The Yankees recalled RHP Miguel Yajure from their Alternate Training Site on Thursday and issued him No. 89, a landmark moment in team history: that is the last two-digit number that had never been worn in team history, and in fact has never been worn by an active player in an MLB game anywhere.
Yajure's arrival means that literally every number from 0-99 has been worn by a major-leaguer, and the Yankees add one more to a legacy of "one-number wonders," namely jersey numbers that have only been used once in team history.
The Yankees now have 11 of those numbers, and while you definitely know Yajure is the only No. 89, likely know that Adam Ottavino is the only No. 0, and should know Lou Gehrig was the only No. 4, do you remember the other eight? Here's a hint – six of those eight have been in use this season.
Here they are, in numerical order:
No. 69: Alan MillsNICE. Well, the number, not so much Mills' tenure in it. Mills, who came to the Yankees in mid-1987 as the player to be named later in the deal that sent Butch Wynegar to the Angels, made his MLB debut in 1990 and wore both 69 and 28 that season. Neither was lucky, as he went 1-5 with a 4.10 ERA in 36 relief appearances. The following year, he wore both 45 and 50 in his six appearances as a Yankee – oddly, three were starts, and two saw him finish the game – but he never got a chance to add more to the repertoire, as he was dealt to Baltimore that winter and took on another unique number: 75.
No. 75: David HaleSpeaking of 75, the one and only in Yankees history is Hale, whose career in pinstripes came to an end for the umpteenth time when he was designated for assignment on August 17. Hale wore No. 61 (taken 28 times, currently by Ben Heller) in his first stints in pinstripes in 2018, but for the last two seasons, he went from offensive line to defensive line, so to speak. Hale had a 2.98 ERA in 54 1/3 innings in a swing role in pinstripes as of the DFA, but let's be real: he had as good of a chance of returning again as the sun does of rising in the east tomorrow.
No. 79: Nick Nelson, No. 82: Brooks Kriske, and No. 84: Albert AbreuWe lump these three together because all three happened this year, and all three of the pitchers who wore them made their MLB debuts in those jerseys, so it's kind of unfair to list their stats like we did with Mills and Hale. Still, they are a part of the squad – well, Nelson is, at least, because as of Yajure's call-up, Kriske and Abreu were both at the alternate site. None of those three numbers are incredibly popular league-wide, but the former belongs to Jose Abreu and the latter was Prince Fielder's…and until Kriske, 82 literally was a one-number wonder for 75 years, as the only other previous owner anywhere in baseball was former Red Sox outfielder Johnny Lazor, who wore it all the way back in 1943.
No. 85: Luis CessaCessa became the first Yankee to don No. 85 when he made his MLB debut on April 8, 2016, and he still wears it to this day, rocking it for all 92 (and counting) of his MLB appearances through the Yankees' August 20 loss to the Rays. Only five players in history have ever even worn No. 85, three of which are active in 2020 (Cessa, the Dodgers' Dustin May, and Tampa Bay's Sean Gilmartin), and the first of which was ex-Met Lastings Milledge during the 2009 season in Pittsburgh and Washington. The fifth, FYI, was Boston's Che-Hsuan Lin in 2012.
No. 90: Thairo EstradaEstrada now wears No. 71, but for part of his rookie season of 2019, the infielder was just the second-ever No. 90. He also wore No. 30, which is a multiple of 90, and really, that means nothing in this context. But we're hurting for a blurb, since Estrada and Cleveland's Adam Cimber (who debuted No. 90 in San Diego in 2018) are the only ones who've ever gone with that set of consecutive digits in MLB history.
No. 91: Alfredo AcevesThe number 91 has a light history of five, albeit a famed one; Hideo Nomo wore it for a spell in Kansas City in 2008, Carlos Gomez had it as a Met last season, Tim Spooneybarger has a great name and a claim to fame as the first No. 91 with the Marlins in 2003, and 2016 Padre Paul Clemens is also a person who has worn the number. Aceves, though, is the most frequent wearer, donning it over seven seasons with the Yankees (2008-10, 2014) and Red Sox (2011-13). He carved out a nice career in it, too, as he was 15-3 with a 3.65 ERA and two saves in 69 games with the Yankees, 16-13 with a 3.49 ERA and 27 saves in 135 tilts with Boston, and was on two World Series championship teams. Hats off to you, Ace.
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