by Chris Curtis, FN Editorial BoardTim Wakefield (as I write this) has yet to even formally announce his retirement and already I am seeing people posting that his uniform number should, or should not be ‘retired’ as well. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Wake will retire today at 5PM). Frankly, I would like to see all of the retired numbers abolished.
No, I am not suggesting that Yaz, or Fisk, Doerr, or even Teddy Ballgame fail to measure up to whatever standards are in place for such an honor, in fact I suggest that many others also deserve to be honored in a permanent fashion. And I think that Wakefield should be included in that group.
But putting his number up on the wall is not the way to do it.
Let’s assume that Baseball, and civilized society, will continue to exist for at least several more centuries. And also let us assume that many great players will play for our local nine, and then retire and be found to be deserving of such an honor. How long will it be before we start running out of numbers? (In the case of the Celtics, this may happen much, much sooner….). Will some future Red Sox GM be forced to be the one to ‘unretire’ all 87 of the ‘retired’ Red Sox uniform numbers in order to avoid three digit numbers for the entire team? Ok, maybe that’s ‘not our problem’ but it is inevitable, and avoidable.
My solution is to do what a few NFL teams already do, forget the numbers, honor the man by putting his name on the wall. How many kids today look up at our retired numbers and wonder who was number 9, or even number 8? (To be fair, if they are like I was as a kid they would already know because they obsess over baseball cards and study statistics at a rate that is many times the rate at which they do schoolwork. But then again in my time baseball cards were something that kids could afford….). Without the formality of ‘retiring’ a number, we are free to honor players who are beloved but will never see Cooperstown without an admission ticket. Put the names anywhere you like; above the scoreboard on the Monster, around the ring of green where the current numbers begin, in the triangle, doesn’t matter. Then also have something inside the concourse, something like the plaques in Cooperstown; something that includes some of the history of the player, and why his name is there inside the park.
This allows us to include all of the current names, and also add a few more. Jimmie Foxx comes to mind, as does Cy Young. How about Dwight Evans, or Tony Conigliaro? How about Harry Agganis, or even Sherm Feller?
The 100th birthday of our beloved yard is upon us, perhaps we can bolster our connection to these past 100 years, and at the same time help to preserve continuity for the next hundred, and those we hope will follow after that. Tom and Jean Yawkey are named on the Monster (though few know it), why not make it a Red Sox Wall Of Fame?
And thank you, Tim Wakefield, for a long and generous run as a member of the team. You have been selfless to a degree rarely seen in sports anymore, both on and off the field. From pitching in garbage time to preserving the rest of the staff (Game 3 of the '04 ALCS comes to mind...) to scrimshaw to all the visits to see kids too sick to get to Fenway on their own. You have been one of the greatest citizens of Fenway Nation for a very long time.