Read the debate intro, Sports Geek’s argument, and Bleacher Fan’s argument.
I think we can all agree that retiring a player’s jersey is the ultimate compliment a team can give to a retired player. I stated in the intro, and Sports Geek and Bleacher Fan both reiterated in their arguments that retiring a jersey is quite the honor and is not to be taken lightly.
As Bleacher Fan wrote, retiring a jersey is a team matter. It is not a league matter. Tim Hardaway having his jersey retired by the Miami Heat had not a thing to do with the NBA and everything to do with the Heat organization. While with the Heat Hardaway, along with Alonzo Mourning (who also has his jersey retired with the Heat) led the team to four consecutive division titles. As Sports Geek pointed, the Heat won zero NBA championships.
I am awarding this victory to Bleacher Fan because, quite simply, I feel like the argument is stronger. Bleacher Fan gives an analogy comparing the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees to a Honda Civic and a Rolls Royce. I feel this is a perfect comparison. For a team like Tampa Bay last season was a magical run and the team may want to honor some of those players from that team since it was the organization’s first taste of success. Meanwhile, the Yankees have obviously “been there and done that.”
On the same note, Terrell Davis was a dominant rusher in the NFL who helped the Broncos win two Super Bowls in the late 1990s. Yes, it is true he only played four full seasons in Denver, but those were hugely successful seasons. If the Denver organization sees fit to honor Davis, then that is its prerogative. The Broncos do not need any guidelines whatsoever.
Sports Geek brings up the tragic case of Nick Adenhart. Obviously, this was a terrible ordeal and to its credit, the Angels organization chose an appropriate way to honor him. But, it was the organization’s call. The honoring a jersey, once again in this case, had nothing to do with MLB or any set form of guidelines. The Angels made this decision, and that is commendable. With no publicized guidelines there is not any protocol to follow, so there was no need for any “exception to the rule.”
The bottom line is that it should be up to each individual franchise to decide how to handle the retirement of a jersey/number. If an organization wants to wait one year, that is fine. If it wants to retire a number the last day a player is active, then that is the organization’s call. Retiring a jersey too late or too early does not diminish the honor one bit. It is an honor, no matter when it is done.
