MLB 2015 News: When Should Teams Retire Numbers?
Rob Cucuzza might have the hardest job in all of Major League Baseball. He is the equipment manager of the New York Yankees. The MLB team that has retired the most number and once the team gets around to retiring Derek Jeter's the will not have a number available below 11. That become a little bit of a problem at spring training where numbers must be found for 60 some players. That a tough job, but it leads to an interesting argument when should teams retire numbers?
The Seattle Mariners have a rule that for a number to retire that player must be elected to the baseball Hall of Fame. They of course have no numbers retired outside of 42 for Jackie Robinson. While their should be a high standard for a number retirement election into the baseball hall of fame is far too steep of a goal for a honor that is really more about the fans than anything else. At least it should be.
Sparky Anderson was one of the best Managers in all of baseball and yet the Detroit Tigers failed to retire his number before he died. As much as it should have been an honor for him personally it is a nice event for his fans. A way to reengage old fans and show the new ones the roots of the team. Even though he coached 17 seasons in Detroit and only 9 in Cincinnati the Red retired his number six years before the Tigers did.
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A lot of MLB teams are stingier with retired numbers but have separate team Hall of Fames or Rings of Honor (or insert overused sports cliché here) to pay tribute to those players that brought something special to their teams, the fans, and the cities they played in. This seems like the best policy as too many retired numbers dilute the honor, but by respecting and celebrating the history of the team and the players that helped the team achieve some sort of greatness helps the overall fan experience.
