We name one former player from each New York team – Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Knicks, Nets, Liberty, Rangers, Islanders and Devils – who should have their number retired.
53 If you are not a die-hard New York Giants fan, you might be shocked to know that Harry Carson, elected to the Hall of Fame in 2006 and the ‘Scottie’ to LT’s ‘MJ’ during the Bill Parcells’ two Super Bowl championship era, has not yet had his jersey retired.
34 Charles Oakley averaged a double-double (10.4 points, 10 rebounds) while playing 727 games alongside Patrick Ewing as the New York Knicks enforcer. His post-retirement feud with MSG owner James Dolan overshadows his accomplishments, and probably prevents this from happening, but his style epitomized the 1990’s teams that connected with New York City.
24 Darrelle Revis has already joined New York Jets legends Joe Namath (#12), Don Maynard (#13), Curtis Martin (#28) and Joe Klecko (#73) in the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame. Now, he needs to join them, along with Dennis Byrd (#90), with the honor of having his number retired.
24 Richard Jefferson is now known as a basketball analyst, including on Brooklyn Nets broadcasts on YES Network, but he played the first seven of his 17 years with the New Jersey Nets, going to two NBA Finals alongside Jason Kidd. He is “Top 5” in Nets history in minutes played, 2-PT field goals, free throws made and points.
16 Pat LaFontaine started his career with 566 points in 530 games as the face of the post-dynasty New York Islanders. His tenure on Long Island was cut short by a salary dispute, and he was forced to retire at 32 due to concussions, but he finished his Hall of Fame career with 1013 points.
15 John MacLean joined the New Jersey Devils as a 19-year-old in 1983 in their second season after having relocated from Colorado. He played 934 of his 1194 NHL games with the Devils, scoring 842 points, while helping the Devils pivot from being called a “Mickey Mouse Organization” by Wayne Gretzky to becoming a Stanley Cup champion.
11 Now that the New York Liberty have won their first championship in their 28-year history, it’s time for them to retire their first number. Teresa Weatherspoon was on that first Liberty team, won the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year twice and was a 5x all-star despite entering the league as a 31-year-old rookie when the league was formed.
9 The New York Yankees have been criticized for retiring too many numbers, with 22 unique numbers currently out of rotation. Therefore, it’s good news that Graig Nettles, the best all-time Yankee third basemen never accused of taking steroids, wore the same number #9 that is already retired for Roger Maris.
5 David Wright is the easiest of these 10 choices because his jersey retirement ceremony is already set for July 19 at Citi Field. Yes, that could be considered cheating, but the assignment was to pick the “next” one. Wright is the New York Mets current all-time leader in hits, doubles, RBIs, walks and WAR. Plus, he’s one of the most beloved Mets of all-time.
2 In the first 465 games of his career, Brad Park was considered the second-best defenseman in the NHL behind the best-ever Bobby Orr. Surprisingly, the New York Rangers traded him when he was just 27 (Adam Fox’s age), which not surprisingly came back to haunt them. It’s been 37 years since Park was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and 8 years since he was named one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players” by the NHL as part of the NHL’s Centennial celebration in 2017.
“SRNY By The Numbers” is a periodic feature that highlights all 10 New York metropolitan sports teams and requires a primary school knowledge of math.
