this is the 35th 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 35 has been retired:
phil niekro (retired by the braves in 1984) 1978 topps
niekro pitched for the braves from 1964 through 1983, but when he refused to retire, he was released by the club in october of '83. he signed with the yankees and the braves decided to honor him by retiring his number on august 6, 1984. he was the last brave to wear the number, doing so when he returned to the club for his final big league appearance in 1987.
during his primary stint with the braves, niekro led the league in era in 1967 and in wins in 1974 and 1979. of course, he also led the league in losses four straight seasons from 1977 through 1980. still, his knuckleball is legendary, and he remains the franchise's all-time leader in games pitched (as well as losses, walks, and wild pitches) and if it weren't for about 100 john smoltz strikeouts, he would be the top in that category, too. i think this is the only jacket number in this collection, but it's niekro's 1978 topps card and so it makes the grade!
randy jones (retired by the padres in 1997) 2004 topps all-time fan favorites
it's fitting that i am using a fan favorites card to represent jones in this collection, because his presence here is, i think, partly due to his status as a padre fan favorite. he was the first padre to win the cy young award, doing so in 1976 (after finishing second in the voting in 1975), and he was the first padre pitcher to lead the league in era and/or wins. he twice won 20 or more games for the padres (the only pitcher in franchise history to do so), and no other pitcher in team history has made more starts or pitched more innings.
after retirement, jones became a fixture at the ballpark with a bbq stand and worked as part of the padres' gameday announcing crew. because of his place in franchise history and his continuing ties to the team, the padres retired his number on may 9, 1997 (making al osuna the last padre to wear the number) and made him one of the first inductees into their hall of fame two years later.
frank thomas (retired by the white sox in 2010) 1991 topps
thomas was the last person to wear number 35 for the white sox as the team kept it out of circulation from 2006 until they retired it on august 29, 2010, just a few months after he formally announced his retirement as a player. his 1991 topps card shows his number nicely with the pinstripe uniforms that i most closely associate with "his" era of southside baseball.
thomas spent the first 16 years of his career with the white sox, racking up 448 home runs and posting an ops of 0.995. he won back-to-back mvp awards in 1993 and 1994, and had a total of five top-five finishes in the mvp voting during his time in chicago. it was unfortunate that he missed the team's 2005 postseason run due to injury because he was such a force up until that point. he remains the franchise's all-time leader in homers, rbi, obp, slugging, ops, runs scored, walks, and extra base hits. he was a no doubt hall of famer, and got the call to cooperstown on his first ballot in 2014.
it's worth noting that the phillies are honoring cole hamels, who wore number 35 for them, tonight with a retirement ceremony. the ceremony is for hamels who only recently formally announced his retirement, and not for his number. david dahl, who had been wearing 35, is going to switch to a different number, so i guess for the time being the phillies are keeping the number out of circulation.
as for future 35 retirements, i think justin verlander is a lock - likely by the astros and tigers. in fact, the tigers haven't given anyone else number 35 since he left in 2017. i also thought that the orioles might retire it for mike mussina after he made the hall of fame, but they didn't. adley rutschman is currently wearing the number, so maybe in 15 years or so it will be up for discussion.
i am tracking a few things as we go, even though the information is already available elsewhere.
retired numbers by team (through the 35 posts so far):
yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 20, 21, 23, 32, 42
giants - 3, 4, 11, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 30, 42
pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9, 11, 20, 21, 33, 42
guardians - 3, 5, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 42, 455
red sox - 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 14, 26, 27, 34, 42
phillies - 1, 14, 15, 20, 32, 34, 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, 31, 35, 42
astros - 5, 7, 24, 25, 32, 33, 34, 42
mets - 14, 16, 17, 18, 24, 31, 42
orioles - 4, 5, 8, 20, 22, 33, 42
dodgers - 1, 2, 4, 14, 19, 20, 24, 32, 34, 42
twins - 3, 6, 7, 10, 14, 28, 34, 42
white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 35, 42, 72
brewers - 1, 4, 19, 34, 42
tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 16, 23, 42
cubs - 10, 14, 23, 26, 31, 42
royals - 5, 10, 20, 42
padres - 6, 19, 31, 35, 42
athletics - 9, 24, 27, 34, 42
angels - 11, 26, 30, 42
expos - 8, 10, 30, 42
rangers - 7, 10, 26, 34, 42
major league baseball - 42
rays - 12, 42, 66
diamondbacks - 20, 42
blue jays - 32, 42
rockies - 17, 33, 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
29 - retired by 4 teams (retired by twins and angels for same person)
30 - retired by 3 teams
31 - retired by 4 teams (retired by cubs and braves for same person; retired by cubs for two players)
32 - retired by 5 teams
33 - retired by 4 teams
34 - retired by 8 teams (retired by astros and rangers for same person; retired by brewers and a's for same person; retired by a's for two players)
35 - 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): 142
running total of non-hall of famers: 50
I wasn't familiar with Randy Jones in the least.
ReplyDeleteJones is indeed a Padres fan favorite. He's in the Padres Top 10 in almost every single pitching category. That 2004 Topps All-time Fan Favorites card is really cool.
ReplyDelete