Yankees have retired 16 numbers. Have they gone to far?

[MaineMule]

With the Yankees great tradition I think they should only retire numbers of players who are elected into the Baseball Hall Of Fame and go in as Yankees. I believe the Red Sox and other teams should do this also

I voted that the Yankees have not gone too far. The Sox retired Pesky's number (he's obviosuly not in the HOF) and there is a cry for Tony C's number 25 to be retired. All teams have "special circumstances" for retiring a number (Munson certainly is worthy) so I do not think a hard-and-fast rule makes sense for any franchise.

 

[shephech]

Good To Hear, Glad some of you took off your Bias glasses.

Shep :ugeek:

 

[IndyManning18]

IMO, the list should be cut in half.

These are the #'s that should be retired.

3 - Babe Ruth
4 - Lou Gehrig
5 - Joe DiMaggio
7 - Mickey Mantle
8 - Yogi Berra
15 - Thurman Munson (circumstances)
16 - Whitey Ford

2 - Derek Jeter (when he retires)
42 - Mariano Rivera (when he retires)

To me, managers shouldn't even have numbers period.

 

[imac220]

The list is amazing! Why not?

 

[Pills]

With the Yankees great tradition I think they should only retire numbers of players who are elected into the Baseball Hall Of Fame and go in as Yankees. I believe the Red Sox and other teams should do this also

I voted that the Yankees have not gone too far. The Sox retired Pesky's number (he's obviosuly not in the HOF) and there is a cry for Tony C's number 25 to be retired. All teams have "special circumstances" for retiring a number (Munson certainly is worthy) so I do not think a hard-and-fast rule makes sense for any franchise.

Agreed. I think circumstances play a big part. Reggie's #44 was only retired as a bribe to wear a NY on his hat in Cooperstown, though. Yes, he's mainly known for what he did in NY, but, still, he was only there for 5 years, and was not well liked by the club during that time. They were going to retire #31 for Winfield, but he went into the Hall as a Padre.

I can see circumstances playing a part in retiring #32 (Howard broke their color barrier, besides being a Hall of Very Good player), and I doubt anyone will argue Munson's virtues. OTOH, Martin, besides winning the 1953 WS MVP, didn't do much as a player, and is known for being a 5x manager more than anything else. Rizzuto won one MVP award, and is one of the least deserving HOFers (though I can easily see him inducted as as broadcaster). Maris is a 2x MVP winner, and we all know what he did in 1961, but he was only a Yankee for 7 years, and he was terrible for the last two. Mattingly was never the same after his back injury, and Gator simply would be in the Hall of Very Good, albeit with one of the best seasons on the mound ever.

 

[17ROCKIES12]

23- Don Mattingly
44- Reggie Jackson
49- Ron Guidry

These are the only ones I don't agree with.

 

[nborton]

They should do like the Tigers and retire Cobb's no-number. :lol: That solves everything. No numbers for everyone.

 

[NerfXerks]

1- Billy Martin - No

3- Babe Ruth - Yes

4- Lou Gehrig - Yes

5- Joe Dimaggio - Yes

7- Mickey Mantle - Yes

8- Yogi Berra - Yes

8- Bill Dickey - Yes

9- Roger Maris - No

10- Phil Rizzuto - Yes

15-Thurman Munson - No

16- Whitey Ford - Yes

23- Don Mattingly - On the fence

32- Elston Howard - No

37- Casey Stengel - Yes

44- Reggie Jackson - No

49- Ron Guidry - No

 

[tonyrios]

Mattingly should no way be on the list. He didn't lead them to a championship.
Guidry did, but I still don't think he should be on there.
Howard however, deserves to be on the list. To break the color barrier on the biggest baseball stage in a commanding position like catcher, and to put up the numbers that he did was very impressive. He was a catalyst for New York baseball and sans Hall of Fame, his number deserves to be retired for the Yankees for his service to them.
O'Neill, Bernie and Pettitte were all great for the Yankees and pieced together championships, but none of them lead the team to that. Every piece to the puzzle shouldn't be retired. I can see the Yankees winning without them, but without Mo and Jeter, I can't see that happening.
So... they haven't gone too far yet, but can possibly be on the horizon.

 

[EricChavezCollector3]

I don't believe any numbers should be retired. I am not saying that the player who wore these numbers aren't great and don't deserve recognition but instead of retiring the numbers have then in "honored" ring much like I have seen many college do. That way you can remember the player for their greatness represented by their name and number and still not take away from anyone else wearing that number. Honestly I believe retiring numbers is one of the biggest wastes of time and a joke to some point when you have so many or retire a number just for the hell of it (A local minor league hockey team in Cincinnati retired the #14 for Pete Rose since the Reds can not officially retire the number for him)