New York Yankees - Retired Numbers

Retired Numbers

The Yankees have retired fifteen numbers for sixteen players, the most in Major League Baseball.

The retired numbers were displayed behind the old Yankee Stadium's left field fence and in front of the opposing team's bullpen, forming a little alley that connects Monument Park to the left field stands. When the franchise moved across the street to the new stadium, the numbers were incorporated into Monument Park that sits place in center field between both bullpens. The 15 numbers are placed on the wall in chronological order, beginning with Lou Gehrig's number 4. This was retired soon after Gehrig left baseball on July 4, 1939, the same day he gave his famous farewell speech. His was the first number retired in Major League Baseball history. Beneath the numbers are plaques with the names of the players and a descriptive paragraph.

The number 42 was retired throughout Major League Baseball in honor of Jackie Robinson on April 15, 1997, the 50th anniversary of his breaking the color barrier. The day was declared Jackie Robinson Day, and would later be observed by all of baseball, with select players from every team wearing the number 42. Players who wore No. 42 at the time were allowed to continue to wear it until they left the team with which they played on April 15, 1997; Mariano Rivera, the current closer, is the last active player covered under that grandfather clause. While other teams placed the number 42 with the rest of their retired numbers, the Yankees did not do so at first. Ten years later, on April 17, 2007, the Yankees honored Robinson by mounting the logo of Jackie Robinson Day with a corresponding plaque alongside the rest of the retired numbers. Because the Yankees were finishing a roadtrip in Oakland on Jackie Robinson Day, the ceremony took place two days later. When the Yankees moved to the second Yankee Stadium, they replaced the Jackie Robinson Day logo with a number 42 that resembled the other retired numbers.

In 1972, the number 8 was retired for two players on the same day, in honor of catcher Bill Dickey and his protege, catcher Yogi Berra. Berra inherited Dickey's number in 1948 after Dickey ended his playing career and became a coach.

Number 37, retired for Casey Stengel, is the only number retired for someone who served exclusively as manager. Stengel holds the distinction of winning five consecutive World Championships from 1949 to 1953.

Billy Martin is the only Yankee to have their number retired as a player/manager combination. He wore number 1 as a player in the 1950s and as a manager in the 1970s and 1980s.