my retired numbers collection - 28

this is the 28th 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 is the one person for whom number 28 has been retired:

bert blyleven (retired by the twins in 2011) 1986 o-pee-chee

i was confused when it took bert blyleven 14 years to be voted into the hall of fame. he retired as the pitcher with the third most strikeouts in the history of the game, and yet he languished on the ballot until he received 79.7% of the vote in 2011. i was of the mind that 3,000 strikeouts for a pitcher was a no-brainer hall of fame threshold, and blyleven racked up 3,701 strikeouts over the course of his career. with the twins, he recorded 2,035 of them over ten-plus seasons in two separate stints with the club.

the knock on blyleven, i guess, was that he played for a lot of different teams and didn't reach 300 wins (he had 287, of which 149 came as a twin). it's not his fault that he played for some not-so-good teams, although he did help the 1987 twins (and the 1979 pirates) win a world series title. at any rate, the baseball writers voted him in, and the twins retired his number on july 16, 2011 as a result. jesse crain, who had been wearing the number from 2004 through 2010 became the last twin to do so.

he remains the all-time top minnesota twin (walter johnson is technically the all-time franchise leader) in terms of strikeouts, and the 1986 o-pee-chee card gives us a glimpse of blyleven's number on the front of the baby blue uniforms that the twins would retire after the '86 season due to a complete overhaul of their branding. given the success that blyleven and the twins had in 1987, i would say the rebranding paid off!

while blyleven is the only person to have number 28 retired in their honor, it is a safe bet that buster posey will join him at some point. the giants have kept posey's number out of circulation since he retired a couple of years ago, and are probably just waiting to see what happens his first year on the hall of fame ballot.

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

retired numbers by team (through the 28 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, 28, 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

28 - retired by 1 team

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): 119

running total of non-hall of famers: 44