my retired number collection - 15 and 16

this is the 15th 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 people for whom the numbers 15 and 16 have been retired:

thurman munson (retired by the yankees in 1979) 1975 topps

munson died in a plane crash on august 2, 1979 and the yankees retired his number 15 the following day, ensuring that no other yankee would ever wear the number after munson. in fact, they kept his locker exactly as munson had left it after playing in his final game on august 1. his 1975 topps card gives a good look at the number, and also features a tarp which doesn't show up on cards too often.

munson's career lasted almost exactly 10 years to the day, and in that time he established himself as one of the best catchers in the game. he was the 1970 american league rookie of the year, won three gold gloves, was a 7 time all-star, and was voted as the mvp of the league in 1976. add to that his .357 lifetime postseason average and many wonder why he isn't in the hall of fame.

dick allen (retired by the phillies in 2020) 2020 topps update decades' best

i believe this 2020 decades' best insert is the only card in this mini-collection that isn't technically a card of the player it represents, but it was one of the best i could find that shows allen's number 15 and it is giving heavy 1976 vibes so it makes the cut. allen is widely considered to be one of the best, if not the best, eligible players from his era not in the hall of fame. he just missed a couple of years ago with one of the eras committees, but i have high hopes the next time around.

like munson, allen was a seven time all-star, rookie of the year (1964) and league mvp (1972). he had two stints with the phillies, as he spent the first seven years of his career in philadelphia and then returned to the club in 1975 for a two-year stay. he was a part of the team's rise in the national league east in the latter part of the '70's and made his lone postseason appearance with them in 1976.

as a phillie, allen hit 204 home runs and held a .290 average. while the team did not hold his number out of rotation (andrew knapp in 2020 was the last to wear it), they did see fit to retire it on september 3, 2020 - just three months before allen passed away. 

i have been remiss in previous posts in not speculating or pointing out potential future number retirements, but i will mention here that the angels have never reissued tim salmon's number 15 since he retired after the 2006 season, nor have the giants handed out their number 15 which was last worn by bruce bochy in 2019. i would expect bochy's number to eventually be formally retired by the club.

whitey ford (retired by the yankees in 1974) 2004 donruss team heroes

i haven't done extensive research, but i think it was the 1999 upper deck century legends set that first normalized black and white photographs of "oldtimer" players on cards issued by one of the major manufacturers. i know that conlon really brought black and white to the hobby en masse in the early 1990's, and before that there were tcma and cramer/pacific releases, but nothing that i recall from the big companies. anyway, the use of black and white photos allows us to get cards that show whitey ford's number 16 as evidenced by his 2004 donruss team heroes card.

the yankees retired ford's number on august 3, 1974 to honor the newly inducted hall of famer. ford spent his entire career with the yankees, winning 236 games and six world series titles between 1950 and 1967. he won the american league cy young award in 1961 and the world series mvp award that same year. he was such an obvious hall of famer to the yankees, that they held his number out of rotation so that he would be the last to wear it.

ted lyons (retired by the white sox in 1987) 2005 upper deck classics

ted lyons was inducted into the hall of fame as a player in 1955. the white sox, however, did not retire his number until july 25, 1987. in addition to his exploits on the field (which included 21 seasons with the white sox, 260 career wins, and 356 career complete games), lyons also managed the white sox for two-plus seasons. he was a player-manager for the latter part of the 1946 season and then focused solely on his managerial duties for the next two seasons. 

his 2005 upper deck classics card doesn't show his number, but he is wearing a glove so i figure the photo is from his playing days. fun fact alert - in lyons' last full season (1942), the 41 year old led the american league with a 2.10 era. he also made 20 starts and threw 20 complete games!  he spent three years after that in military service before returing in 1946. he likely would not have reached 300 wins had he pitched from 1943-45 but would have been close! 

with the gap between lyons' retirement and the retirement of his number, 21 different players wore 16 for the white sox before it was retired, the last of whom was ken williams in 1986.

hal newhouser (retired by the tigers in 1997) 2003 fleer flair greats

hal newhouser won back-to-back mvp awards for the tigers in 1944 and 1945 and finished second in the voting in 1946. in all three years he led the league in wins, and in two of the three he led in era and strikeouts culminating in the pitching triple crown in 1945 - the same year he led the team to a world series championship. in all, newhouser won an even 200 games as a tiger

i'm not fully sold on newhouser's 2003 fleer flair greats card, but it does show a sliver of his number. speaking of which, david wells was the last tiger player to wear number 16 before it was permanently retired on july 27, 1997 - five years after newhouser was inducted into the hall of fame. 

dwight gooden (to be retired by the mets in 2024) 2009 topps tribute

even though the mets have not yet held the ceremony to retire number 16 in honor of dwight gooden (it is scheduled to occur on april 14, 2024), i decided to include him in the collection using his 2009 topps tribute card. while gooden is not a hall of famer, he hit the big league scene with a hall of fame-esque first impression as he was the 1984 rookie of the year as a 19-year old, finishing second in the cy young voting. he topped that performance in 1985 by winning the cy young award and the pitching triple crown with 24 wins, a 1.53 era, and 268 strikeouts.

gooden led the mets to the world series in 1986, and although he lost both games he started in the fall classic, the mets came away with the championship, cementing the legacies of many members of that team in mets lore. gooden was suspended for the 1995 season which essentially ended his tenure with the mets. he wound up with the yankees when 1996 came around, and hideo nomo eventually took number 16 when he joined the mets in 1998. since then, 15 players have worn the number, with travis jankowski in 2022 being the most recent. 

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

retired numbers by team (through the 15 posts so far):

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16

giants - 3, 4, 11

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9, 11

guardians - 3, 5, 14

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

phillies - 1, 14, 15

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 14

reds - 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14

braves - 3, 6, 10

astros - 5, 7

mets - 14, 16

orioles - 4, 5, 8

dodgers - 1, 2, 4, 14

twins - 3, 6, 7, 10, 14

white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 16

brewers - 1, 4

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 16

cubs - 10, 14

royals - 5, 10

padres - 6

athletics - 9

angels - 11

expos - 8, 10

rangers - 7, 10

major league baseball

rays - 12

diamondbacks

blue jays

rockies

mariners - 11

nationals - 11

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)

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 85

running total of non-hall of famers: 22

my retired number collection - crazy 8s

this is the ninth 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 seven people for whom the number 8 has been retired:

yogi berra (retired by the yankees in 1972) 2021 topps stadium club chrome

and bill dickey (retired by the yankees in 1972) 2001 upper deck sp legendary cuts

the yankees retired number 8 on july 22, 1972, and honored both berra and dickey at the same time. this is the first, but not last, instance of a franchise retiring a number for two players.  dickey was the second yankee to wear the number, and berra was the last, and if it weren't for dickey's two years of military service in 1945 and 1946, there would have only been three yankees total to ever wear the number.

i was happy to find the card for berra showing the number as i could not find any dickey cards showing his back. both players are in the hall of fame, with dickey being voted in in 1954, and berra joining him in 1972 - his induction was a couple of weeks after the number retirement ceremony. yogi, of course, was managing the mets at the time.

dickey was a lifelong yankee and catcher - he never moved to a different position - and had three seasons where he was in the top-five for mvp votes to go along with his eight world series rings. berra on the other hand played one season for the mets after 18 with the yankees, and he played a bit of left field towards the end of his career. he had three mvp awards and ten world series rings as a player.

willie stargell (retired by the pirates in 1982) 1982 topps

here we have some sleeve number representation thanks to pops' 1982 topps card! stargell had his number retired by the pirates on september 6, 1982 which was about a month before his career came to an end. he was obviously the last pirate to wear the number as a result.

stargell's career accomplishments included an mvp award, two world series titles, 475 home runs and 1,540 rbi. he was voted in to the hall of fame in 1988 on his first ballot.

carl yastrzemski (retired by the red sox in 1989) 2009 topps tribute

the red sox retired number 8 for yaz on august 6, 1989; a couple of weeks after he was inducted in to the hall of fame. yaz was the last person to wear the number for boston, and it was the only number he wore over the course of his 23 year career.

yaz was the 1967 american league mvp thanks to his triple crown win, but he had two other batting titles to boot. he finished his career with 3,419 hits and 452 home runs. only pete rose played in more major league baseball games than yaz, who made 3,308 appearances for the red sox.

gary carter (retired by the expos in 1993) 1984 fleer

i really liked the expos uniform with the rare right side front number! carter's number 8 was the first number to be retired by the expo franchise. it was retired on july 31, 1993, the summer after carter retired as a player. he began and finished his career in montreal, where he was a 7-time all-star in his 11-plus seasons with the club. carter led the expos to their first and only postseason berth in 1981, and hit well over .400 in both the nlds against the phillies and the nlcs against the dodgers.

carter, who went in to the hall of fame in 2003, was the last expo to wear the number 8, but the washington nationals put it in to circulation in their second season. since then, seven players have worn the number (most recently carter kieboom). i am keeping carter (and the other expo retired numbers) in this collection even though the nationals don't recognize them as being retired. this is a different case than, say, the marlins retiring number 5 for executive carl barger and then putting it in to circulation a few years later.

joe morgan (retired by the reds in 1998) 2003 fleer flair

sporting the more traditional left side front number, joe morgan's 2003 fleer flair card gives us a good look at his number 8 which was retired by the reds on june 6, 1998. i am not sure why it took the club so long to retire the number, as morgan entered the hall of fame in 1990. maybe because morgan left the reds and played his last few seasons elsewhere had something to do with it? the reds did redistribute his number, and it was last worn by damon berryhill in 1995.

as a player, morgan led the reds to back-to-back titles in 1975 and 1976 as one of the key cogs in the big red machine. he won the national league mvp award both of those seasons as well. between his 2,517 hits and 1,865 walks, morgan was on base over 4,200 times in his career. he scored 1,650 runs and also stole 689 bases. these days, he may be best remembered as a broadcaster whose takes inspired the great website "fire joe morgan". one of the guys behind that website went on to work on "the office" and co-create "parks and recreation". i believe he was "ken tremendous", and somewhere i have an email from him about a comment i made on the site. good times.

cal ripken jr. (retired by the orioles in 2001) 1984 topps

one more front jersey number! the iron man had his number retired by the orioles on october 6, 2001 which was also the final day of ripken's playing career. it was fitting that the lifelong oriole be the last to wear the number, and that the retirement not be delayed.

ripken's career was remarkable for his durability, but he was also a rookie of the year and two-time american league mvp. he led the orioles to the 1983 pennant and won his only ring as they beat the phillies that year. he tallied 3,184 hits and 431 home runs during his career, and was one of the most popular players of his era as evidenced by his 19 all-star game appearances. 

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

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

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

giants - 3, 4

pirates - 1, 4, 8

guardians - 3, 5

red sox - 1, 4, 6, 8

phillies - 1

cardinals - 1, 2, 6

reds - 1, 5, 8

braves - 3, 6

astros - 5, 7

mets

orioles - 4, 5, 8

dodgers - 1, 2, 4

twins - 3, 6, 7

white sox - 2, 3, 4

brewers - 1, 4

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

cubs

royals - 5

padres - 6

athletics

angels

expos - 8

rangers - 7

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)

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 59

running total of non-hall of famers: 7

my retired number collection - check their 6

this is the seventh 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 seven people for whom the number 6 has been retired:

stan musial (retired by the cardinals in 1963) 2013 topps tribute

the cardinals retired musial's number 6 on september 29, 1963 as he finished his playing career and so he became the last cardinal to ever wear the number. it was also the first time that the organization had retired a number. musial had announced his intention to retire about a month earlier, and the cardinals responded with plans to retire his number and move him in to the executive suite. i like the brightness of the 2013 topps tribute card which happens to be one of the best cards as far as showing his number. it beats the 1988 pacific legends card i had originally pulled.

musial went 2 for 3 in his final game, finishing with 3,630 hits and a .331 lifetime average. a three-time mvp and world series champ, musial also won seven batting titles and is fourth all-time in hits and third in total bases. in 1969, he was voted in to the hall of fame on the first ballot.

al kaline (retired by the tigers in 1980) 1969 topps

like musial, kaline's was the first number retired by the tigers franchise. they bestowed the honor on "mr. tiger" on august 17, 1980 after he was inducted in to the hall of fame on his first ballot. the tigers did not reissue number 6 following kaline's retirement at the end of the 1974 season, so they obviously had an inkling that they would be retiring it once he was headed to cooperstown.

kaline had 3,007 hits and 399 home runs during his 22-year career. he won 10 gold gloves for his work in the outfield, but never won the mvp although he did have four top five finishes across a 12 year span. i appreciate the tiger uniforms of the era with the numbers on the shoulders - it made finding a card for kaline a lot easier. 

steve garvey (retired by the padres in 1988) 2003 carl's jr padres

like musial and kaline, garvey's number 6 was the first number retired by the padre franchise. the retirement ceremony took place on april 16, 1988 at jack murphy stadium on steve garvey night. attendees received a nice trifold program and there were some commemorative pins distributed as well. garvey hurt his shoulder in may of 1987 and never returned to the playing field, retiring after he did not receive a contract for the 1988 season. i believe it was at one point determined that he had been a victim of collusion but that decision was later reversed in court. garvey was included in this regional set along with other notable padre players from their first 35 seasons. the 6 is visible enough, i think.

anyway, one has to wonder if the padres were quick to retire the number of a player who had been with them for just four seasons for reasons other than his play on the field. he did help to propel them to their first pennant with a dramatic home run in the 1984 nlcs, and he did bring them some legitimacy as a high profile free agent signing, but even for a big fan like me the gesture was a surprise. still, the number is retired and keith moreland (who wore it for a couple of weeks in 1988 prior to the ceremony) had to give it up. i even created a card that should have been for the event. if only topps now was around back then, although even they don't make cards for every number retirement event.

tony oliva (retired by the twins in 1991) 1974 topps

breaking the streak here - tony o's number was not the first to be retired by the twins. he followed fellow hall of famers harmon killebrew and rod carew in terms of number retirements, getting the treatment from the club on july 14, 1991. it turns out that was just in time for his number to be featured prominently during game 6 of the world series as kirby puckett's game saving catch occurred right above the placard displaying oliva's number 6. coincidentally, killebrew's 1974 topps card is in this collection as his representative, too.

oliva was a hitter. he won the american league rookie of the year award in 1964 as the league leader in batting average. he led the league in batting average again the following year as the twins won their first american league pennant. he later won a third batting title in 1971. oliva also led the league in hits five times and doubles four times, and who knows how things would have turned out had his knees held up in to his late thirties. because oliva had remained with the club as a coach following his playing days, no other twin wore the number between tony o and its retirement. oliva was inducted in to the hall of fame in 2022 through the golden era committee.

johnny pesky (retired by the red sox in 2008) 2003 fleer flair greats

the red sox retired pesky's number on september 28, 2008. i couldn't find a card of his showing the number, so this one will have to do. at the time the number was retired, pesky had been a member of the red sox organization for some 57 years - first as a player and then as a manger, broadcaster, coach and finally an advisor. the club didn't take the number out of circulation, however, and so in 2000, gary gaetti became the last player to wear number 6 for the bosox.

pesky began his career with three straight 200-plus hit seasons, although he missed three years to military service between his rookie year and his sophomore season. he wound up hitting .307 over a 10 year career that included time in detroit and washington dc. pesky is not in the hall of fame, so he may be best recognized for having the right field foul pole at fenway park named after him, although there is not a lot of evidence that he ever hit or came close to the "pesky pole" with his seven career homers at the stadium.

bobby cox (retired by the braves in 2011) 1981 donruss

bobby cox managed the braves in two different stints - first from 1978 through 1981 and second from 1990 through 2010. in between he managed the blue jays. i chose his 1981 donruss card for this collection because it shows the number 6 loud and clear, and i also like the fact that it features a glimpse of the black armband that the braves wore for executive bill lucas.

as a manager, cox won five pennants in nine years with the 1990's braves, and claimed the world series title in 1995. overall, he won 2,504 games as a big league skipper, and was elected to the hall of fame in 2014. he was the last brave to wear number 6, as the club retired the number on august 12, 2011.

joe torre (retired by the yankees in 2014) 2004 topps

so the 2004 topps card i chose doesn't show torre wearing number 6, but the number does appear in the outline inset. it's a nice touch on the part of the card design that has some 1973 or 1976 vibes - just less generic than those two. while torre had a decent playing career, he was voted in to the hall of fame alongside cox in 2014 as a manager. he posted 2,326 career wins as a manager, mostly as the yankee skipper. he also managed the mets, braves (he was cox's successor in 1982), cardinals, and dodgers. 

he won six pennants and four world series championships with the yankees after succeeding buck showalter who had guided the club to a postseason return in 1995. he managed the yankees through the 2007 season, but no yankee ever wore number 6 again, even though the club didn't retired his number until august 23, 2014 following his induction in to the 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 five posts so far):

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

giants - 3, 4

pirates - 1, 4

guardians - 3, 5

red sox - 1, 4, 6

phillies - 1

cardinals - 1, 2, 6

reds - 1, 5

braves - 3, 6

astros - 5

mets

orioles - 4, 5

dodgers - 1, 2, 4

twins - 3, 6

white sox - 2, 3, 4

brewers - 1, 4

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

cubs

royals - 5

padres - 6

athletics

angels

expos

rangers

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

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 48

running total of non-hall of famers: 7

my retired number collection - these are the unnumbered

this is the second post in a series that shares the cards i have in my retired number mini-collection. here's the first post if you wish to catch up and read a bit about the background for this endeavor. also keep in mind that there's a full list of retired numbers along with what this collection will entail over at my want list site.

if you're ready, let's take a look at the folks honored by a handful of franchises even though there is no specific jersey number associated with them.

"ny" christy mathewson (honored by the giants in 1986) - 2010 topps vintage legends collection

the giants added a placard with "ny" under mathewson's name to their outfield wall on august 17, 1986. mathewson is a first class hall of famer whose 373 wins are still the third most in history.

"ny" john mcgraw (honored by the giants in 1986) - 2004 topps tribute

the giants honored mcgraw in the same way as mathewson on the same day. he was the club's manager for over 30 years, winning 10 pennants and three world series. he was, of course, the reason that there was no world series in 1904 (the year he won his first pennant) but was convinced to play in 1905 and captured his first world series title as a result. he was elected to the hall of fame in 1937.

"sl" rogers hornsby (honored by the cardinals in 1997) - 1999 upper deck century legends

according to baseball reference, rogers hornsby wore numbers 4 and 6 for the cardinals during his career, but the team recognized him sans number in 1997. he was inducted in to the hall of fame in 1942 after a playing career that included six batting titles and two triple crowns. both triple crowns and five of those batting titles came as a cardinal.

"p" grover cleveland alexander (honored by the phillies in 2001) - 1999 upper deck century legends

the phillies used the 1915 style "p" to honor alexander who is tied with mathewson for third place all-time in wins with 373. 190 of those wins came while alexander was a phillie, for whom he led the league in wins 5 times and achieved the pitching triple crown three times. alexander was elected to the hall of fame in1938.

 

"p" chuck klein (honored by the phillies in 2001) - 2002 topps tribute

klein wore a variety of numbers late in his career, but the phillies chose to honor him with an old english style "p" instead of a number in 2001. you can see a number on his back on the above card - it would be either 26 or 29, neither of which he wore in 1933 when he achieved the triple crown with 28 homers, 120 rbi, and a .368 batting average. that marked his sixth and final season as a phillie to start his career, although he returned to the club twice later in his career. klein was the national league mvp in 1932, but finished second to carl hubbell in 1933. he was elected to the hall of fame in 1980.

"cobb" ty cobb (honored by the tigers) - 2009 topps tribute blue

when comerica park opened, ty cobb's last name was displayed on the brick wall beyond left-centerfield next to the retired numbers of hank greenbert, charlie gehringer, hal newhouser, and al kaline. since he played before numbers were used, this makes sense that he would be honored by the franchise in this manner. cobb retired as the all-time leader in hits and stolen bases, won 12 batting titles, a triple crown, and has the highest career batting average in history at .366. he was a first class hall of famer and considered by many to be the greatest hitter of all-time.

"crawford" sam crawford (honored by the tigers) - 2002 topps tribute

crawford's last name showed up on the brick wall beyond right-centerfield at comerica park, along with the players below (and announcer ernie harwell). crawford began his career with three seasons in cincinnati but spent the next 15 years with the tigers. he is the all-time leader in triples with 309, and he led the league in that category six times, four as a tiger. he is the only player in history to have more than 300 triples. he was inducted in the hall of fame in 1957.

"cochrane" mickey cochrane (honored by the tigers) - 2003 fleer flair greats

cochrane played for the tigers the final four years of his career, winning the american league mvp in 1934, his first year with the club. he was also the team's manager during that time, and guided the club to pennants in '34 and 1935, taking home the world series title in '35 for the franchise's first championship. he was the first catcher elected to the hall of fame when he made it in 1947, and he was also the person that mickey mantle was named after even though cochrane himself was not named mickey. he did wear number 3 for the tigers once they adopted numbers, but only his name appears on the comerica park wall.

"heilmann" harry heilmann (honored by the tigers) - 2002 topps tribute

heilmann won four batting titles in the 1920's for the tigers, with his .403 average in 1923 marking a career best. following his retirement, he became a broadcaster for the tigers and stayed in that role for 17 years up until his death in july of 1951. he was voted in to the hall of fame the following year, but ty cobb told him on his deathbed that he had been voted in, so even though cobb was a year early in his prediction, heilmann passed away knowing he was a hall of famer.

 

"jennings" hughie jennings (honored by the tigers) - 1993 conlon tsn

jennings managed the tigers for 14 seasons, from 1907 through 1920. he won pennants in each of his first three seasons with the club, but no more after that. he was elected to the hall of fame as a player in 1945, and although he inserted himself in to the lineup a handful of times while with the tigers as their manager, his hall of fame status as a player is not based on what he did in detroit. i wonder if his managerial record was taken in to account by the veteran's committee when they cast their votes that year.

 

"kell" george kell (honored by the tigers) - 2003 fleer flair greats

kell played in the 1940's and 1950's but wore a couple of different numbers as a tiger, so they chose to honor him by name only - perhaps because his affiliation with the team extended beyond his playing career. he spent just seven of his 15 seasons as a tiger, winning the american league batting title in 1949 with a .343 average that just narrowly surpassed ted williams' average that year. after he retired following the 1957 season, kell went in to broadcasting and announced tiger games until he retired for good in 1997.

"manush" heinie manush (honored by the tigers) - 2003 topps gallery hall of fame edition artist proof

manush began his career with the tigers in 1923. he played for them through the 1927 season, winning a batting title in 1926 by hitting .378 giving the tigers an outfield (manush, cobb, and heilmann) replete with batting titles. he finished his career with a .320 average, over 2,500 hits, and a hall of fame induction in 1964. most of his post-career cards show him with the senators which makes sense as he was a part of their 1933 world series team, so i was glad to have this tiger card in my collection even though it appears to show a number on his back - something that he didn't have as a tiger.

honoring pre-number players is something that i've always thought that the dodgers should have done for zach wheat. i think a "b" medallion would look great with the retired numbers and microphones on the left field club level facade at dodger stadium.

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

unnumbered players - honored by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 20

running total of non-hall of famers (including those without numbers):

5 is a classic number

i've mentioned before that i am a numbers guy. that includes jersey numbers, and when i was a kid just starting to follow baseball, i tried to figure out who wore number 6 on every team thanks to steve garvey being my favorite player. i also paid attention to other numbers, like 5, that were worn by a number of stars of the day. i also was partial to number 5 because that was the first number i wore in little league (an older kid had claimed 6) as it was the number of jim lefebvre, my dad's favorite position player.

anyway, i am often taken with cards or sets that deal with uniform numbers (retired numbers in particular), and so was pleased to find a few cards tucked away in a monster box recently.  these three cards come from 2003 fleer flair greats, and picture johnny bench

george brett

and brooks robinson

all true greats of the game who wore number 5.

a few years ago, i wrote a post about how my thinking of number 5 was changing with the emergence of corey seager, but to be honest, i never really gave up lefebvre as the first 5 i thought of. with seager's departure, i am guessing that freddie freeman will take over number 5 for the dodgers. it was quite a coincidence, then, that i pulled this 2022 topps commemorative "relic"

from a pack on the day that he signed with the club. in terms of acquisitions, i see freeman as adrian gonzalez 2.0 which is not a bad thing. i would guess that this means max muncy can dh full time, and an infield of freeman, taylor, turner and turner is pretty decent.

of course, the first dodger number 5 that i knew of was the late johnny oates. he wore that number as a member of the 1977 and 1978 dodgers - the team of my youth - and so holds a special place in my fandom. speaking of oates, i found some more photos from camera day at dodger stadium in 1978. i had included a couple that we took in an earlier post about that day, but my dad had since sent a few more, including mr. oates:

also captured by my dad on film were bill russell:

steve yeager:

terry forster:

and dennis lewallyn:

lewallyn had pitched the day before in what turned out to be his only appearance of the 1978 season. i might have to update my 1978 topps update/bk dodgers card that should have been for lewallyn using this photo instead.

back to the main topic of this post - here's to another great number 5 on the dodgers!