Former A’s great Dave Stewart’s big day is finally coming.
Stewart, an Oakland native and pitching ace of the A’s “Bash Brothers” teams of the late 1980s and early 90s, will have his No. 34 jersey retired during a ceremony scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 11, the team announced on Friday.
The team in August 2019 announced that Stewart, 65, would become the sixth Oakland player to have his jersey retired, joining Rollie Fingers (who also wore No. 34), Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley, Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson. But it never happened during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season or last season.
When the A’s schedule was released for this season without a mention of a jersey retirement day for Stewart, a fan reached out to the former World Series MVP on Twitter.
Stewart responded, “I have no idea what the A’s are doing. At this point they can just retire the number with no celebration as far as I’m concerned. Come to the park and it will be on display with the other retired numbers. If you find out something before I do, please let me know?”
The A’s, in turn, responded by saying dates for Stewart and two anniversary events were being finalized. Friday was the day. In the release, the team said fans will receive a replica Stewart jersey before the game against the Chicago White Sox.
The team also announced the 1972 World Series champion team reunion will be held on Saturday, June 4, and the 2002 team that won 20 straight games will be honored on Sunday, Aug. 28.
Stewart, a graduate of Oakland's St. Elizabeth High School, joined the A’s in 1986 and won 20 games in four consecutive seasons from 1987 to 1990. He went 8-3 with a 2.22 ERA in 14 postseason starts, including two wins in the 1989 World Series when he earned MVP honors in the A’s sweep of the Giants.
Over a 16-year big league career with five clubs, “Stew” had a 168-129 record and 3.95 ERA. He ended his career with the A’s in 1995, but wore No. 35.
“Dave is one of the great legends in Oakland A’s history. He exemplifies what it means to be an Oakland A. He gave his heart and soul to this Club and our Oakland community,” A’s President Dave Kaval said in the team’s release. “It seems fitting that Dave wore Rollie Fingers’ number — another legendary Athletics pitcher. We retired Rollie’s No. 34 in 1993, and we are proud to add Stew’s No. 34 to honor and celebrate his incredible contributions to our Club.”
