Individuals whose uniform numbers have been retired by multiple teams
A "retired number" is a designation made by a team to honor the achievements of a player or manager by ensuring that their uniform number is never worn by anyone else again. Having one's number retired is a tremendous honor for a player or manager. Among such individuals, there are fifteen remarkable figures who have had their numbers retired by multiple teams for which they played. ...This excludes Jackie Robinson—the first Black player in modern Major League history—whose number "42" has been retired by all 30 teams.
Of these fifteen individuals, thirteen had their numbers retired by two teams. The remaining two—Nolan Ryan and Frank Robinson—had theirs retired by three teams.
Ten of these fifteen individuals had the same number retired by multiple teams (Nolan Ryan, retired by three teams, had "34" retired by two of them; Frank Robinson had "20" retired by all three). I harbored a slight suspicion regarding these ten players. I wondered if, relying on their past achievements, they had thrown a tantrum demanding to wear the same jersey number at their new team that they had worn at their previous one. ...I realize, of course, that this is a rather unseemly thought to have. Yet, there is a reason why I harbor such a suspicion.
In the 1996 American film "The Fan", a star player who transfers to the San Francisco Giants throws a fit, demanding to wear the same number he used at his former team. There are even scenes depicting arguments with the player currently wearing that number, and discussions about paying money to have it handed over.
So, wanting to resolve this suspicion, I decided to look into these ten individuals. Here are the results of my research.
Of these ten players, six seem to have no suspicious circumstances surrounding their numbers; they either moved to a newly established team—allowing them to keep the same number they had previously—or simply chose a number that wasn't being used by anyone at their new club.
It appears the remaining four players were assigned the jersey numbers previously worn by lower-ranked players at their new clubs. However, I imagine those lower-ranked players willingly and happily handed over their numbers; after all, it is impossible to view these four superstars as the sort of arrogant individuals who would demand, "Give me your number."
There is a reality different from the movies.
Finally, I'd like to talk about Carlton Fisk—my personal favorite among the fifteen players whose numbers have been retired by multiple teams.
Fisk wore number 27 with the Boston Red Sox. After moving to the Chicago White Sox, he found that number 27 was already taken by a pitcher named Ken Kravec, so he decided to wear 72—the reverse of 27. Isn’t that a truly stylish and wonderful touch? ....There is a postscript to this story, too. Ken Kravec was traded to the Cubs just a few weeks after Fisk joined the White Sox; although Fisk could have switched back to 27, he chose not to and stuck with 72 instead. I like this detail, as it seems to reflect Fisk's character.
Here is a bit of trivia about Carlton Fisk and his number 72. Since no one I know was aware of this, I suspect you might not be either: Fisk appears wearing number 72 in the masterpiece film "Field of Dreams". Did you know that?
Carlton Fisk is best known for the walk-off home run he hit in the bottom of the 12th inning of Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. Next time, I plan to write more about that game.
(If I've made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I'll try to make corrections or additions.)