What idiot is Retiring that clowns number?

[sox83cubs84]

The same goes for the White Sox retiring Harold Baines number. Out of all the White Sox history and players retiring harold baines who in my opionin was an average everyday player and not worthy of his number retired. He's not even in the HOF or close to it. If that is the case surely Paul Konerko will have his number on the wall also. Reindorf likes Baines so he retired his number.

Baines was a very good player, but I agree not number retirement worthy. Keep in mind two things: 1) Baines' #3 was retired while he was still active (after his trade to Texas in 1989), and 2) I think Reinsdorf's motives were for more than just honoring Baines. At that time, Reinsdorf, unlike now, was
extremely unpopular in Chicago, part of which was because the general belief was that he dissed Bill Veeck, who was always well-loved in Chicago. Veeck was still alive, and made no secret about disliking Reinsdorf, and he was the one who brought Baines to the organization. The number retirement was probably an olive branch offered by Reinsdorf to Veeck in the form of honoring "his" guy.

Dave Miedema

[Skizzick]

Since the original post was about hockey, please allow me to address the Flyers retired numbers. They retired Barry Ashbee as their first number in 1975, though he never went to an all-star game in his short career. Many believe his number was retired and he received his coaching job out of sympathy, and his untimely death in 1977 seemed to add to fans' admiration of him.

Bernie Parent, Bill Barber, and Bobby Clarke are all no-brainers.

Pelle Lindbergh's number has never been officially retired, but never given out again. They should just retire the damn number because nobody is ever going to wear 31 again.

There are certainly other players who should have their numbers retired by the Flyers, but at the very least, they should retire Ron Hextall's number. The man was one of the best goalie's that ever played the game, and played them all with the Flyers.

[emann]

The Red Sox seem very political when it comes to retiring numbers. Wade Boggs should have had his retired a long time ago (he meets their policy of being a HOFer and 10 years spent in the organization). It seems pretty obvious that his time spent with the Yankees/Devil Rays is what is keeping that from happening.

That policy is too strict also: Dwight Evans probably deserves consideration and down the line Clemens (HOF or not) and maybe someone from the '04/07 era (like Pedro Martinez).

I also think having Jackie Robinson's number included in the actual listing of retired numbers for each team is odd. It should have simply been that out of respect for him nobody ever wears it again in MLB, except on JR Day. When I see the circles of retired numbers at Fenway now, it just looks like they retired Mo Vaughn's number.

[coxfan]

I prefer the custom of honoring a player by displaying his jersey with name on it; but allowing the number itself to be re-used. Otherwise, the system becomes "front-loaded": earlier players have a better shot at having their numbers retired, because there are more available numbers left. I know of one major college coach who asked players with retired numbers to give permission to re-use their numbers, as he was already running a little short.

This reminds me of Roman history. After the months of July and August were re-named for Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus, the Senate of course had to offer the same honor to the next emperor. But Tiberius refused, saying that they would run out of months before they ran out of emperors! So the re-naming stopped there.

[otismalibu]

The man was one of the best goalie's that ever played the game, and played them all with the Flyers.

He was great in the SCF against the Oilers, but did he ever play at the level again? Between then and now, the Flyers would have surely grabbed a Cup or two if they could only find a goalie that was clutch and didn't allow soft goals.

I could see Pelle, but not Hextall.

[frikativ54]

This reminds me of Roman history. After the months of July and August were re-named for Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus, the Senate of course had to offer the same honor to the next emperor. But Tiberius refused, saying that they would run out of months before they ran out of emperors! So the re-naming stopped there.

+1 for the Roman history mention.

[mbrieve]

As a fan of the Detroit Tigers, I often get frustrated by their number retirements. I believe all of the retired numbers are justified, but I feel they are a bit too stingy with the honor.

They waited until after Sparky Anderson passed away to honor him (Ilitch showing his lack of class). They have yet to retire Alan Trammell's number 3, even allowing Gary Sheffield to wear it during his brief stint with the team (again, stupid). I would understand that decision if they were only honoring HOFers, but they retired Willie Horton's number 23 even after it was issued on several occasions after his departure (fans didn't even vote him as one of the top 3 outfielders in team history in 1999).

In my opinion, a case can be made for the Tigers to retire the following numbers: Alan Trammell (#3), Lou Whitaker (#1), Jack Morris (#47), Mickey Lolich (#29) and Bill Freehan (although #11 has already been retired for Sparky).