Pick A Number Between 1 And 10

Something just occurred to me while taking a quiz on Retired Yankees Numbers at Sporcle.

The release of Joe Torre's book doesn't just torch a huge bridge between him and the Yankees organization. It also means that the team will likely continue to have a top ten number available for the foreseeable future.

Of numbers one through ten, eight have been retired: 1 (Billy Martin), 3 (Babe Ruth), 4 (Lou Gehrig), 5 (Joe DiMaggio), 7 (Mickey Mantle), 8 (Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra), 9 (Roger Maris) and 10 (Phil Rizzuto). Number 2 is worn by Derek Jeter and will surely be retired shortly after he hangs up his spikes.

The last of the first ten numbers is 6, worn by Torre during his highly successful tenure as Yankees manager. Until recently, its eventual retirement was virtually guaranteed; now, the question isn't whether or not it will be retired, but whether or not the team will allow players and coaches to use it immediately. Sometimes a team will grant a player or manager the honor of holding back a number without officially retiring it (like the Red Sox with Roger Clemens, Jim Rice, and Ted Williams, who waited 24 years from the end of his career to the retirement of his number 9). In other situations, they give it to anyone, even the most random, undeserving utilityman, as quickly as possible (two years after Wade Boggs left Boston, Wes Chamberlain was wearing number 26).