BY THE NUMBERS

42: Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier when Branch Rickey brought him up to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, Robinson’s uniform No. 42 was retired by the Dodgers in 1972. In 1997, on the 50th anniversary of his first major league season, his number was retired by major league baseball.

The most popular retired uniform numbers and the last players who wore them:

4: Luke Appling

Chicago White Sox

Joe Cronin

Boston Red Sox

Lou Gehrig

New York Yankees

Ralph Kiner

Pittsburgh Pirates

Paul Molitor

Milwaukee Brewers

Mel Ott

New York/San Francisco Giants

Duke Snider

Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers

Earl Weaver

Baltimore Orioles

1: Richie Ashburn, Philadelphia Phillies; Bobby Doerr, Boston Red Sox; Fred Hutchinson, Cincinnati Reds; Billy Martin, New York Yankees; Billy Meyer, Pittsburgh Pirates; Pee Wee Reese, Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers; Ozzie Smith, St. Louis Cardinals.

3: Earl Averill, Cleveland Indians; Harold Baines, Chicago White Sox; Harmon Killebrew, Minnesota Twins; Willie Mays, New York/San Francisco Giants; Dale Murphy, Atlanta Braves; Babe Ruth, New York Yankees; Bill Terry, Toronto Blue Jays.

5: Carl Barger, Florida Marlins; Johnny Bench, Cincinnati Reds; Lou Boudreau, Cleveland Indians; George Brett, Kansas City Royals; Joe DiMaggio, New York Yankees; Hank Greenberg, Detroit Tigers; Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles.

20: Lou Brock, St. Louis Cardinals; Frank Robinson, Baltimore Orioles; Frank Robinson, Cincinnati Reds; Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies; Don Sutton, Los Angeles Dodgers; Pie Traynor, Pittsburgh Pirates; Frank White, Kansas City Royals.

Source: Major League Baseball

Reported by Bob Rohwer