Two more former New York Yankees are headed to Monument Park.
On Sunday, it was revealed that Andy Pettitte would have his No. 46 retired this summer. Now the team has announced that Bernie Williams’ No. 51 and Jorge Posada‘s No. 20 will also be off limits for future players in pinstripes:
Williams spent his entire 16-year MLB career with the Yankees, hitting .297/.381/.477 with 287 home runs, 147 stolen bases and four Golden Glove awards in center field. A five-time All-Star, he led the league in hitting in 1998 and was a part of four World Series-winning squads.
Posada, another Yankee for life (17 seasons), hit .273/.374/.474 with 275 home runs, serving as one of the best hitting catchers in the league for several years.
Williams is 10th in team history in WAR (49.4), while Posada (42.7) isn’t far behind, per baseball-reference.com.
Former Yankee Chuck Knoblauch, who blasted the team for its decision to retire Pettitte’s number, offered his congratulations for Williams and Posada, two of the long-standing cornerstones to one of the franchise’s best runs of success:
With these newest honors, the Yankees will be up to 20 retired numbers. Once Derek Jeter’s No. 2 is retired, there will be only 78 numbers left.
New York may have to start using double zeros or fractions here pretty soon, but that’s something to worry about in the future. For now, these franchise legends, who have proven so crucial to some of the best teams over the past couple of decades, deserve the recognition.
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