Quote:
Originally Posted by Number4
As european, I feel that retiring numbers is a strange (at the least) american habit. Just retiring a number is a dubious honor, I think that assigning those numbers to great players would honor much better them that way.
How great would you feel as a up-and-coming lets say catcher, who would get the same number as the franchise legendary catcher?
Oh well, you can't, the number is rusting at the wall.
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Going to stay away from the Robinson discussion here, but the point of retiring numbers, and the honor that comes from it, lies in the idea that the player was so good, and so important to the team, that his uniform number has become instantly recognizable. You see a Yankees #3 jersey, you know it's Babe Ruth. Braves #44? Hank Aaron. A Red Sox #9 is obviously Ted Williams. Handing those numbers out to another guy down the road devalues the memory of those players because now you're associating that number with some other scrub, who, even if he becomes a fantastic player himself, likely will never ascend to the level of the all-time greats. It would be an immense honor for the new player, sure, but for the fans? The player in question was so memorable that no one could ever compare, and it would be bizarre to look out on the field and see someone else wearing his number.
My only issue with retiring numbers is that many teams do it too frequently. It should be reserved for an incredibly select few who have a profound, life-long impact on the team and the sport itself.