Retiring Jersey Numbers

[Lowerdeck]

The Red Sox are retiring Johnny Pesky's #6 tomorrow night.

This is way beyond my era, so I have no idea how well he played. He obviously wasn't on the level of Ted Williams or Carl Yastremski. But he was with the Red Sox organization as a player, coach, or something for over 40 years. Still makes appearances with the club from time to time, when able.

With all that said, I'm not really a huge fan of retiring jersey numbers. I like Toronto's system where they don't retire numbers persay but have the ring or the hall of fame with all the major players in the club's history. Soon you'll see teams like the Yankees using numbers in 80s/90s or trip digits because everyone's a Yankee legend and ends up in monument park (all the single numbers will be gone except for 6 in a few years). I think the fans will remember the team's great players, and any hall of fame designation by the club is significant enough without taking a jersey number out of commission.

[Dan]

We (Hartlepool) retired Michael Maidens number 23 shirt after he died in a car crash (he was only 20).

Aside from occasions like that, it's rather pointless.

[Lord Nibbler]

The same thing happens in football, but not as frequently I think. I don't have a problem with clubs retiring shirts when players have died (like Marc Vivien Foe) but retiring the shirts of "legends" I'm not keen on. Where's the cut-off point? If you retire one player's shirt, you're just going to piss off all the other players who think they deserve to have their shirt retired.

[Your Mom]

The point of retiring a number is acknowleding that no one can ever wear that number as proudly and as specially as that athlete did. I personally think it's a great thing as long as there are standards.

[Lowerdeck]

With the Red Sox, that being the best example I can think of, the only numbers I feel that should be retired (if any) are 8 for Yastremski and 9 for Williams. The other guys I would have to assume were good, but it just seems those are on the next tier... good for the team, but not legendary to the game.

[sahyder1]

With the Red Sox, that being the best example I can think of, the only numbers I feel that should be retired (if any) are 8 for Yastremski and 9 for Williams. The other guys I would have to assume were good, but it just seems those are on the next tier... good for the team, but not legendary to the game.

it's supposed to be about the team. As for the Yankees....no one hates them more then I do....but there is no way anyone can argue at the 3,4,5 and 7 should not be retired.

[Toe]

The Toronto Maple Leafs only retire the numbers of players who died or suffered a career ending accident while they were members of the team. Players like Hap Day and Sitler instead have their number honoured. The number is in the rafters, but is still free to be used. Players usually only wear those numbers with permission from the older players, although it is not required. #1 is honoured for Turk Broda and Johnny Bower, but was worn by Andrew Raycroft over the last two seasons.

The retired numbers for the Leafs are 5 for Bill Barilko and 6 for Ace Bailey, along with 99 for Gretzky which is retired by the entire league.

Edited September 26, 2008 by Toe

[stokeriño]

As far as I'm aware no one has been given the no. 25 shirt at Chelsea since Zola left. I don't know whether that means they've 'retired' it or whether they're just waiting all of the fans forget. >_>

[GhostMachine]

I believe in retiring jersey numbers, but it happens way more often than it should - especially in baseball. Like Lowerdeck said, the Yankees have retired almost every single digit #. I understand Jackie Robinson's place in history, and having his # retired by the Dodgers and a Jackie Robinson Day celebrated throughout the entire MLB every year now is appropriate, but his # shouldn't be retired on every team. Makes no sense having his # being the only one available to all teams, when you've got players like Babe Ruth who probably deserve that honor as well considering what they did for the sport.

Something like the Yankees' monument park or the Dallas Cowboys' ring of fame or having a statue made should be more appropriate than retiring a jersey # under most circumstances. Only the elite of the elite should have their # retired, and I don't believe in retiring someone's # just because they died unless they would have probably deserved the honor anyway. Managers should NOT get their #s retired, either.

[Gazz]

There's quite a few football (soccer) teams that don't use the number 12 jersey as they believe their fans are 'the twelfth man' on the team.

[TheArsenal]

After Tony Adams retuired from Arsenal realised the shirt didn't get used for a few years so I wrote to the club to ask if they had retired it. They wrote back saying no-one had ever asked before, and no formal decision had ever been made and they would pass my query on to the club management.

I never got a reply, but then a year or so later the #6 showed up on the back of Philippe Senderos. I felt robbed.

[IAceI]

The point of retiring a number is acknowleding that no one can ever wear that number as proudly and as specially as that athlete did. I personally think it's a great thing as long as there are standards.

That.

That's exactly how I see it, great players should have their numbers honoured.

[FireDoughnut]

I like the A.C. Milan system.

#3 and #6 are now reserved for any direct relations of Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi should they play for the side.

Edited September 26, 2008 by FlatDoughnut

[JStarr]

See, like Toe said, Gretzky's 99 is retired by the entire league, and I agree with that. 99 was such a recognizable and marquee number that it deserved that kind of status. I wouldn't have much issue with the entire NBA retiring Jordan's 23, either. But, as big a place as Jackie Robinson owns in baseball, retiring his number didn't do much for me. These days, you don't say "42" and instantly think of Jackie, not in the way that you could say "99" to a hockey fan.

The Celtics will someday approach the same problem as the Yankees, and the NBA will have to amend its numbering rules, as they only allow teams to use up to 55 without asking for special permissions. This sort of thing, and the Yankees running out of single-digit numbers, are the only issues I have with retired numbers. At some point, yeah, you're going to have the entire infield using numbers in the 60's, making the team look like a bunch of minor-league scrubs just up from Columbus.

And that Milan system is absolute class.

[gunnar hendershow]

I sometimes like the idea of a number being a symbol of pride. Like, if I recall, the #7 at Man U is a very important number and given only to the best of the best (hopefully someone can clarify this for me, I believe I heard about it when I was living over in London). Think if #3 at the New York Yankees were to passed down from Ruth to DiMaggio to Mantle to Mattingly to Jeter (just an example). At the same time, retiring numbers is a great honor to show that nobody will ever mean as much in that number as anyone else. I could never envision another Baltimore Oriole wearing #8 and I'm glad that no Raven, I'm pretty sure, has worn Johnny Unitas' #19 (Not a Raven, but Baltimore's most legendary athlete). That said, the Ravens don't officially retire numbers, they just don't issue them.

[Turbo Yannis]

Man United #7s include Best, Cantona, Beckham and Ronaldo. It's more iconic at Man U than anything.

[HailtotheYo]

As a former athlete, I can see it both ways. I don't have a problem with a club retiring numbers because it would certainly be a daunting task for anyone to wear #22 for the Cowboys or #20 for Lions. Those numbers are automatically associated with two of the greatest running backs to ever play the game. Perceived or not, added pressure is put on players that don jersey numbers of all time greats. You can call it hokey if you'd like, but unless you've been an athlete you wouldn't understand it anyway. Clearly it would take an amazing stroke of coincidence for any player that wears those numbers to turn out to be 'great' ... and fans would only see it as tarnashing a legacy.

On that same token, it would be one hell of an honor to walk into the Cowboy/Lions locker room and have them say 'here, we feel you can carry on the tradition of Smith/Sanders' ... holy shit that would be amazing.

I like how my high school did it. Rather than 'retire' or 'take out of circulation' numbers, it would do the passing on trick. There were a couple of numbers on offense and defense that were associated as "THE" numbers. They were reserved for Jr/Sr players that had exhibited the standard and earned the right to wear those numbers. It was always about 'who is going to get #20 this year ?' and things of that nature. Instead of making the number bigger than the team/person that wore it, they integrated it with the past/future of the team.

[Terry Funk]

I like the A.C. Milan system.

#3 and #6 are now reserved for any direct relations of Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi should they play for the side.

It's great, I agree.

For deaths etc, I believe it is acceptable - other than that, the numbers should remain in service imho.

[naiwf]

I think the problem is when numbers are retired because a player was really popular as opposed to an all time great at their sport. For example, the Yankees are no doubt going to retire # 2 and # 42 for Jeter and Mariano, but there are a lot of fans who (will) want Pettitte, Posada and Bernie Williams' numbers retired as well because they were integral parts of the 4 title teams. Mariano is a no brainer since he's almost universally considered the greatest relief pitcher ever. Jeter will get 3,000 hits which pretty much guarantees him HoF enshrinement so I can see that one as well. But the other three were just popular Yankees. They were never the best at their position in the league over a lengthy timeframe, never won any major awards and are just key parts of beloved championship teams. Then you look around and a guy like A-Rod may end up as the greatest statistical player in the history of the game and he's likely not to have his number retired by any of his teams since he bailed out on the Mariners, ruined the Rangers and he's probably the least popular star the Yankees have had in the last 20-30 years.

Edited September 26, 2008 by naiwf

[HailtotheYo]

^ The Rangers ruined the Rangers, not A-Rod.

To expound on the point however, there are no "rules" regarding the retiring of a jersey number. If a team or organization feels the need to do, who the hell are we as fans to say "no, that's not right" or "he's not deserving" ? It's an honor that is bestowed by whomever is in charge. I can see Bernie having his number retired simply because if it weren't for Jeter he'd be the best prospect that has been entirely Yankee produced in recent memory. They didn't buy him, they made him. That's saying something for the Yankee organization.