Most professional sports organizations have banners representing retired players’ numbers, championship seasons, and other glorious accomplishments hanging from the rafters in their home arena or stadium.
Fans entering their favorite team’s home stadium or arena look for reminders of some of their happiest moments rooting for victories. Individual players’ success stories; how many baskets were scored in a particular game, a milestone goal scored on ice, or the number of championships collected by a particular group of players or coach—these are important connections between fans and teams.
Take the Boston Celtics as an example of organizational excellence. Once inside the TD Garden, located directly above Boston’s North Station’s transit system, it’s difficult not to be wowed by the many banners hanging from the rafters of Celtic royalty. One of the most storied franchises in basketball, 22 uniform numbers are retired, plus a coach and an owner. Along with the 18 NBA championship banners on display, the numbers and names of the best ballers in Boston history, which run from 00 (worn by “The Chief” Robert Parrish for 14 seasons) to Larry Bird (No. 33), John Havlicek ((No. 17), and Bob Cousy (No. 14) are in plain sight for Celtic fans to look back on happy times in their youth.
On a trip to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, many first-time visitors compare the experience to entering a hall of fame. Monument Park, a Yankee museum located beyond the outfield wall, pays tribute to the team’s great tradition of producing hall of famers and those who contributed to building 27 World Series championships.
There are 38 individuals recognized with either a plaque or monument. Along with World Series acknowledgements, 24 uniform numbers are retired and paid homage to in Monument Park. And 21 of those represented in the park—including managers, executives, and players—have entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. The Yankees retired two numbers twice. Former catchers and both hall of famers, Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra, each wore No. 8 during their careers in the Bronx. And MLB clubs have retired the late Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson’s No. 42. Former Yankees’ reliever Mariano Rivera also wore No. 42 for 19 seasons.
Deciding on who is in contention to have a banner hung in appreciation of an exceptional career, and where banners or flags can be displayed, is an art. Jim Trdinich, who is the Pittsburgh Pirates’ historian and also oversees the team’s hall of fame, explains the club’s policies on how individual banners are decided upon, and their placement in and around PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
“There are 28 banners placed around the Park. By mid-March, we have 35 banners made with player photos on. I keep tabs on the club’s roster continuously,” Trdinich said to The Epoch Times. “If a player is traded or moved from the roster, there’s an internal process with our stadium operations team to keep the banners fresh. In the past, we’ve had division pennants, World Series flags, plus, we have had our Hall of Fame since 2022.”
When it comes to the National Hockey League, the Montreal Canadiens are tops in combined uniform numbers retired and Stanley Cup championship banners hanging from the rafters of the Bell Center.
Winners of 24 NHL championships, the last coming in 1993, there are 18 former players who have been bestowed the honor of having their uniform number retired. Among the select Canadiens’ alumni with their number hung high a top inside the Bell Center is Howie Morenz. Morenz’s No. 7 was the first to be retired by the Canadiens, and in a storied career that saw him win the Hart Trophy (NHL MVP) three times, Morenz was among the inaugural nine-member class of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945. Maurice “The Rocket” Richard’s No. 9 was retired on Oct. 6, 1960, the same year that he retired from the NHL after an 18-year career.
Whereas numbers to be retired by teams in most cases isn’t done so on a regular basis, campaigning for new editions to an elite club is. Just recently in New York, one hockey beat writer has been actively writing for former New York Rangers’ defenseman and Hockey Hall of Famer Brad Park to get his No. 2 hung from Madison Square Garden’s ceiling. Park, who skated for the Rangers during the first eight seasons of an 18 year NHL career, would be joined by his four former New York teammates of the 1970s who have their number retired.
The National Football League has its share of Super Bowl championship pennants and retired uniform number banners on display in stadiums. On any given Sunday, fans entering their home team’s stadium will find historic reminders of great moments and big victories on display. The New York Giants and Chicago Bears, each with 14, lead the way in numbers no longer available to current day players.
Legendary names such as Ditka, Butkus, Payton, and Nagurski are at the Bears’ starting line of numbers out of circulation. The Giants, like the Bears, arrived in the early 1920s. Since 1925, the Giants have collected four Super Bowl titles, and have called six stadiums home. Since 2010, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, has been the Giants’ home turf. The “Ring of Honor” celebrates those Giants who have made lasting contributions to the team. There are 51 names encircling MetLife of extraordinary Giants of the past. Gogolak, Manning, Webster, and Mara are among the “best of the best” footballers to have shined with the team.
There are currently a few professional teams who have yet to give special recognition to a specific uniform number for a given reason, or haven’t won a major championship, thus, no banners to boast of. In the NFL Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders are among this group. No NBA Los Angeles Clippers’ player number is retired. MLB’s Miami Marlins, also, falls into this category. Canadian-based Winnipeg Jets, Las Vegas Golden Knights, and the Utah Hockey Cub are the NHL teams with no uniform numbers not being distributed.
