Last Yankees to Wear the Numbers

Before they were retired, of course -- or before the player for whom they were retired wore them.

I'm also including numbers that will be retired, or should be.

1 Bobby Murcer, CF, 1974. Retired for Billy Martin, 2B, 1950-57; MGR, on and off 1975-88.

2 Mike Gallego, SS, 1994. Will be retired for Derek Jeter, SS, 1995-present.

3 Cliff Mapes, OF, 1948. Retired for Babe Ruth, RF, 1920-34.

4 Lou Gehrig, 1B, 1939. Retired for him. Only Yankee ever to wear it.

5 Nick Etten, 1B, 1945. Wore it while Joe DiMaggio was serving in World War II. Retired for DiMaggio, CF 1936-51.

6 Clete Boyer, 3B, 1961-66 (previously wore 34); coach, 1988, 1992-94. Last player to wear it, Steve Sax, 2B, 1989-91. Will be retired for Joe Torre, MGR, 1996-2007.

7 Cliff Mapes, OF, 1949-51. Yes, the same guy who was the last to wear 3 before it was retired for the Babe. Retired for Mickey Mantle, CF, 1951-68.

8 Aaron Robinson, C, 1945-47. Retired for Bill Dickey, C, 1928-46; MGR, 1946; coach, 1949-60 (wore 33 then); and for Yogi Berra, C, 1946-63 (started out wearing 35); MGR, 1964 and 1984-85; coach, 1975-83.

9 Graig Nettles, 3B, 1973-83. Retired for Roger Maris, RF, 1960-66.

10 Rick Cerone, C, 1980-84 (and would later return and wear other numbers). Retired for Phil Rizzuto, SS, 1941-56; broadcaster, 1957-96.

15 Tom Tresh, LF, 1961-69. Retired for Thurman Munson, C, 1969-79.  Tommy Henrich, RF 1937-50 and a fantastic player, wore both 7 and 15, but neither was retired for him.

16 Ernie Nevel, P, 1950-51. Only wore it for 3 games before being sent down, wore 26 upon his return. Retired for Whitey Ford, P, 1950-67. (Wore 19 when he first came up, missed '51 & '52 seasons due to Korean War service, got 16 when he returned and never looked back.)

20 Mike Aldrete, OF, 1996.  Should be retired for Jorge Posada, C, 1995-2011 (wore a few numbers before 20).

21 LaTroy Hawkins, P, 2008.  Got booed for wearing it.  Switched to Roger Clemens' 22, and was not booed for it.  Last player other than its eventual honoree to wear this number full-time was Scott Sanderson, pitcher, 1991-92. Will be retired for Paul O'Neill, RF, 1993-2001.

23 Don Zimmer, coach, 1983.  Last player to wear it, Barry Foote, C, 1981-82.  Retired for Don Mattingly, 1B, 1982-95; coach, 2004-07. (Wore 46 his first season.)

32 Ralph Houk, C, 1947-54.  (Wore 34 when he managed, 1961-63 and 1966-73.) Retired for Elston Howard, C, 1955-67; coach, 1969-80.

37 Bucky Harris, MGR, 1947-48.  Only 2 players ever wore it, both in 1946: Herb Karpel and Gus Niarhos.  Karpel pitched 2 games, on April 19 and 20, the extent of his major league career, and wasn't even the greatest '46 Yankee who went to Richmond Hill High School in Queens in the late 1930s -- he was a teammate there of Rizzuto.  Niarhos, a backup catcher from Birmingham, Alabama, was also a rookie in '46, but had a much longer career, sticking with the Yankees until 1950, winning a World Series ring in 1949, and last played in 1955 with the Philadelphia Phillies.  Retired for Casey Stengel, MGR, 1949-60.

42 Mike Brown, coach, 1994.  Last player to wear it, John Habyan, P, 1991-93.  Also worn by Jerry Coleman, 2B, 1949-57; broadcaster, 1963-70.  Retired for Mariano Rivera, P, 1995-2013.

44 Mike Ferraro, coach, 1991.  Mainly worn by coaches before Mr. October arrived.  Last player to wear it, Terry Whitfield, LF, 1975-76.  Whitfield also wore 51 long before Bernie, and went on to play 4 decent seasons with the San Francisco Giants, where he had to switch from 44 to 45 because of Willie McCovey.  Retired for Reggie Jackson, RF, 1977-81.

46 Terry Mulholland, P, 1994.  A very good pitcher, normally wore 45 in his career, but Danny Tartabull was then wearing that on the Yankees.  Will be retired for Andy Pettitte, P, 1995-2013.

49 Kerry Dineen, CF, 1975.  Wore it for 7 games, got sent down, returned the next season wearing 47, played 4 games, got traded to the Phillies, played 5 games with them, and that was it.  Retired for Ron Guidry, P, 1975-88.

51 Chuck Cary, P, 1989-91.  Will be retired for Bernie Williams, CF, 1991-2006.

You'll notice that I haven't included Number 24.  Whether it is retired for Robinson Cano, already the greatest 2nd baseman in team history, largely depends on how this contract situation works out.  If he leaves, I don't think it will be retired -- not for Robbie, not for Tino Martinez, not for anyone else.  Nor do I expect Number 25 to be retired for Mark Teixeira, nor for Jason Giambi, nor for Joe Girardi, nor for Joe Pepitone.

As for Number 13, for Alex Rodriugez, I don't know: We don't know how A-Rod's situation will play out.  Many things are still to be determined: Whether he's guilty of this newest round of charges; and, even if he's not, what the Yankees do with him.  But Roger Clemens' 22 is still in circulation.

Then again, 22 was already still in circulation for Allie Reynolds, and so is Lefty Gomez's 11, and they have Monument Park plaques.  (Red Ruffing has a plaque, but his 15 is retired for Munson.) So are Waite Hoyt's 11, Herb Pennock's 16, Catfish Hunter's 29, Dave Winfield's 31 and Goose Gossage's 54, and, while they're not in Monument Park, they are in the Hall of Fame.

Also still in circulation are Lou Piniella's 14, Willie Randolph's 30, David Cone's 36 and Hideki Matsui's 55.  And none of those guys disgraced themselves the way A-Rod and Clemens did.