Wednesday, December 19, 2018

No. 7

The Twins announced Tuesday that they will officially retire the number 7 in honor of Joe Mauer during the 2019 season, specific date undetermined. This is not a surprise.




Mauer and Hocking are far from the only No. 7s in Twins history, of course. Baseball Reference lists 17 players as having worn 7 for the Minnesota Twins, 35 including the Washington Senators years. (One of the Senators bearing the number is a Hall of Famer -- Al Simmons, who wore it in 1938, well after his prime seasons.)

The Twins' No. 7s include some notable names in Twins history -- such as Greg Gagne, Frank Quilici and Jimmy Hall -- and at least as many who-dats -- Greg "Boomer" Wells, Dave Meier and Paul Ray Powell.  

The Star Tribune's Phil Miller pointed out on Twitter that the Twins are a shortstop away from a lineup with the retired numbers. Getting there requires playing a few guys at suboptimal defensive positions, but they are all positions they had considerable time at, so it's legit:

C: Mauer (7)
1B: Kent Hrbek (14)
2B: Rod Carew (29)
3B: Harmon Killebrew (3)
SS: vacant
LF: Jackie Robinson (42)
CF: Kirby Puckett (34)
RF: Tony Oliva (6)
P: Bert Blyleven (28)
Mgr: Tom Kelly (10)

Basically, the Twins retire two kinds of numbers:

  • Cooperstown inductees who are chosen for their Minnesota accomplishments (Killebrew, Carew, Blyleven, Puckett)
  • Really distinguished figures who spent their entire career with the Twins (Oliva, Hrbek, Mauer, Kelly)
Robinson's in a different class, of course, and Puckett fits in both groups. Someday, I expect, Mauer will fit in both also.

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