toolbar powered by Conduit

Friday, January 8, 2010

NY Yankees History Part IV

Retired numbers:


The Yankees have retired 15 numbers, the most in Major League Baseball.

Billy Martin 2B, Retired 1986

Babe Ruth RF Retired 1948

Lou Gehrig 1B Retired 1939

Joe DiMaggio CF Retired 1952

Mickey Mantle CF Retired 1969

Yogi Berra C Retired 1972

Bill Dickey C Retired 1972

Roger Maris RF Retired 1984

Phil Rizzuto SS Retired 1985

Thurman Munson C Retired 1979

Whitey Ford SP Retired 1974

Don Mattingly 1B Retired 1997

Elston Howard C Retired 1984

Casey Stengel M Retired 1970

Reggie Jackson RF Retired 1993

Ron Guidry SP Retired 2003

Although it has not been officially retired, the Yankees have not reissued number 21 since Paul O'Neill stopped playing.

The retired numbers are displayed behind the left field fence at Yankee Stadium, in a small alley connecting "Monument Park" to the rest of the stadium.

The first four in the row of retired numbers.The numbers are placed on the wall in chronological order, each with a plaque that has a short history of the player, as well as special plaques for team owner Jacob Ruppert; general manager Ed Barrow; manager Joe McCarthy; pitchers Red Ruffing, Lefty Gomez and Allie Reynolds; broadcaster Mel Allen; public-address announcer Bob Sheppard; and the victims and rescue workers of the 9/11 attacks. The Knights of Columbus contributed plaques honoring the papal masses delivered in Yankee Stadium by Popes Paul VI and John Paul II. In addition, five marble monuments were dedicated posthumously in Monument Park for former manager Miller Huggins, first baseman Lou Gehrig, and outfielders Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle.

Lou Gehrig's number 4 was the first number retired in MLB history, right after Gehrig left baseball on July 4, 1939 and it was apparent that he would not live much longer. His speech at Yankee Stadium that day is known as one of the most moving moments in baseball history.

The number 8 of the New York Yankees was retired twice: retired in 1972 for both catchers Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra. Berra took the number in 1948 after Dickey ended his playing career and became a coach.

Number 42 was retired throughout Major League Baseball in 1997 in honor of Jackie Robinson, but because of a grandfather clause Mariano Rivera still wears this number, the last remaining player to do so. The other Major League Baseball teams had placed Robinson's 42 among their retired numbers in their home parks even if they still had players wearing the number. The Yankees did not, and it is unknown if the Yankees will place it there once Rivera retires with his name or with both. Oddly, the official website of the Yankees lists Jackie Robinson's 42 among the Yankees retired numbers, along with biographical information just as the others are.[28]

As the Yankees do not issue #0, the only two single-digit numbers that are still in use are #2 and #6. Presently Team Captain Derek Jeter wears #2 and Manager Joe Torre wears #6. No team in baseball has all of the numbers 1-10 retired.

1 1912 Hal Chase

2 1914-1921 Roger Peckinpaugh

3 May 20, 1922 - May 25, 1922 Babe Ruth

4 1922-1925 Everett Scott

5 April 21, 1935 - June 2, 1941 Lou Gehrig

6 April 17, 1976 - August 2, 1979 Thurman Munson

7 January 29, 1982 - March 30, 1984 Graig Nettles

8 March 4, 1986 - October 10, 1988 Willie Randolph*

9 March 4, 1986 - July 2, 1989 Ron Guidry*

10 February 28, 1991 - October 8, 1995 Don Mattingly

11 June 3, 2003 - Present Derek Jeter

* Guidry and Randolph were co-captains.

Howard W. Rosenberg, a baseball historian and author of Cap Anson 1: When Captaining a Team Meant Something, has found that the official count of Yankee captains failed to count Hall of Famer Clark Griffith, the 1903-05 captain, and Kid Elberfeld, the one from 1906-09, with 1913 Manager Frank Chance a strong circumstantial candidate to have been captain that year as well. Therefore, Jeter may in fact be the 13th or 14th Yankees' captain.

Unofficial captains: Upon Gehrig's death, then-manager Joe McCarthy declared that there would never be another Yankee captain. Between Gehrig's retirement and Munson's appointment, the team had players considered on-field leaders if not official captains: Bill Dickey (1939-46), Joe DiMaggio (1946-51), Phil Rizzuto (1952-56), Yogi Berra (1956-63) and Mickey Mantle (1964-68).

The lack of a unifying figure following Mantle's retirement convinced team owner George Steinbrenner that the team needed an official captain, and he chose Munson. With Munson's death, Graig Nettles was unofficial captain from 1979 to 1982 until being officially named in 1983. Guidry and Randolph followed unofficially in 1984, officially in 1986, then Mattingly unofficial in 1990, official starting 1991. Paul O'Neill was unofficial captain from 1996-2001: Steinbrenner never named O'Neill captain but called him "my warrior". Jeter Jeter was unofficial in 2002 and officially named in 2003.

Minor league affiliations

AAA: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, International League

AA: Trenton Thunder, Eastern League

Advanced A: Tampa Yankees, Florida State League

A: Charleston RiverDogs, South Atlantic League

Short A: Staten Island Yankees, New York-Penn League

Rookie: GCL Yankees, Gulf Coast League

No comments: