Earlier this week, Paul O’Neill got a call from Debbie Tymon, the Yankees’ Senior VP of Marketing, and thought it was just one of their usual occasional calls about upcoming events.
Instead, after a brief conversation, Tymon broke the news to O’Neill that his number was going to be retired on August 21, bringing an emotional moment to the entire O’Neill family.
“She broke the news, and I almost dropped the phone, and my wife was in tears,” O’Neill said on a Zoom call Wednesday afternoon. “She told me Hal Steinbrenner would be calling me, which he did later in the day, and it’s a day I won’t ever forget just because of how my whole family took it. The importance of something like this…when you’re out of the game, and you see how it impacts your family, that’s what makes it more special.”
No. 21 has been special to O’Neill since the first time he attended a Major League Baseball game with his father, as his hometown Cincinnati Reds were playing against a pretty darn good No. 21.
“I was given 21 with the Reds and was fortunate enough to have it basically my whole career,” said O’Neill, “but the first game I ever went to, we were at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, and my dad pointed me in the direction where No. 21 for the Pirates was in the background. That was Roberto Clemente, and when I got to Cincinnati and they gave me 21, that was the first thing that came to my mind, that it was Roberto Clemente’s number. That’s where it became special to me.”
O’Neill inherited his pinstriped No. 21 from Scott Sanderson, who wore it in 1991 and 1992, and it’s not lost on Pail that even though he was just the 37th of 38 to ever wear it – a list that includes legends like Red Ruffing, superstars like Deion Sanders, and even fellow Seinfeld joke punchline Ken Phelps – he still sees jerseys and shirseys with his name over the 21 in the stands two decades after he gave it up.
“I had heard that a big reason for this is the backing of the fans, and all I can do is be thankful for that, because the fans treated me unbelievably well as a player and in the booth,” O’Neill said. “I’ve always been amazed when I’m doing games and you look down and you see people with 21 on, even at away games. It means a lot, because it just goes to show you some people liked you as a player. There were a ton of No. 2’s back then and a lot of 99’s now, but there’s always a little chuckle every time I see a 21 around the park. There was a generation of people who associated my name with that number, and that’s special.”
Related
O’Neill has no issues with the fact that it was worn briefly by LaTroy Hawkins in 2008, and while no one else ever will in pinstripes at least, there are surely many kids who grew up wearing No. 21 in Cincinnati, New York, or beyond because their favorite player was Paul O’Neill. And even one, he learned, is named for him, and that’s part of why he’s thrilled to share this honor with the fans.
“I got a call about a Pirates prospect whose dad was a big fan, and that I was the inspiration for his name,” Paul said, referencing Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz, whose dad Rafael played minor-league ball and counted “The Warrior” as his favorite player. “But it goes to show, still to this day, not a day goes by that I don’t see someone somewhere who wants to talk about the Yankees. There’s a whole country of fans who follow this tradition, and I can’t emphasize enough how much this organization has meant to me and my family for almost 30 years now.”
Cruz wore No. 61 in his two-game cameo with the Pirates last season, because No. 21 is of course unavailable for that franchise thanks to Clemente.
Come August 21, O’Neill’s No. 21 will join Clemente, the namesake of MLB’s annual award given to the player who “best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team" on the list of retired No. 21s around baseball.
It’ll also join 22 other men and 21 other numbers in Yankees lore, which is something his children, his grandchildren, and any future generations of O’Neills will always have as their own baseball story.
“It’s really hard to let it all sink in. Every day I wake up and wonder if it’s really happening, it means that much,” O’Neill said. “We’ve had our first grandchild and have a second on the way, and your kids can tell them that you wore that number…that really hits you, to have something to pass on. You never think about these things when you’re playing the game; you worry more about getting a hit or winning a game. Those goals go away, but this to me, every time I go into Yankee Stadium, it won’t go away.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch