my retired number collection - 27

this is the 27th 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 three people for whom number 27 has been retired:

juan marichal (retired by the giants in 1983) 1974 topps

the giants retired marichal's number on july 10, 1983 in advance of his enshrinement in cooperstown later that summer. marichal spent the first 14 seasons of his 16 year career with the giants, winning 243 games and striking out 2,281 batters while pitching 244 complete games for them. he twice led the league in wins and once in era, but was among the league leaders in most of the seasons during the 1960's.

marichal's 1974 topps card is one of my favorite base cards of all-time, and it found its way into my collection very early on in my youth. even though i knew of him initially because of the incident with johnny roseboro and was sworn to dislike him as a dodger fan, i liked the card. later i realized that if roseboro was able to forgive marichal, then i had no business holding a grudge. 

the giants held number 27 out of rotation after marichal's contract was purchased by the red sox prior to the 1974 season, and they never reissued it, making marichal the last giant to wear the number. in his one year with boston and two starts a year later with the dodgers, he did not wear 27 because of carlton fisk (more on him in a moment) and willie crawford, respectively.

jim hunter (retired by the a's in 1991) 2002 fleer fall classic

jim "catfish" hunter had his number retired by the a's on june 9, 1991. he was already a hall of famer at that point, having been inducted in 1987, but the a's had never retired a number in the franchise history until they gave hunter the honor four years later so it's not as if his accomplishments had been ignored. with the a's, hunter won 161 games and the 1974 american league cy young award. more importantly, he led them to three straight world series titles from 1972-1974, posting a 4-0 record in six starts across those series.

he began his career at the age of 19, and pitched a perfect game in 1968 when he was just 22. he was probably my favorite a's player of all-time when i caught billyball fever and began collecting a's cards back to 1965 because it was his rookie year. even though he had been a yankee who beat the dodgers in the first two world series i followed as a fan, i was a fan of his. i like the 2002 fleer fall classic card because it showcases one of the cool uniforms the a's wore during hunter's time with the club. because the a's had never retired a number, they didn't keep 27 out of circulation when hunter joined the yankees in 1975. as a result, several players wore it in the ensuing years (including don sutton) until ron hassey became the last athletic to do so in 1990.

carlton fisk (retired by the red sox in 2000) 2023 topps stadium club

carlton fisk wore number 27 for the red sox from 1971 through 1980, which is why marichal wore a different number in boston in 1974. fisk was the 1972 american league rookie of the year and a seven time all-star for the red sox. he helped them win their first pennant in the division era in 1975, and then delivered one of the most iconic home runs in baseball history to force a seventh game in the world series. the photo used on the 2023 topps stadium club card above is from that at bat and gives a great view of his number. just like "the catch", i will pick up pretty much any card that shows fisk as he waves that home run fair.

fisk did not leave the red sox on good terms, and the team did not keep his number out of rotation after he joined the white sox. in 1999, kip gross became the last red sox player to wear the number as the franchise decided to retire the number in fisk's honor on september 4, 2000 following his induction into the baseball 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 27 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, 27, 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, 26, 27, 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, 26, 42

royals - 5, 10, 20, 42

padres - 6, 19, 42

athletics - 9, 24, 27, 42

angels - 11, 26, 42

expos - 8, 10, 42

rangers - 7, 10, 26, 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

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

26 - retired by 4 teams

27 - retired by 3 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): 118

running total of non-hall of famers: 44