MLB Showdown Obsession

 The BBWAA vote for 1946 pitched a shutout against the nominees. The Old Timers committee however made up for it again with a new high of 11 men selected to be honored in Cooperstown. On a personal note, it's fun to see some lesser known legends first mentioned in my Perfect Game series like Walsh and Waddell. Also elected for this year is the immortal Chicago trio of Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance. Also inducted: Clark Griffith (Pioneer / Executive) Helped attract talent during the formation of the American League. As manager, won the first AL pennant (Chicago White Sox) and instrumental in the formation of the American League's foray into New York City, which he also managed (New York Highlanders)

When people think of retired numbers, they likely only think of legendary players. Perhaps a manager or two come to mind as well. And with the exception of Jackie Robinson, they assume a team only retires numbers in the honor of their own franchise's best players. There are a few additional considerations to keep in mind, and the Brewers have a couple of those considerations...  #1 - Bud Selig Bud Selig's tale begins as a minority owner of the Milwaukee Braves franchise. He fought tooth and nail to keep the team from relocating, but off to Atlanta they went anyway. Years later, he found a new way to have baseball in his hometown as he relocated the failed Seattle Pilots team to Wisconsin and renamed them the Brewers. Most people, however, will better know Selig in his role of Commissioner (whether or not you believe that he really stopped being the owner of the Brewers at this point is up to you). After two decades of service, the Brewers decided to surprise Bud with the retire...

 Bartolo Colon was a 4 time all star, Cy Young winning, all around hilarious pitcher that Showdown fans will fondly recall as one of the final players depicted in the official cards to still be playing long after a majority of the players had moved on. He was featured on the 2024 Hall of Fame ballot but the voters clearly got it wrong as he not only fell short of the 75% needed to gain immortality, but he didn't even get the 5% needed to stay on the ballot. Unacceptable. So as we wait for the Veterans Committee or something to correct this mistake in future second look ballots, he can still be immortalized in Showdown card form. Mauer and Beltre may be getting plaques in Cooperstown, but Colon is getting the real honor here. Ladies and gentlemen, I now give you the career of Big Sexy himself: Bartolo Colon. The legend begins. Humble start with a useless 0 control but an almost acceptable tradeoff of almost half his chart keeps the ball out of play. The Indians went to the World Ser...

 As of 2025, the Orioles took the AL flag seven times and won only three titles, but those three titles are well represented with the six men who they've honored with retired numbers. #4 - Earl Weaver "Pitching, defense, and the 3-run homer." Earl Weaver came to the Baltimore dugout in 1968 and the team's fortunes turned upwards quick. Four of the seven pennants Baltimore won were with Weaver in control, including three straight from 1969-1971, winning the World Series in 1970. He stepped away after the 1982 season and the team he assembled won it all in 1983. Earl was known best for terrorizing umpires, with the AL even once manipulating the umpiring schedule to prevent Weaver and one umpire he particularly hated from crossing paths. Ejections were a common occurrence, even for both ends of a double header. #5 - Brooks Robinson Cal Ripken Jr may be the iron man, but no one played longer for the Baltimore Orioles than Human Vacuum Cleaner himself, Brooks Robinson. As ...

 There are many many years of voting in which the BBWAA failed to vote anyone in. 1945 is the first of those years, but the Old Timers Committee picked up the dropped ball and sent 10 men to the Hall of Fame from the pre-World Series era. As a result, we get lots of unique uniforms (I recently complained about the lack of the proper Boston Americans logo in the Bot , just look at that uniform!), classic teams, and most importantly, some top notch mustaches that baseball has sorely missed outside of the 70's Athletics. Also inducted: Wilbert Robinson (Manager - Brooklyn Robins)

The Arizona Diamondbacks came to life in 1998, so it's not unreasonable to see that they don't have a lot of historic players to honor with a number retirement. God willing, if this project of mine lasts that long, I can edit in another 25 years to amend the "youthful" status of the franchise, but until then we can marvel at the duo to be honored. #20 - Luis Gonzalez There are numerous instances in baseball history where one good season can define a players existence and garner immortality for their team. Roger Maris and Bill Mazeroski are a couple of prime examples, as such is Luis Gonzalez. In 2001, Luis has the season of his life (as covered by his official Showdown card) where he launched 57 homers. Like Roger Maris, that was a huge blip in an otherwise modest career for homers. His 224 homers as a D-Back is a franchise best, but lets not beat around the bush. His bloop single to win Game 7 of the 2001 World Series is the real reason the team immortalized him. For...

 After many years of effort, the Tampa Bay area finally debuted a Major League Baseball franchise in 1998. The Devil Rays, like any expansion team, was awful. Unlike their NL sibling in Arizona, the D-Rays could never find their feet in their first decade of existence. The winning would eventually come and the redubbed Rays would enjoy competitive play for years to come, but in their short time, they haven't had many players who would earn the ultimate team honor of a number retirement. There are notable choices however. #12 - Wade Boggs Wade Boggs with the Devil Rays isn't without a certain degree of controversy, mainly because of his Hall of Fame shenanigans. Signing with the team before their inaugural season, Boggs would spend the final two seasons of his Hall of Fame career with the Devil Rays, staying on track to get his 3000th hit in 1999. That season was covered by an official Showdown card in the original set, but 1998 is fair game here. He hit the first home run in De...