 2014.  

andruw jones (retired by the braves in 2023) 1998 score

jones had his number retired by the braves on september 9, 2023, making alex dickerson in 2022 the last braves player to wear it on the field. regarded as one of the greatest fielding center fielders of all-time, jones spent 11 full seasons with the braves and won gold gloves in ten of those campaigns. he was an offensive threat, too, as he clobbered 368 home runs as a brave.

he's not in the hall of fame yet, but if i had a vote he would be. maybe 2025 will be his year, as he had 61.6% of the writers' this past january. 1998 score is not very fancy, but it gets the job done here with most of jones' number visible. perhaps at some point i'll find a better card to use. 

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, 23

giants - 3, 4, 11, 20, 22, 24, 25

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

guardians - 3, 5, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 455

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

phillies - 1, 14, 15, 20

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 14, 17, 20, 23, 24, 85

reds - 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 24

braves - 3, 6, 10, 21, 25

astros - 5, 7, 24, 25

mets - 14, 16, 17, 18, 24

orioles - 4, 5, 8, 20, 22

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

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, 23

cubs - 10, 14, 23

royals - 5, 10, 20

padres - 6, 19

athletics - 9, 24

angels - 11

expos - 8, 10

rangers - 7, 10

major league baseball

rays - 12, 66

diamondbacks - 20

blue jays

rockies - 17

mariners - 11, 24

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

23 - retired by 4 teams

24 - retired by 8 teams (retired by giants and mets for same person)

25 - 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): 110

running total of non-hall of famers: 42