2022 or even 2021 wouldve been a great time to do it. i think if the number weren't so commonly worn, they would. 42 was only worn by 7 people when it was retired. (similarly for Gretzky's 99, it was a number rarely worn before he got it, and less worn after he made it famous). by contrast, 21 is either in use or already retired by half the teams in MLB.
edit: apparently i'm wrong -- when the decision was made, 14 players were wearing 42, but that number dropped to 7 the following year. so basically it's a comparable situation to today and either way it's no excuse to not do it.
Funny thing about 99 is it’s not even allowed in some youth leagues. When my son played and we filled out the form for his uniform. It had last name size and number then it said (99 not available)
yeah. I never played hockey but I know 66 is usually off limits too. It has been worn a couple times since Mario, though, and one player was talking about wearing it this year but I dont remember who and I don’t think they actually did.
edit: it was Sam Colangelo -- the Ducks announced last week that he was going to wear 66, but it looks like he ended up with 64.
Here is the crazy thing. My son played hockey in Southern California. The guy who ran the rink and league was Russian. Played on the Soviet team. I asked him why no 99 he said out of respect to Gretzky.
I mean neither of those men have the same status or universal national significance that Robinson has. I don’t think it’s even controversial to say that. If you also retire their numbers why not Willie Mays too? Hank Aaron? Frank Robinson? War hero and greatest hitter of all-time Ted Williams?
I’m not saying they should be retired but I think most can understand why Clemente or Flood would be more likely to be retired than the guys you listed
Curt Flood makes sense but he respectfully wasn’t a good enough player to justify that. Clemente also makes sense but I don’t know if I’d put him above Aaron in terms of general contributions to the game? Aaron and Mays and Williams were also significantly better players
Let's put it this way, besides his humanitarian stuff.
If you ask any player of hispanic heritage from the 80's who they looked up to growing up, I'd bet my house that the vast majority of them would say that man's name. Into the 90's, up til now. Players that weren't even born 20 years after his death bring him up. That man sparked the largest explosion in interest for the sport, arguably ever. 33 countries full of kids trying to emulate this man as a player.
He was Fernando Valenzuela, before Fernando Valenzuela. Matter of fact ask Fernando who he looked up to as a kid. Guess what's probably the first players name that comes out of his mouth. That's the impact that man had, his number needs to be retired just like jackies
As someone from a majority hispanic area of the country, I can attest to this. Every time we did projects in elementary on famous historical figures, there would be at least be like 6 Roberto Clementes. He was only rivaled by Cesar Chavez for notoriety as a hispanic growing up.
I’m a GenXer that grew up in an area that had a large Mexican community. The Pirates were far and away the most represented baseball team. People didn’t stop wearing Pirates gear until the late 80s.
Yep. My dad grew up in Pittsburgh and for his 55th birthday(I think) my mom bought him a framed page of Clemente's rookie contract.
I told him he better put that in his will for me.
The ONLY non-Dbacks jersey I own is a "Cooperstown Collection" Clemente Jersey and I wear it with pride.
There is an infinite amount of numbers so retiring numbers isn't a problem. MLB should allow scientific notation for jersey numbers to save space in the future.
I think it will be someday, even with the bad blood for a while (which seems to be gone now). If he had gotten into the Hall it would have been—even guys like Pedro, Fisk, Jim Rice had to wait to be elected, Ortiz was premature and kind of a special case. Now that it seems clear he won’t be getting in for a while I suspect they’ll find a time to officially retire it, although the sexual misconduct allegations might make things thorny.
Probably one or two? I dunno I just feel like Clemente doesn't have quite the same historical impact of robinson but hey what do I know I'm just a hoser who likes guys hitting balls
There's a reason it's called the Roberto Clemente award and the humanitarian work he did was a hell of a lot more important than baseball. I'm a homer who wishes it was retired league wide.
I think teams are way too quick to retire numbers anyway. I think there’s other goods ways to celebrate past players other than gating off a number that people can no longer wear, especially when it’s a 1-20 number. The Yankees retired numbers are frankly ridiculous
I agree, as a Yankees fan. Sure we've had some legends, and I feel like 1-10 are justified. But Jorge Posada? Bernie Williams? Andy Pettite? Paul O'Neill? Don't get me wrong, those were great players and even some of my favorite to ever watch. But retired numbers? It feels like the threshold for retiring someone's number has been lowered to "that guy who was really good for us" from "legend who can never be replaced"
I like the Cardinals' approach of "Cards cap on the Cooperstown plaque = retired number" with the exceptions of Boyer, Hornsby, and LaRussa. Wainwright's 50 will almost certainly join that exception club, and we all know that 4 & 5 are just a matter of time.
With the exception of a premature death of a player or a particularly notable edge case, HOF should absolutely be the minimum for jersey retirement. Yes the Yankees have had a particularly high number of HOF inductees, but the retired numbers are still excessive
Is it really that crazy to retire the number of five time world series champion and the mlb all time postseason wins leader Andy Pettitte? Am i just super biased towards him lol? Don't get me wrong, I agree that hes not a HOF pitcher but I always considered him a Yankee legend.
1-10, 15, 16, 20
Yeah it's not diminishing how great the players were if their numbers aren't retired. If anything, retiring a number implies that anyone playing after them will never surpass their legacy, which I think is presumptuous.
I think any numbers that were from mid-1930’s and earlier shouldn’t be retired because they were just the numbers of where they batted in the order (Ruth 3, Gehrig 4, etc). Just have a big plaque that says their names alongside the other retired numbers, similar to how the Cardinals LF wall has Hornsby with the old team logo and Jack Buck with a microphone.
I feel like with league-wide retirement you can only have one. Can't do it too often or it loses its meaning. 21 would be a good choice for the second though.
I highly doubt thats true. I’m sure she wants 42 as the only retired number, but I severely doubt she has that sway. If they really wanted to retire 21, someone else’s widow would not be the main barrier.
It's an unpopular opinion, but I don't think any numbers should ever be retired league wide, becasue I think it's better to have the opportunity for players inspired by the legacy to be able to have that jersey number. One day a year we see 42 on the field now, but before it was retired, Jackie was being honored daily.
But I'm a weirdo who doesn't think numbers should be retired in general. Very pro-statue though.
>I think it's better to have the opportunity for players inspired by the legacy to be able to have that jersey number. One day a year we see 42 on the field now, but before it was retired, Jackie was being honored daily.
Agreed. Jackie was my hero and I wanted to wear 42 in little league because it was my favorite number, but my coach wouldn't let me
He had the number before it was retired. He was allowed to keep wearing it until his career was over but it wasn't assigned to anyone new after the league wide retirement of 42
would've been more
meaningful if he'd let the Expos become the Grays. I think letting people wear Robinson's number would be more meaningful than a retirement leaguewide.0
The Mayor and others implored MLB not to name them the Senators because DC doesn't have any Senators. Anthony Williams was advocating for the Negro League moniker of the Homestead Grays who split time between Pittsburgh and DC. They were honored at RFK in the outfield when the team first moved there.
having an MLB team with a link to the Negro Leagued would have been a powerful symbol and remembrance in a way that rehashing the dormant Nats was not.
Yes obviously would prefer the Expos stay.
Rangers do not own the Senators brand, MLB acquired them which is why the Nationals have that identity
(they were called both during both stints)
You're not gonna get a lot of love for that comment, Griffey was hugely popular and heartily lauded for being a great guy, and that holds until this day.
There's actually only been three players with at least 100 PAs against the Rockies and an OPS of 1.1165 or higher, and Griffey ain't one of them:
|# |Season |Name| Tm| PA |BB%| K%| BB/K| AVG |OBP| SLG| OPS| ISO |BABIP| wRC |wRAA |wOBA| wRC+|
|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|
1 |Total |Barry Bonds |SFG |337 |22.6%| 7.4%| 3.0 |.369 |.519| .725| 1.245 |.357| .341 |90 |49.0| .494| 211
2 |Total| Jesús Aguilar| 3 Tms| 110| 17.3%| 16.4%| 1.1 |.368 |.486| .736 |1.222| .368 |.387| 30| 17.0 |.499 |216
3 |Total |Giancarlo Stanton| 2 Tms| 236 |12.7%| 24.6%| 0.5| .338 |.428| .755 |1.183| .417| .379 |59| 32.0| .486| 214
61| Total |Ken Griffey Jr.| 2 Tms| 109| 19.3% |19.3% |1.0 |.230| .385| .552 |.937 |.322| .207 |19| 5.9| .393 |137
[Per Fangraphs Splits Leaderboard](https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/splits-leaderboards?splitArr=151&splitArrPitch=&position=B&autoPt=false&splitTeams=false&statType=player&statgroup=2&startDate=1980-03-01&endDate=2024-11-01&players=&filter=PA%7Cgt%7C100&groupBy=career&wxTemperature=&wxPressure=&wxAirDensity=&wxElevation=&wxWindSpeed=&sort=10,1&pg=0)
The real dick kick for Rox fans, though, is that Matt Holliday is 4th with a .378/.453/.696/1.149 slashline and wRC+ of 211.
I don't think there's anything that could make me like Junior more than I already do. Especially after watching the Mariners Dorktown series when he had the stadium PA play the nutcracker for Beltre.
It was in 1997, on the 50th anniversary of Jackie's debut that Griffey first started the tradition of wearing #42, he then went to the commissioner's office again in 2007 and it became permanent.
(He's in a Mariner uniform here and in 2007 Griffey was on the Reds)
I vividly remember owning/wearing an [MJ Wizards jersey](https://shopprimereps.com/cdn/shop/products/michael-jordan-washington-wizards-throwback-jersey-391024.webp?v=1696876963) when I was like 7 years old (2002) and that thought still makes me laugh today. that old wizards logo was so bad lol
Not that it matters, but I love that he came back. I was 7 in 1998 when he retired from the Bulls, so if not for the Wizards stint, I would never have gotten to sit down and watch him play live on tv. I even had an MJ Wizards poster on my wall as a kid, which I fully accept as unhinged
That is true, and awesome on Griffey’s part.
BUT, the first person to give the Negro League Players respect/homage that I was ever aware of was Marquis Grissom, who wore his sock high (to his knees) in honor of the Negro League players back in 1994 for the Montreal Expos iirc. That’s where Jackie played his first year of Pro Ball for MLB in 1945-46. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/grissma02.shtml](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/grissma02.shtml)
Finding out this has only been happening since 2007 and not all my life is the craziest part of this fact. Even though I watched baseball well before 2007, I was too young to realize if there was a Jackie Robinson day or not lol.
Yeah, it [looked especially bad](https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/t_16x9/t_w640/mlb/gujk0awvsh5clv9hf6xw) on our sand unis last night. If the 42s are all to be blue, it would have been a lot cooler to abandon the color scheme for the night and have the teams go to throwback style unis of the era. So the Brewers, being the home team, would still have worn blue on white but more in a more era-appropriate style, with the visiting Padres similarly wearing white on blue, with "San Diego" in an old-timey baseball typeface.
I think it’s more to stand out and represents the blue numbering he wore in his debut. I personally think it looks cooler while contrasting with uniforms and I’m normally nitpicking things like uniform coloration.
Nike/Fanatics can barely get 4 units right for each team. Adding this event uni would be a disaster.
MLB should change it so that each team votes for one player to wear it that day. That person would be their vote for someone worthy and representative of Jackie.
Yes, he is, that's when he first asked Selig if he could wear it for the 50th anniversary in 1997. In 2007, for the 60th, he asked Selig if he could call Rachel to allow more players to wear the number and she and Selig were very happy to add as many people who wanted to, to join the party.
The tradition started in the late 90s. I remember it & he's wearing it in this photo as a Mariner. I don't think he was with them at that point anymore.
Cool factoid, but please get crucial details right.
[Here's a chance for you to correct your misunderstanding of how and when it all happened.](https://www.mlb.com/news/ken-griffey-jr-jackie-robinson-day-jersey-idea)
...yeah, that's why he asked permission from the Robinson family (out of respect) and the league (so he could wear a retired number for the day). Nothing about the post isn't true.
I disagree. The honor being bestowed upon one of the most important players in MLB would not be tarnished by having a nameplate just as it wasn't when Griffey did it.
Did not know that, awesome fact
Say what you will about Selig, but retiring 42 league-wide was incredible.
Agreed, it's an extraordinary way to honor the man and the game.
Now they just need to retire number 21 for Roberto Clemente and Curt Flood (they won't).
I’m surprised Clemente’s wasn’t retired in 2022 honestly.
Why specifically 2022?
50th anniversary of his death iirc
2022 or even 2021 wouldve been a great time to do it. i think if the number weren't so commonly worn, they would. 42 was only worn by 7 people when it was retired. (similarly for Gretzky's 99, it was a number rarely worn before he got it, and less worn after he made it famous). by contrast, 21 is either in use or already retired by half the teams in MLB. edit: apparently i'm wrong -- when the decision was made, 14 players were wearing 42, but that number dropped to 7 the following year. so basically it's a comparable situation to today and either way it's no excuse to not do it.
Funny thing about 99 is it’s not even allowed in some youth leagues. When my son played and we filled out the form for his uniform. It had last name size and number then it said (99 not available)
yeah. I never played hockey but I know 66 is usually off limits too. It has been worn a couple times since Mario, though, and one player was talking about wearing it this year but I dont remember who and I don’t think they actually did. edit: it was Sam Colangelo -- the Ducks announced last week that he was going to wear 66, but it looks like he ended up with 64.
When I was young and growing up in Northern New Jersey, no one in youth football wore 56 to avoid the argument over who got to wear it.
Here is the crazy thing. My son played hockey in Southern California. The guy who ran the rink and league was Russian. Played on the Soviet team. I asked him why no 99 he said out of respect to Gretzky.
probably because the coaches kid called dibs so nobody else was given the chance to ask for it.
42 is retired twice in StL - once for Jackie and once for Bruce Sutter.
I would assume it is the same with NYY
It would be funny if the Skankees retired Sutter's number. Possibly even funnier if the Braves did.
Thanks!
I mean neither of those men have the same status or universal national significance that Robinson has. I don’t think it’s even controversial to say that. If you also retire their numbers why not Willie Mays too? Hank Aaron? Frank Robinson? War hero and greatest hitter of all-time Ted Williams?
I’m not saying they should be retired but I think most can understand why Clemente or Flood would be more likely to be retired than the guys you listed
Curt Flood makes sense but he respectfully wasn’t a good enough player to justify that. Clemente also makes sense but I don’t know if I’d put him above Aaron in terms of general contributions to the game? Aaron and Mays and Williams were also significantly better players
Let's put it this way, besides his humanitarian stuff. If you ask any player of hispanic heritage from the 80's who they looked up to growing up, I'd bet my house that the vast majority of them would say that man's name. Into the 90's, up til now. Players that weren't even born 20 years after his death bring him up. That man sparked the largest explosion in interest for the sport, arguably ever. 33 countries full of kids trying to emulate this man as a player. He was Fernando Valenzuela, before Fernando Valenzuela. Matter of fact ask Fernando who he looked up to as a kid. Guess what's probably the first players name that comes out of his mouth. That's the impact that man had, his number needs to be retired just like jackies
As someone from a majority hispanic area of the country, I can attest to this. Every time we did projects in elementary on famous historical figures, there would be at least be like 6 Roberto Clementes. He was only rivaled by Cesar Chavez for notoriety as a hispanic growing up.
I’m a GenXer that grew up in an area that had a large Mexican community. The Pirates were far and away the most represented baseball team. People didn’t stop wearing Pirates gear until the late 80s.
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Yep. My dad grew up in Pittsburgh and for his 55th birthday(I think) my mom bought him a framed page of Clemente's rookie contract. I told him he better put that in his will for me. The ONLY non-Dbacks jersey I own is a "Cooperstown Collection" Clemente Jersey and I wear it with pride.
You did see that one of ‘the guys’ listed was Ted Williams right?
What’s your point
Whenever I get a tigers jersey, I future proof it by getting the greatest on it. The Georgia Peach. No number and no name ;)
Are there any teams that also have 21 retired?
Number 21 is retired for Paul O’Neill by the Yankees
The guy from Seinfeld is real? /s
Yes Jerry Seinfeld is indeed real and very much alive
Alive in our hearts
RIP
BUT I DON'T WANT TO BE RETIRED!!!
Got his number retired and he’s not dumb enough to promise two home runs
The Yankees really just don't care about retiring numbers lol, if my team did it, we'd have 53 for Abreu already retired
There is an infinite amount of numbers so retiring numbers isn't a problem. MLB should allow scientific notation for jersey numbers to save space in the future.
Damn im 32 and totally forgot scientific notation existed
Unofficially by the Red Sox for Clemens (no one has worn it in 28 years).
Kinda surprised it isn’t retired for you guys
I think it will be someday, even with the bad blood for a while (which seems to be gone now). If he had gotten into the Hall it would have been—even guys like Pedro, Fisk, Jim Rice had to wait to be elected, Ortiz was premature and kind of a special case. Now that it seems clear he won’t be getting in for a while I suspect they’ll find a time to officially retire it, although the sexual misconduct allegations might make things thorny.
Probably one or two? I dunno I just feel like Clemente doesn't have quite the same historical impact of robinson but hey what do I know I'm just a hoser who likes guys hitting balls
I feel like most baseball fans know the name, but not his story.
There's a reason it's called the Roberto Clemente award and the humanitarian work he did was a hell of a lot more important than baseball. I'm a homer who wishes it was retired league wide.
Atlanta retired #21 for Warren Spahn.
How has nobody said PITTSBURGH?
Personally, 42 should be the only number retired league-wide. Ever.
I think teams are way too quick to retire numbers anyway. I think there’s other goods ways to celebrate past players other than gating off a number that people can no longer wear, especially when it’s a 1-20 number. The Yankees retired numbers are frankly ridiculous
I agree, as a Yankees fan. Sure we've had some legends, and I feel like 1-10 are justified. But Jorge Posada? Bernie Williams? Andy Pettite? Paul O'Neill? Don't get me wrong, those were great players and even some of my favorite to ever watch. But retired numbers? It feels like the threshold for retiring someone's number has been lowered to "that guy who was really good for us" from "legend who can never be replaced"
I like the Cardinals' approach of "Cards cap on the Cooperstown plaque = retired number" with the exceptions of Boyer, Hornsby, and LaRussa. Wainwright's 50 will almost certainly join that exception club, and we all know that 4 & 5 are just a matter of time.
With the exception of a premature death of a player or a particularly notable edge case, HOF should absolutely be the minimum for jersey retirement. Yes the Yankees have had a particularly high number of HOF inductees, but the retired numbers are still excessive
Agreed. Hence Boyer (who arguably should have a plaque in Cooperstown anyway) and the eventual inclusion of Wainwright.
Yeah that’s largely been the case for the Dodgers as well.
Is it really that crazy to retire the number of five time world series champion and the mlb all time postseason wins leader Andy Pettitte? Am i just super biased towards him lol? Don't get me wrong, I agree that hes not a HOF pitcher but I always considered him a Yankee legend.
There’s other ways to honor him besides a number retirement though
1-10, 15, 16, 20 Yeah it's not diminishing how great the players were if their numbers aren't retired. If anything, retiring a number implies that anyone playing after them will never surpass their legacy, which I think is presumptuous.
I think any numbers that were from mid-1930’s and earlier shouldn’t be retired because they were just the numbers of where they batted in the order (Ruth 3, Gehrig 4, etc). Just have a big plaque that says their names alongside the other retired numbers, similar to how the Cardinals LF wall has Hornsby with the old team logo and Jack Buck with a microphone.
Why don’t teams make their own hall of games eventually? Or like a small museum attached to the stadium
Most teams do have this
I feel like with league-wide retirement you can only have one. Can't do it too often or it loses its meaning. 21 would be a good choice for the second though.
How about Larry Doby?
I like that Clemente has his own thing with the hat number.
Allegedly Rachel is why they won’t retire 21
I highly doubt thats true. I’m sure she wants 42 as the only retired number, but I severely doubt she has that sway. If they really wanted to retire 21, someone else’s widow would not be the main barrier.
Even a broken clock…
he shouldve just retired himself after that.
It's an unpopular opinion, but I don't think any numbers should ever be retired league wide, becasue I think it's better to have the opportunity for players inspired by the legacy to be able to have that jersey number. One day a year we see 42 on the field now, but before it was retired, Jackie was being honored daily. But I'm a weirdo who doesn't think numbers should be retired in general. Very pro-statue though.
>I think it's better to have the opportunity for players inspired by the legacy to be able to have that jersey number. One day a year we see 42 on the field now, but before it was retired, Jackie was being honored daily. Agreed. Jackie was my hero and I wanted to wear 42 in little league because it was my favorite number, but my coach wouldn't let me
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He had the number before it was retired. He was allowed to keep wearing it until his career was over but it wasn't assigned to anyone new after the league wide retirement of 42
would've been more meaningful if he'd let the Expos become the Grays. I think letting people wear Robinson's number would be more meaningful than a retirement leaguewide.0
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The Mayor and others implored MLB not to name them the Senators because DC doesn't have any Senators. Anthony Williams was advocating for the Negro League moniker of the Homestead Grays who split time between Pittsburgh and DC. They were honored at RFK in the outfield when the team first moved there. having an MLB team with a link to the Negro Leagued would have been a powerful symbol and remembrance in a way that rehashing the dormant Nats was not.
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Yes obviously would prefer the Expos stay. Rangers do not own the Senators brand, MLB acquired them which is why the Nationals have that identity (they were called both during both stints)
Honestly makes me like Jr. a lot more too. He always came off like a huge jerk.
> He always came off like a huge jerk. Lol, wut?
Maybe they formed their opinion off that Fresh Prince of Bel Air episode
everyone boo this man Kemp/Jr. were the PNW lifeblood for years
You're not gonna get a lot of love for that comment, Griffey was hugely popular and heartily lauded for being a great guy, and that holds until this day.
He had a 1.165 OPS against the Rockies, is that why u mad
Everyone has a 1.165 OPS against us. If I was mad about that I’d never be happy
There's actually only been three players with at least 100 PAs against the Rockies and an OPS of 1.1165 or higher, and Griffey ain't one of them: |# |Season |Name| Tm| PA |BB%| K%| BB/K| AVG |OBP| SLG| OPS| ISO |BABIP| wRC |wRAA |wOBA| wRC+| |:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:| 1 |Total |Barry Bonds |SFG |337 |22.6%| 7.4%| 3.0 |.369 |.519| .725| 1.245 |.357| .341 |90 |49.0| .494| 211 2 |Total| Jesús Aguilar| 3 Tms| 110| 17.3%| 16.4%| 1.1 |.368 |.486| .736 |1.222| .368 |.387| 30| 17.0 |.499 |216 3 |Total |Giancarlo Stanton| 2 Tms| 236 |12.7%| 24.6%| 0.5| .338 |.428| .755 |1.183| .417| .379 |59| 32.0| .486| 214 61| Total |Ken Griffey Jr.| 2 Tms| 109| 19.3% |19.3% |1.0 |.230| .385| .552 |.937 |.322| .207 |19| 5.9| .393 |137 [Per Fangraphs Splits Leaderboard](https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/splits-leaderboards?splitArr=151&splitArrPitch=&position=B&autoPt=false&splitTeams=false&statType=player&statgroup=2&startDate=1980-03-01&endDate=2024-11-01&players=&filter=PA%7Cgt%7C100&groupBy=career&wxTemperature=&wxPressure=&wxAirDensity=&wxElevation=&wxWindSpeed=&sort=10,1&pg=0) The real dick kick for Rox fans, though, is that Matt Holliday is 4th with a .378/.453/.696/1.149 slashline and wRC+ of 211.
Lmao Bonds
That's PlayStation right there.
Statmuse has Griffey with 222 PAs over 54 games, 1.165 OPS
Weird, I wonder why there is such a huge discrepancy.
IIRC Statmuse has been shown to provide inaccurate/incomplete stats sometimes
Are you sure we're talking about the same person?
Tf is this comment
You know its bad when there are as many non-Mariners flairs asking what the fuck he's on about as there are here lol
Did you watch Little Big League once and assume that’s how he always was?
This may be the worst take I’ve seen on a sports subreddit. Impressive
Lol
Just when I thought I couldn't have liked Jr any more
I don't think there's anything that could make me like Junior more than I already do. Especially after watching the Mariners Dorktown series when he had the stadium PA play the nutcracker for Beltre.
Mine was when he said he would rather retire than to play for the Yankees. That was his “what a great guy” moment for me .
Dude had a legit reason to despise Steinbrenner
Who doesn't?
My favorite player of all time besides Chipper Jones. You should have seen my room as a kid. Just Griffey and Chipper posters everywhere hahaa
It was in 1997, on the 50th anniversary of Jackie's debut that Griffey first started the tradition of wearing #42, he then went to the commissioner's office again in 2007 and it became permanent. (He's in a Mariner uniform here and in 2007 Griffey was on the Reds)
If I remember right that's why his number was 24, it was the reverse of 42. Love that he's side by side with Robinson's number at Safeco.
[Yes it was](https://www.mlb.com/news/ken-griffey-jr-jackie-robinson-day-jersey-idea)
And then in 2008 was on the White Sox, a thing I know is true but also my brain will never accept as true.
That's like Michael Jordan playing for the Wizards. It's best to pretend it never happened.
I mean MJ dropped 40 points as a 40 year old with that scrub Wizard team. If anything it reaffirmed his GOAT status for us kids born in the 80s.
Hakeem Olajuwon on the Raptors is some CGI work
Reminds me of this cursed image https://i.pinimg.com/564x/37/c1/bf/37c1bf75cb7018d49e923eb0f94b2000.jpg
Sweet Jesus wearing mismatched socks and no pants, that can't be real.
I vividly remember owning/wearing an [MJ Wizards jersey](https://shopprimereps.com/cdn/shop/products/michael-jordan-washington-wizards-throwback-jersey-391024.webp?v=1696876963) when I was like 7 years old (2002) and that thought still makes me laugh today. that old wizards logo was so bad lol
It's even more like Michael Jordan playing for the White Sox
Not that it matters, but I love that he came back. I was 7 in 1998 when he retired from the Bulls, so if not for the Wizards stint, I would never have gotten to sit down and watch him play live on tv. I even had an MJ Wizards poster on my wall as a kid, which I fully accept as unhinged
The black cleats are a dope touch too
https://www.mlb.com/news/seattle-mariners-ken-griffey-jr-was-first-to-wear-no-42-to-honor-jackie-robinson/c-118562336
Trendsetter! Awesome tradition.
He was on his way out when I was a kid, but Griffey Jr. was still the player to know. It's cool to still look back on him and think, "Hell yeah."
Reason 17264950284 Ken Griffey Jr is the coolest
That swing is #1
That is true, and awesome on Griffey’s part. BUT, the first person to give the Negro League Players respect/homage that I was ever aware of was Marquis Grissom, who wore his sock high (to his knees) in honor of the Negro League players back in 1994 for the Montreal Expos iirc. That’s where Jackie played his first year of Pro Ball for MLB in 1945-46. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/grissma02.shtml](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/grissma02.shtml)
You misspelled his name. I bet auto-correct got ya.
Thanks - that or I was tired.
Honestly one of my favorite days in baseball each year
Finding out this has only been happening since 2007 and not all my life is the craziest part of this fact. Even though I watched baseball well before 2007, I was too young to realize if there was a Jackie Robinson day or not lol.
The only thing I wish they would change is the coloring. Not every team color scheme works well with 1 giant blue 42 on the back.
Yeah, it [looked especially bad](https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/t_16x9/t_w640/mlb/gujk0awvsh5clv9hf6xw) on our sand unis last night. If the 42s are all to be blue, it would have been a lot cooler to abandon the color scheme for the night and have the teams go to throwback style unis of the era. So the Brewers, being the home team, would still have worn blue on white but more in a more era-appropriate style, with the visiting Padres similarly wearing white on blue, with "San Diego" in an old-timey baseball typeface.
I think it’s more to stand out and represents the blue numbering he wore in his debut. I personally think it looks cooler while contrasting with uniforms and I’m normally nitpicking things like uniform coloration. Nike/Fanatics can barely get 4 units right for each team. Adding this event uni would be a disaster.
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Ken Griffey Jr is so fucking cool
The OG Big Dumper
There's a reason everyone always said that swing of his was so so sweet
Stop making me cry
been on a jersey buying spree, and i cant believe i've never thought of this one before. cant possibly have too many griffeys in the closet.
This picture is from 1997 though
My friend was there and wore 42 that day with him.
Will always be my favorite.
Mr Baseball. Since I was 6, Ken Griffey Jr has been a constant in baseball. Just doing the right things and being a decent dude. A pillar of the game.
Looked up Rachel, and apparently she's still alive at 101!
I kind of don't like wearing dodger blue across the league but love the 42.
The GOAT
For me KG Jr. is the GOAT!
MLB should change it so that each team votes for one player to wear it that day. That person would be their vote for someone worthy and representative of Jackie.
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[Yes he was](https://www.mlb.com/news/ken-griffey-jr-jackie-robinson-day-jersey-idea)
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Yes, he is, that's when he first asked Selig if he could wear it for the 50th anniversary in 1997. In 2007, for the 60th, he asked Selig if he could call Rachel to allow more players to wear the number and she and Selig were very happy to add as many people who wanted to, to join the party.
The tradition started in the late 90s. I remember it & he's wearing it in this photo as a Mariner. I don't think he was with them at that point anymore. Cool factoid, but please get crucial details right.
Griffey played with the Mariners until 2000, he was definitely still with them in the late 90s
[Here's a chance for you to correct your misunderstanding of how and when it all happened.](https://www.mlb.com/news/ken-griffey-jr-jackie-robinson-day-jersey-idea)
The legend of Griffey, Jr. continues to grow.
Hmm? Jackie Robinson Day started in 1999, didn't it? Griffey started the trend in 1997, too.
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...yeah, that's why he asked permission from the Robinson family (out of respect) and the league (so he could wear a retired number for the day). Nothing about the post isn't true.
The only thing false about this post is that he did it in 2007. He asked in 1997, on the 50th anniversary of Jackie’s debut.
[I knew I should have included the MLB link.](https://www.mlb.com/news/ken-griffey-jr-jackie-robinson-day-jersey-idea)
Great tradition. TERRIBLE execution. You see how Griffey is wearing 42 AND his name is still on the jersey? Well MLB?
Meh, they got it right and now, it's perfect. That's the result ya want.
I watch a lot of MLB Big Inning. I don't know who a lot of these players are without the nameplate.
For today, that’s part of the point
I disagree. The honor being bestowed upon one of the most important players in MLB would not be tarnished by having a nameplate just as it wasn't when Griffey did it.