Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports
Having your uniform number retired by a team is seen as one of baseball’s greatest honors. Some even see it as more prestigious than entering the Hall of Fame, and rightfully so. The trend started with Lou Gehrig having his number retired by the New York Yankees in 1939, after he was diagnosed with what is commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease. Even players like Babe Ruth, one of the original inductees into the Hall of Fame in 1936, did not have his number retired until just two months before his death in 1948.
Some teams, such as the Yankees, have gone overboard when retiring numbers. Unfortunately, they are reducing the honor of Yankee legends who truly deserved to have their number retired. The Seattle Mariners are on the exact opposite end of the spectrum. Although the Yankees have themselves retired 20 numbers to date, the Mariners have not retired one. Of course, the Yankees have been around for quite a bit longer, but the Mariners are running out of excuses not to retire any numbers.
Out of the 30 teams in MLB, the Mariners are one of three teams to not have a number retired. You could actually argue the Mariners are the only team to have never retired a number. Even teams such as the Colorado Rockies, who have only been in existence since 1993, have given out the honor already. Even though Todd Helton is not in the Hall (yet), his No. 17 was still retired by the Rockies.
The only teams to not have a retired number at this point are the Mariners, the Washington Nationals and the Miami Marlins. It has only been 10 years since the Nationals moved from Montreal, so there really hasn’t been any time for a player to prove he deserves the honor, as well as retire from the game. Before moving to Washington D.C. and changing their name from the Expos to the Nationals, they actually did have three numbers retired.
The Marlins came into the league at the same time as the Rockies, but at this point do not have any retired numbers. They actually did have the No. 5 retired for the first president of the club, who died before the inaugural season for the Marlins. It was retired from 1993 to 2011, when the Marlins moved to their new ballpark.
The Mariners, on the other hand, have been part of MLB since 1977. They have never retired any number, besides the league-wide retiring of No. 42 for Jackie Robinson. The Mariners are one of a few teams with actual guidelines as to who could qualify for the honor. Even with plenty of qualified candidates though, the Mariners have never actually given the honor out.
The policy for the Mariners is a player must have played at least five years for the Mariners and be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, or come close to election into the Hall and have spent most of his career in Seattle. There have been plenty of names in the 38 years of Mariners history to at least consider for the honor. Numbers like Ken Griffey Jr.’s No. 24, Edgar Martinez’s No. 11 and Lou Pinella’s No. 14 have not been assigned since they wore the number, so why not just complete the process and retire them?
Randy Johnson’s No. 51 would be a prime candidate, except he was gracious enough to let Ichiro Suzuki use it when he came over from Japan. It would be rather surprising if the Mariners ever let another player use the number for Seattle again. Considering Ichiro is still playing though, it would be a bit awkward when he played against Mariners if his number was already retired. Considering Johnson’s Hall of Fame career and Ichiro’s resume, I’m sure the No. 51 will be retired someday.
At this point it looks more like a “when” instead of “if” type of scenario. Considering some of the greats who have played for Seattle through the years and the overwhelming consensus that Griffey is a sure thing for the Hall this year, it seems like a travesty to not have his number hanging in Safeco Field for all to honor. The decision should have been made a long time ago, but it’s time to right that wrong now.
