Joe Posnanski: Way more than you wanted on retired numbers
Way more than you wanted on retired numbers:
Whew. I’m not going to lie to you; when I mocked the notion of the Yankees retiring Paul O’Neill’s number, I was not fully aware of just what kind of jersey-retiring fetish they have going there in the Bronx. I mean, hey, I was a huge Ron Guidry fan — he was the one Yankees player I allowed myself to like when I was a kid (I even remember reading his book in college, the appropriately titled ‘Guidry’). He was terrific. But, yeah, do you think Yankees fans would scoff if the Royals retired Bret Saberhagen’s number? Sabes was BETTER than Guidry. Man, Yankees fans do fall in love, don’t they?
Even with all that, I still don’t see any case for retiring Paul O’Neill’s number, I really don’t. As much as the Yankees apparently love themselves and their own history, a retired jersey should mean something. Roy White was probably a better player than O’Neill, he played with the Yankees his whole career, where’s his retired jersey? Dave Winfield played with the Yankees for about as long as O’Neill, he was a superior player, he’s in the Hall of Fame, he happened to be there when the Yankees stunk … where’s his retired jersey? Chris Chambliss hit one of the biggest home runs in Yankees history. Willie Randolph was much closer, in my mind to a Hall of Fame caliber player than Paul O’Neill. You may see where I’m going with that.
A Red Sox player must meet two qualifications to have his number retired:
- Has to be in the Hall of Fame
- Had to play at least ten years with the Red Sox.
It also seems there’s an unwritten rule that playing for the Yankees will disqualify you from having your number retired by the Red Sox (Boggs, Clemens). For Damon’s sake, I have no problem with this rule.
I prefer the Red Sox selectivity to the Yankee inclusivity, but their method is not without its flaws. Jim Rice is a borderline Hall of Famer, but deserves to have his number retired regardless of the eventual outcome. David Ortiz? He may never reach Hall of Fame numbers, but the Red Sox not retiring Big Papi’s number would be criminal. Pedro Martinez? He only played seven years in Boston, but his impact was immeasurable.
Time to relax those qualifications.
