Yankees Want to Stop Giving Numbers to Coaches

The New York Yankees are reportedly asking MLB if they can stop giving jersey numbers to coaches. They are running out of numbers for the teams' players, because they have retired so many.

The New York Yankees are reportedly asking Major League Baseball if they can stop giving uniform numbers to coaches. The reason? The Yankees have too many retired numbers and are running out of numbers for players.

The New York Yankees are asking MLB if they can stop issuing jersey numbers to coaches — because they're running out of numbers for players, per @BrendanKutyNJ.

The Yankees have retired a record 22 numbers throughout their history. pic.twitter.com/fBII5Ncvw5

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) March 30, 2023

The Yankees have retired 22 numbers over the course of the organization's existence. They are as follows:

• No. 1: Billy Martin
• No. 2: Derek Jeter
• No. 3: Babe Ruth
• No. 4: Lou Gehrig
• No. 5: Joe DiMaggio
• No. 6: Joe Torre
• No. 7: Mickey Mantle
• No. 8: Yogi Berra
• No. 8: Bill Dickey
• No. 9: Roger Maris
• No. 10: Phil Rizzuto
• No. 15: Thurman Munson
• No. 16: Whitey Ford
• No. 20: Jorge Posada
• No. 21: Paul O'Neill
• No. 23: Don Mattingly
• No. 32: Elston Howard
• No. 37: Casey Stengel
• No. 42: Mariano Rivera
• No. 44: Reggie Jackson
• No. 46: Andy Pettitte
• No. 49: Ron Guidry
• No. 51: Bernie Williams

There are no single-digit numbers left for Yankees players at all. Currently, there are 11 coaches all taking up numbers. Manager Aaron Boone wears No. 17 while bench coach Carlos Mendoza (64), hitting coach Dillon Lawson (74) and pitching coach Matt Blake (77) all have numbers. The other numbers in use by coaches are: 78, 68, 79, 75, 67, 60 and 76.

This seems like a fairly reasonable request from the Yankees. Most coaches don't even wear a uniform that's visible anyways. It's usually covered up by a sweatshirt, BP top or pullover.