NEW YORK — Add another plaque to the crowded wall of retired numbers at Yankee Stadium.
On Tuesday, the Yankees announced that they will retire Paul O’Neill’s No. 21 this season. With his pregame ceremony on Aug. 21, O’Neill will become the 23rd player or manager to have their number retired. The outfielder-turned-broadcaster who won four World Series titles with the Yankees already had a plaque in Monument Park honoring his contributions to the team, but now he receives the franchise’s highest honor.
The Yankees have not retired a number since they hung Derek Jeter’s No. 2 in 2017. With 21 now off the table, 11, 12, 14, 18, 19 and 22 are the only numbers under 28 that are neither retired nor worn by a current player or coach.
O’Neill played the final nine seasons of his career with the Yankees, helping them break their playoff drought in 1995 and later their World Series drought. He’d appear in five total World Series with the Bombers in addition to his one with Cincinnati in 1990. Over his nine years in the Bronx, the tenacious veteran hit .303 with a .377 on-base percentage and .492 slugging percentage. His .359 batting average during the strike-shortened 1994 season also won him a batting title. From 1993 to 2001, the entirety of his Yankee career, O’Neill was worth 26.7 Wins Above Replacement, making him the eighth-most valuable American League outfielder during that stretch.
In 304 postseason plate appearances with the Yankees, O’Neill hit .281 and socked 10 home runs, 14 doubles and drove in 34 runs in 76 games. At 37 years old, he had a strong case for MVP of the 2000 World Series, ultimately losing to Jeter. In that five-game triumph over the Mets, O’Neill slashed .474/.545/.789 with four of his nine hits going for extra bases, including two triples.
Early in his Yankee tenure, he also made a sterling defensive play to help seal the first World Series win of the dynastic run. In Game 5 of the 1996 series in Atlanta, O’Neill ranged deep into the gap to make a stabbing catch for the game’s final out, preserving a 1-0 win.
Other memorable O’Neill postseason moments include his 10-pitch walk against Armando Benitez in Game 1 of the Subway Series (a game which the Yankees were losing until O’Neill sparked a rally) and winning the 1999 championship after his father passed away during the World Series.
While two short-lived Yankees (LaTroy Hawkins and Morgan Ensberg in 2008) have worn 21 since O’Neill retired, the number has basically been on ice for years. In 2017 when New Jersey native Todd Frazier was traded to the Yankees, he asked to wear the number specifically as a tribute to O’Neill. Instead, Frazier was given No. 29 after the equipment staff explained the potential controversy it could drum up, as both Hawkins and Ensberg were booed for having the audacity to wear an unretired number, even though Ensberg switched away from it during spring training.
Rather than address the situation, O’Neill did not comment, turning a very minor story into a major headline. Now, with the number retirement becoming official, we can finally put the “Should anyone wear No. 21?” discussion to bed in favor of “Should No. 21 be retired at all?”
For what it’s worth, O’Neill does not rank in the franchise’s top 10 in career batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, WAR, hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs or wRC+.
All guests in attendance for the Aug. 21 game against the Blue Jays will not only get to witness the retirement ceremony, they’ll also receive a commemorative “Paul O’Neill Day” ticket. Looking ahead, CC Sabathia’s No. 52 seems like the next in line for retirement, as the team has already kept that out of circulation since his final game in 2019.
