Retired numbers: Cincinnati Reds
Thirteen stars have been honored already, yet Votto is a certain addition
Only three clubs have retired more uniform numbers than the Cincinnati Reds.
The New York Yankees, of course, are far ahead of the pack. They’ve pulled 22 jerseys out of circulation, followed by the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants with 14 apiece. And then come the Reds with 13.
It’s easy to understand the first three, given their histories of excellence. No teams have won more World Series than the Yanks (27) and Cards (11). The Giants are close behind with eight titles.
The Reds, on the other hand, haven’t been nearly as successful. They’ve won only five world championships, with just three of them coming in the past 80 years.
But the team has had a long and colorful history. The Reds have been in continuous operation since 1882, which makes 2021 their 140th season. Thirty-three Hall of Famers have taken the field in Cincinnati uniforms during that span — several for lengthy stays — thereby offering a nice mix of options for retirement ceremonies.
The Reds have done a creditable job of honoring the obvious candidates, as you’ll see in this, the 24th installment in my club-by-club rundown of retired numbers. A couple of the team’s choices might seem a bit strange, but most are solid.
Is anybody in line for a 14th ceremony in Cincinnati? A few contenders come to mind, one an absolute cinch. Yet there’s a catch: He’ll have to retire first.
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Reds’ numbers already retired
It’s a long list, so let’s dive right in. Here are the 13 Reds whose uniforms have been retired. The first 10 are in numerical order, followed by three who have been honored for activities off the field.
No. 1 Fred Hutchinson pitched 10 seasons for the Tigers. But he is best remembered for his six years as Cincinnati’s manager (1959-1964), a tenure that brought an unexpected National League pennant in 1961. Hutchinson died from cancer in November 1964 at the age of 45. His number was retired the following year, the first to be so honored by the Reds.
No. 5 Johnny Bench (1967-1983) won every award available, or so it seems. Bench was named the league’s Rookie of the Year in 1968, its Most Valuable Player in 1970 and 1972, its Gold Glove catcher 10 times, and an All-Star in 14 seasons. He led the league in homers twice and RBIs on three occasions, and he’s the franchise’s all-time leader in both categories (389 HR, 1,376 RBI). Many experts rank him as the greatest catcher ever.
The Reds expected big things when they obtained No. 8 Joe Morgan in a trade with Houston, but the speedy second baseman overdelivered. He led the league in on-base percentage four times during his eight seasons with Cincinnati (1972-1979). He was named the NL’s MVP in 1975 and 1976, and he also picked up five Gold Gloves while with the Reds.
No. 10 Sparky Anderson remains the most successful manager in Reds history, accumulating 863 victories, four NL pennants, and two World Series titles over nine seasons (1970-1978). Anderson will forever be linked to the immortal squads known as the Big Red Machine. Those clubs piled up 108 wins in 1975 and 102 in 1976, taking both world titles.
No. 11 Barry Larkin was born and raised in Cincinnati, then spent his entire Hall of Fame career with his hometown club (1986-2004). The shortstop took home the MVP trophy in 1995 and qualified for 12 All-Star squads. Only two Reds — the men named in the next two paragraphs — played more games for the franchise than Larkin’s 2,180.
No. 13 Dave Concepcion (1970-1988) was an undervalued member of the Big Red Machine, primarily valued for his skill in the field. It’s true that he won five Gold Gloves at shortstop, but Concepcion also ranks second in club history in games (2,488), third in hits (2,326), sixth in stolen bases (321), and seventh in runs scored (993).
No. 14 Pete Rose needs no introduction. He played first and third base and the outfield for the Reds for 19 years (1963-1978, 1984-1986), topping the National League in hits six times along the way. Rose is baseball’s all-time hit leader with 4,256, more than three-quarters of which came in a Cincinnati uniform (3,358). Nobody has played more games (2,722) or scored more runs (1,741) for the Reds. Rose remains barred from the Hall of Fame, of course, because of his history of gambling.
The resumé of No. 18 Ted Kluszewski (1947-1957) seems thin compared to many of the honorees on this list. The first baseman is sixth on the franchise’s all-time standings for home runs (251) and ninth for runs batted in (886). Kluszewski led the league in both categories (49 HR, 141 RBI) in 1954.
No. 20 Frank Robinson boasts the highest slugging average in Reds history (.554). The outfielder also ranks second to Bench in home runs (324) and sixth in runs scored (1,043) and runs batted in (1,009). Robinson probably would have topped all of those categories if he had spent the bulk of his 21-year career in Cincinnati, instead of just the first 10 years (1956-1965). He was the NL’s MVP in 1961 and finished among the top 10 votegetters five other times.
No. 24 Tony Perez was overshadowed by teammates Bench, Morgan, and Rose on the Big Red Machine, yet he remained an important cog. The first baseman drove in more than 100 runs in six of his 16 seasons in Cincinnati (1964-1976, 1984-1986). He ranks second to Bench in club history with 1,192 RBIs, and he’s fourth on the team’s all-time list for homers (287).
The Reds have retired blank jerseys in honor of three of their longtime broadcasters. Waite Hoyt played for seven clubs (not including the Reds) during his Hall of Fame pitching career, then spent 24 years (1942-1965) as the radio voice of the Reds. Joe Nuxhall also pitched, first taking the mound for the Reds as a 15-year-old in 1944, then returning for two stints (1952-1960, 1962-1966). He broadcast the team’s games for 38 seasons (1967-2004). Nuxhall shared the booth for three decades with the third honoree, Marty Brennaman (1974-2019).
Reds’ candidates for retired numbers
The Reds have been remarkably thorough in honoring their past stars, leaving a relatively small group of candidates for future honors. Here are seven worthy of consideration.
No. 19 Joey Votto (2007-2021) remains active, though he has already climbed to fifth place on Cincinnati’s all-time list for wins above replacement (62.0), trailing only Rose, Bench, Larkin, and Robinson. The first baseman is third in franchise history in home runs (312), fifth in RBIs (1,019), and seventh in games (1,843). He was named the NL’s Most Valuable Player in 2010.
No. 28 Vada Pinson twice led the National League in hits during his 11 years as center fielder for the Reds (1958-1968). He also paced the league two times apiece in doubles and triples. Pinson ranks fifth on the club’s all-time list for triples (96), sixth for doubles (342), and eighth for hits (1,881).
No. 30 Ken Griffey Jr. cemented his Hall of Fame credentials during his first 11 years in Seattle. The center fielder’s subsequent nine-year run in Cincinnati (2000-2008) was not nearly as successful, though it did include three seasons with at least 30 homers and a similar number of All-Star appearances. Griffey’s slugging average of .514 ranks fourth in club history.
No. 44 Eric Davis brought a rare combination of power and speed to the Reds (1984-1991, 1996). The center fielder qualified for the 20-20 club — at least 20 homers and 20 stolen bases — six times during his nine years in Cincinnati. He reached his peak in 1987 with 37 homers and 50 steals. Davis ranks in the top 10 among all Reds for both homers (203) and steals (270).
It’s a strange fact that no pitcher has ever had his number retired in Cincinnati, a manifestation of the franchise’s hitter-friendly history. It’s difficult to identify an especially worthy candidate, but why not No. 46 Jim Maloney (1960-1970)? Maloney was hailed as one of baseball’s great young pitchers in the early 1960s, going 23-7 in 1963 and 20-9 in 1965. He remains the club’s all-time leader in strikeouts with 1,592, and he’s second in shutouts with 30.
Ernie Lombardi finished his 10-year stint in Cincinnati (1932-1941) with an overall batting average of .311, putting him four points ahead of Pete Rose in the franchise standings. The catcher was named MVP in 1938, when he led the National League with a .342 batting average. He topped .300 seven times with the Reds and made five All-Star teams. Just one complicating factor: Lombardi frequently switched numbers, wearing Nos. 2, 4, 7, 17, 27, and 35.
Nobody alive saw Bid McPhee play. The second baseman spent his entire 18-year career with the Reds (1882-1899) before numerals were affixed to uniforms. But his reputation was strong enough to warrant induction to the Hall of Fame in 2000. McPhee still ranks seventh in WAR (52.5) among all Reds, and his 2,258 hits put him fourth on the team’s list.
The outlook
The obvious choice first.
Nobody will wear No. 19 after Votto retires, whenever that might be. The end is nearing — his 38th birthday comes in September — but Votto remains a solid component of Cincinnati’s starting lineup. He still bats third or fourth in the order most nights.
McPhee would seem to have everything going for him — solid numbers, a Hall of Fame plaque, a strong attachment to Cincinnati — but the odds are strongly against him. He retired 120 years ago and hasn’t been honored. Why would the Reds pick him now?
Similar considerations work against Lombardi. He was a solid player, but memories of his excellence have faded. He is unlikely to be chosen.
The other four candidates are of more recent vintage. All of them, however, have been overshadowed in one way or another — Maloney by the club’s great hitting tradition; Pinson by Robinson, his superstar teammate; Davis by the Big Red Machine that preceded him by a decade; and Griffey by the outstanding record that he amassed in Seattle.
All would be valid selections. But do I expect any of them to be honored by the Reds? Not anytime soon.