my retired number collection - perfect 10s

this is the 11th 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 ten people for whom the number 10 has been retired:

phil rizzuto (retired by the yankees in 1985) 2000 upper deck yankees legends

number 10 was retired by the yankees in honor of rizzuto on august 4, 1985 making him the 12th yankee to be so recognized. rizzuto played for the yankees for 13 years, 11 as their regular shortstop. he was the 1950 american league mvp and was a big part of nine pennant winning teams with seven world series titles. he missed three years due to military service so his counting stats were not as great as they might otherwise have been. as a result, rizzuto was not elected to the hall of fame until 1994 when it was up to the veteran's committee. 

rizzuto remained with the yankees as a broadcaster until 1996. several yankees wore number 10 after rizzuto retired, including dick howser (more on him in a moment) and chris chambliss, although rick cerone was the last to do so, giving up the number after the 1984 season. the 2000 upper deck yankees legends card was the best one i could find showing rizzuto's number, and it's a double play card to boot.

dick howser (retired by the royals in 1987) 1985 topps

i could not find a standard card for howser showing his number 10, so i went with his 1985 topps card which comes from the season in which he led the royals to their first world series title. howser's teams had been winless in the post season three times prior to 1985 (1980 yankees, 1981 royals, and 1984 royals) before they beat the blue jays and cardinals in the 1985 postseason, with both series going seven games.

no royal wore number 10 after howser, who stepped down from his role during the 1986 season following the all-star game due to a malignant brain tumor. while he attempted to return to managing during spring training the following year, he was unable to do so and passed away on june 17, 1987. the royals retired his number posthumously on july 3, 1987.

rusty staub (retired by the expos in 1993) 1994 ted williams

and andre dawson (retired by the expos in 1997) 1981 topps

this is the first instance of a team retiring a number for two different players at two different times. the expos retired the number of staub, an original expo, on may 15, 1993 just a couple of months before they bestowed the same honor on gary carter. it is fitting that they made staub the first in franchise history to receive the recognition as he was a fan favorite from the start of the franchise's first season, and was their first all-star representative.

nicknamed "le grand orange", staub played only three seasons in montreal, plus a late-career partial season in 1979, so he didn't accumulate a ton of stats as an expo. his ops is second only to vladimir guerrero's in expo history, however.

andre dawson came along a few years after staub was traded to the mets and promptly won the national league rookie of the year award in 1977. he won six gold gloves while with the expos and still shows up high on the franchise leader board in a number of categories, even factoring in nationals players. dawson left montreal after the 1986 season for the cubs, where he promptly won the mvp award. he was voted in to the hall of fame in 2010, although the expos retired his number on july 6, 1997 immediately following the end of his playing career.

obviously, staub was not the last expo to wear number 10, but dawson was. the nationals do not recognize the numbers retired by the expos, and so 10 has been in circulation with yan gomes wearing it most recently. while the nationals don't recognize the numbers, i do in terms of this collection if for no other reason that the expos need to be remembered. the 1994 ted williams staub card has long been a favorite of mine, and the 1981 topps dawson card is one of my favorites of the hawk. i am happy to be able to put both cards in this collection!

ron santo (retired by the cubs in 2003) 2005 topps all-time fan favorites

i continue to be thankful for teams who show uniform numbers on the front (and sleeves) as it makes it much more likely that the numbers will be visible on cards like this 2005 topps all-time fan favorites card. i am also thankful that card companies began making sets featuring retired players to increase the likelihood of a photo of guys like santo showing their number would be used as opposed to the old standard portrait images.

santo was the cubs' third baseman for 14 seasons, and he was a gold glover in five of those campaigns. being a cub in the 1960's and 70's meant that he never made the postseason, but he did turn in a number of strong offensive years and finished his cub career with 337 home runs. he was traded to the white sox after the 1973 season, which prevented him from being a lifelong cub like teammate ernie banks.

billy grabarkewitz wore number 10 immediately after santo's departure, but the team took it out of circulation in the late 1990's, making terrell lowery the last cub to wear the number before it was retired on september 28, 2003. unfortunately, santo passed away just over a year before he was elected to the hall of fame by the golden era committee in 2012.

sparky anderson (retired by the reds in 2005) 2001 topps archives

i didn't have a double of sparky's 1971 topps card, but this 2001 topps archives card does the trick just as well. anderson managed the reds from 1970 through 1978. he led them to four pennants and two world series titles - back to back championships in 1975 and 1976.

the team was stacked during those years with the "big red machine" in full display, featuring pete rose and future hall of famers johnny bench, joe morgan, and tony perez. anderson also received the call to the hall in 2000, thanks in large part to his tenure in cincinnati. even though he was a hall of famer, the reds did not immediately take sparky's number out of rotation, meaning that jason romano was the last red to wear it during the 2004 season.

tony larussa (retired by the cardinals in 2012) 2004 topps

larussa went out on top when he retired after the 2011 season. he had just led the cardinals to a world series title, his third as a manager and second in st. louis. the team responded by retiring his number on may 11, 2012. his 2004 topps card shows the number nicely, along with larussa in his managerial postgame handshake position, so it's a good fit for this collection.

as the cardinals' manager, larussa led the team to three pennants in 16 seasons, along with seven division titles. he was the last cardinal to wear number 10, and he was inducted in to the hall of fame as a manager in 2014.

tom kelly (retired by the twins in 2012) 1989 donruss all-stars

kelly led the twins to a world series title in 1987, his first full year as their manager. as a result, he got to manage the american league in the 1988 all-star game which is how he ended up on this 1989 donruss all-stars card. i am thankful for that, as it shows his number better than any other card i could find. i should note that while kelly wore 16 for the twins as a player, he chose 10 as 16 was being worn by frank viola in the 1980's. it turns out that kelly was the last to wear the number for the twins.

kelly also led the twins to the world series championship in 1991, and he was named the league's manager of the year that season as well. his other twin teams did not fare so well, never finishing atop the division or making the postseason, and after the 2001 campaign he was replaced by ron gardenhire. still, the twins inducted him in to their hall of fame and retired his number on september 12, 2012.

chipper jones (retired by the braves in 2013) 2004 donruss team heroes glossy

i like chipper in the throwback uniform on that 2004 donruss team heroes card, enough so that the chip on the bottom of the card doesn't bother me. jones played for the braves for the entirety of his career, hitting 468 home runs and amassing 2,726 hits. he was the 1999 nl mvp and was part of the dominant braves teams of the 1990's. 

jones was the last brave to wear number 10, as the team retired the number on june 8, 2013 - the year after he retired. he was elected to the hall of fame on his first ballot in 2018. 

michael young (retired by the rangers in 2019) 2004 donruss throwback threads

i don't believe that i've shown any cards from this set on this site before. this was one of the many donruss sets that flooded the market in the early 2000's, but it had some decent inserts that i chased down for my steve garvey collection. as for young, he finished his career as a dodger (and also spent time with the phillies that same season) but spent the rest of his career in texas.

in 13 years with the rangers, young put up 2,230 hits and a .301 batting average. he was a key component of their pennant winning teams in 2010 and 2011, and is the franchise's all-time leader in games, runs, hits, doubles, triples, and times on base. in recognition of his time with the franchise, the rangers retired his number on august 31, 2019, although no ranger had worn the number since young left the team after the 2012 season.

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

retired numbers by team (through the ten posts so far):

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

giants - 3, 4

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9

guardians - 3, 5

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

phillies - 1

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9, 10

reds - 1, 5, 8, 10

braves - 3, 6, 10

astros - 5, 7

mets

orioles - 4, 5, 8

dodgers - 1, 2, 4

twins - 3, 6, 7, 10

white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9

brewers - 1, 4

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

cubs - 10

royals - 5, 10

padres - 6

athletics - 9

angels

expos - 8, 10

rangers - 7, 10

major league baseball

rays

diamondbacks

blue jays

rockies

mariners

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)

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 70

running total of non-hall of famers: 12

my retired number collection - may the 4s be with you

i mentioned awhile back that i was starting a retired number mini-collection after being inspired by the retired numbers display at dodger stadium that featured a variety of topps cards. well, i've been working on amassing the collection since then and am finally ready to start sharing this latest endeavor. note that i've tried to find cards featuring photos with the number visible. major thanks to comc and all who sell cards there as once i exhausted my collection, i used their database to find suitable cards for this effort. you will see that not all cards show the number, so i would be very happy if someone were to suggest an alternative card for my collection.

there are approximately 240 numbers retired across major league baseball, including the league-wide retirement of 42. some teams have retired numbers twice and some teams have retired numbers in honor of executives and fans who didn't wear a number. in addition, there are a number of players, managers, announcers, and executives who are similarly honored but without a number. this collection only includes uniformed staff - so players and managers only.  there's a full list of retired numbers along with what this collection will entail over at my want list site.

several years ago, i thought about starting a retired number mini-collection that featured retired numbers in the background on cards, but ultimately decided that would mean a bunch of giant, cardinal and white sox cards mostly, as they featured or feature retired number references on their outfield walls.  other teams feature their numbers elsewhere in the stadiums (if at all) and rarely appear on cards. there are some exceptions, like the wonderful 2010 topps card shown below.

that card shows the first eight numbers retired by the yankees, in the order in which they were retired. it all started with lou gehrig, so it makes sense to me to start these posts with number 4, a number that is retired by seven teams as of now.

lou gehrig (retired by the yankees in 1939) - 2000 upper deck yankees legends

lou gehrig was the first player in professional sports to have his number retired. the yankees gave him that honor as part of "lou gehrig day" on july 4, 1939 which was also the day of his famous "luckiest man" speech. gehrig was given number 4 when the yankees began wearing numbers as that was his place in the lineup, and so he was the only yankee to ever wear the number. 

the card i've chosen for gehrig also lists out the numbers retired by the yankees at that point in time. they've added to the list in subsequent years. the photo used shows gehrig shaking hands with babe ruth, who is shown on a card of his own - i put the cards together (somewhat haphazardly) in a post a few years ago.

mel ott (retired by the giants in 1948) - 2010 topps history of the world series

the new york giants retired mel ott's number during the 1948 season (july 17 to be exact) following his 23-year tenure as a player, player/manager, and just plain old manager. when he retired, his 511 home runs were third most all-time (behind babe ruth and jimmie foxx) and the highest total for any national leaguer. ott was the second (bill terry was the first) and final giant to wear number 4, and he was elected to the hall of fame in 1951. 

the giants used to have big circular placards on the outfield wall at candlestick for their retired numbers, so i would see "ott 4" quite a bit on tv and on some cards. there is no denying that those placards helped spark my interest in retired numbers in general.

luke appling (retired by the white sox in 1975) - 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts

here we have the first example of a card that does not show the player's number, unfortunately. appling wore number 4 for the white sox for the entirety of his playing career which spanned from 1930 through 1950. appling led the american league with a .388 average in 1936, and then again with a .328 average in 1943. he retired with 2,749 hits and was voted in to the hall of fame in 1965. 

while appling's number was the first to be retired by the white sox franchise, five players wore number 6 after appling and before it was retired on june 7, 1975. the last of these players was ron hansen in 1969. 

duke snider (retired by the dodgers in 1980) - 2001 fleer greats of the game

the duke of flatbush had his number 4 retired by the dodgers on july 6, 1980 following his election to the hall of fame as is the dodger way (for the most part). snider spent the first 16 seasons of his 18-year career with the dodgers, and was a huge part of their 1955 world series title. his 11 world series home runs is still the record for a national league player, and he hit four homers in a single fall classic twice. he retired with 407 home runs which was good for ninth place all-time at the time, and his 389 home runs as a dodger is still the franchise record. 

three dodgers wore number 4 after snider left the team prior to the 1963 season, the last of which was bill north in 1978.

earl weaver (retired by the orioles in 1982) - 1972 topps

here's the first non-player to be featured, and also the first card from their active years to be shown. weaver was, of course, the orioles' manager for most of the 1970s and much of the 1980s. he took over during the 1968 season and led the team to american league pennants in each of his first three full seasons at the helm. that run included the world series title in 1970 and a 109-win team in 1969. weaver also guided the club to another pennant in 1979 and retired from managing after the 1982 season with 1,354 wins having never had a losing team. 

weaver was the last oriole to wear number 4, as the team retired it number on september 19, 1982 upon his retirement. however, they gave it back to weaver when he was convinced to return to the orioles' managerial post during the 1985 season. weaver retired for good after the 1986 campaign, having suffered the first losing season of his career. he was inducted in to the hall of fame in 1996.

joe cronin (retired by the red sox in 1984) - 2001 upper deck sp legendary cuts

here's another "numberless" card. cronin spent 11 seasons with the red sox as a player, a tenure that largely overlapped with his 13 years as their manager. he followed that up with several years as an executive for the team, but it was his playing career that got him elected to cooperstown in 1956. he owns a .301 lifetime batting average with 2,285 hits, 515 doubles, and an obp of .399. as a manager, he was the club's winningest leader until passed by terry francona, and he led them to the world series in 1946, his penultimage season at the helm.

cronin's number was retired in the same ceremony as ted williams' in may of 1984, so numerically he was first, i guess. the last red sox player to wear number 4 for the red sox was carney lansford in 1982.

ralph kiner (retired by the pirates in 1987) - 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics

kiner's number 4 is mostly visible on his back, although the design of the card camouflages it a bit. i think of kiner mostly for his home run hitting prowess which makes sense as he led the national league in homers for each of his first seven seasons. he played only 10 seasons (8 for the pirates) but amassed 369 long balls for his career along with a .946 ops.

for some reason, the pirates waited until september 19, 1987 to retire number 4 for kiner, despite his induction to the hall of fame in 1975 and the fact that the team had retired other numbers prior to that. the team literally took it off of the back of mike lavalierre, who became the last pirate to wear the number. and, since i am not including broadcasters here, i will mention that the mets "retired" kiner's microphone in 2014 in a fashion similar to that of a player whose number was retired, so he is honored by two franchises for his baseball career.

paul molitor (retired by the brewers in 1999) - 1984 donruss

the brewers retired molitor's number 4 on june 11, 1999 less than a year after he retired from the game. he had been away from milwaukee, however, for several seasons after spending time with both the blue jays and the twins. i was really hoping he would have great success as the twins' manager so that they might also retire his number based on that success and the three solid seasons he put up as their dh prior to his retirement. that was not meant to be for the st. paul native. as for the brewers, they gave number 4 to pat listach in 1996, so he became the last (and only) brewer to wear the number after molitor left.

as a brewer, molitor had over 200 doubles, 400 stolen bases, and 2200 hits en route to reaching the 300, 600, and 3000 milestones for each of those categories and becoming a first-ballot hall of famer in 1999. while he was always among my favorite non-dodgers, he moved in to the top spot following steve garvey's retirement and stayed there until the 1995 season when shawn green really hit the scene.

not too long ago i sold off my 1984 donruss duplicates, so i only have a few cards outside of my complete set and dodger team set rattling around in my mini-collections. i am very happy to have this card representing molitor in this collection.

that's it for number 4!

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

retired numbers by team (shown in chronological order of their first number retirement):

yankees - 4

giants - 4

pirates - 4

guardians 

red sox - 4

phillies

cardinals

reds

braves

astros

mets

orioles - 4

dodgers - 4

twins

white sox - 4

brewers - 4

tigers

cubs

royals

padres

athletics

angels

expos

rangers

major league baseball

rays

diamondbacks

blue jays

rockies

mariners

retired number frequency:

4 - retired by 8 teams

running total of unique hall of famers: 8

running total of non-hall of famers: