Knuckle Curve » babe_ruth

Retiring Clemente’s Number

Geoff Young — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 17:57:54 +0000

According to Benjamin Sarlin at the New York Sun, a movement is afoot to retire Roberto Clemente’s number from baseball. Jackie Robinson had his #42 retired in 1997, and now it seems that the New York City Council (of all organizations) would like to see Clemente’s #21 receive the same treatment.

Babe Ruth, meanwhile, hasn’t had his #3 retired (not that I’m advocating such a move). Fun stuff, eh?

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The Politics of Retiring a Number

Geoff Young — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:24:27 +0000

Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time. Seems Babe Ruth’s granddaughter wants MLB to bestow upon Ruth the same honor it has given Jackie Robinson. She wants the Babe’s number retired throughout baseball.

Slippery slope, meet can of worms.

The unfortunate truth is that whenever you honor someone in this way, you also make a judgment on everyone else. In San Diego, for example, Steve Garvey’s number 6 is retired essentially because he hit a home run in a playoff game. Garvey spent most of his career with the Dodgers, who have not retired his number. Among Padres, he hardly ranks among the greats. Heck, he’s probably not even among the top five at his position. Nate Colbert, to name one player, is more deserving of the honor based on his overall body of work.

Back to the larger point. MLB has set precedent by retiring Robinson’s number throughout baseball. Now the Ruth camp wants in on the action. If they get their wish, then who’s to say that Hank Aaron or the Ted Williams family won’t do the same? Then the question becomes, where do you draw the line?

It’s a tricky situation, and one I’m glad I don’t have to deal with. What do you think — should the Babe’s number be retired throughout baseball?

{democracy:18}

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Sosa Hits #600

Geoff Young — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:23:28 +0000

He isn’t the player he once was, and he’ll always be remembered as a key figure during baseball’s steroid era, but the Rangers’ Sammy Sosa pounded his 600th career home run on Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs, the team that made him famous. The blast came at the expense of Jason Marquis in the fifth inning of the Rangers’ 7-3 victory and puts Sosa in rare company. Only four other men — Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth, and Willie Mays — have hit more homers in MLB history.

Sosa is only a marginally effective player these days — .242/.297/.458 is nothing special (I was going to say, especially in that ballpark, but the truth is, he’s doing much better on the road this year than at home) — but that’s more than he was for the Orioles in 2005 and certainly not what I expected from a 38-year-old who had sat out an entire season.

It’s a bittersweet thing to see Sosa reach this milestone. Many of us, myself included, have fond memories of watching him and Mark McGwire chase Roger Maris’ hallowed mark of 61 home runs back in ‘98. But in light of subsequent events that have cast a long shadow over baseball, it’s a little tough to celebrate what should be a remarkable achievement. That’s a real shame for all of us.

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