Jackie Robinson, No. 42

All together, 187 “numbers,” mostly for players, have been retired by major league baseball clubs.

In 1997, on the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s rookie season, MLB retired his No. 42 for every team.

The New York Yankees have the most retired numbers – a flat out 16 players and managers.  The Giants franchise (including the New York years), in second, has retired 11 player and manager numbers – but also two broadcasters’.

In parentheses beside each team below is the number of retired players and managers.  In some cases, as with the Giants above, a broadcaster, executive, owner, proponent, coach or even the fans have had their “numbers” retired. In those cases, the first number is the number of retired player and manager numbers, followed by the whole total for the team.

Several players have their numbers retired by more than one team, led by Nolan Ryan, whose jersey hangs in the rafters of three different ballparks: Astros, Angels and Rangers.  Then, you have nine others retired by two teams: Carlton Fisk (Red Sox, White Sox)…Casey Stengel (Yankees, Mets)…Frank Robinson (Reds, Orioles)…Greg Maddux (Braves, Cubs)…Hank Aaron (Braves, Brewers)…Reggie Jackson (A’s, Yankees)…Rod Carew (Twins, Angels)…Rollie Fingers (A’s, Brewers)…and Sparky Anderson (Reds, Tigers).

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