It was George Steinbrenner who nicknamed Paul O’Neill as “The Warrior,” a moniker that was “almost embarrassing” to O’Neill while he was an active player.
It’s much more of a compliment now, and much like he’ll forever be “The Warrior,” No. 21 will forever belong to O’Neill in Yankees lore once it’s retired on August 21.
“You embrace those nicknames much more when you don’t have to prove anything on the field anymore! But obviously, it was a compliment, and I take it as that now,” O’Neill said on a Zoom call Wednesday to discuss his pending number retirement. “Every at-bat, game, and World Series meant a lot to me, because it’s always been about winning and losing. That’s how I played during my career, and that’s why it was so much fun playing here where winning almost seemed natural. The cool thing about it is that when you sign a contract you still have to prove yourself, but this, you just get to enjoy this.”
O’Neill came to New York prior to the 1993 season, the Yankees’ haul in one of the most lopsided one-for-one trades in history: “The Warrior” (and a minor-leaguer) for Roberto Kelly, who played 125 games for the Reds before being dealt to Atlanta for Deion Sanders while O’Neill won four World Series and a batting title in nine seasons in pinstripes.
One of the first things he did was take a trip to Monument Park, and one of the first experiences he relished was his first Old-Timers’ Day, where he got to meet some of the greats – including a few who were in Monument Park, too.
“The first thing I noticed when I got here was the history and pride of the Yankees. Then I had the opportunity to meet Mick and Yogi and Whitey – those are great memories for me,” O’Neill said. “There’s always the first time you go out there (to Monument Park) and some of the names hit home.
You see Babe Ruth, then Lou Gehrig, then you graduate to Yogi and Mickey and these iconic names go on and on. Seeing all those plaques and numbers out there is what brings it all home.”
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That history and that lineage is a big part of why O’Neill is so humbled to get this honor from the Yankees.
“That’s why this is so special: to have your numbers mixed in with some of the greats to ever play the game, it’s the highest honor I’ve ever been given in baseball,” O’Neill said. “You never put yourself in a position where you think you’re going to achieve something like those greats did. Many times playing, and doing games, you look up at that wall of those retired numbers – and now, to look up there at some point and see the 21 that means so much to me, I can’t thank the Yankees enough.”
O’Neill already has a plaque in Monument Park commemorating his career, but there’s a reason why the number retirement is that much more special.
“This is a different game. The plaque was such an honor, but all of a sudden, there’s that special area with numbers, and the names that go with them – to know 21 won’t be worn again is such an honor,” he said. “I don’t know how to explain it. It just keeps replaying in my mind how cool this is.”
O’Neill will be the 23rd Yankee and 22nd number to be retired (8 is of course enshrined twice), but he’ll be the seventh member of that late-1990s Yankees dynasty that won four World Series and reached a fifth to get his number on that wall.
The range of retired numbers goes from The Babe to The Captain, Whitey to Gator, The Iron Horse to Donnie Baseball – but to have seven of the 23 be part of the last dynasty, his dynasty, also means a lot to “The Warrior.”
“You took it for granted then, but I look back at being part of those teams and realize how hard it is to continually win,” O’Neill said. “And, that makes this much more special because of the guys before you. You look out at Monument Park…these things happen everywhere, but when they happen with the Yankees, it’s kind of mind blowing with the history. Some people may say it’s a lot of people from one group, but a lot of good things happened in a short time, and I’m proud to be associated with those guys and those teams.”
As O’Neill even noted, it may be a long time before we ever see a three-peat, or a team reach four World Series in a row or five out of six as the Yankees did from 1996 to 2001. And even though he watched six others from that group go onto the wall before he did – and was here when Don Mattingly’s number was retired as well – it doesn’t mean any less…in fact, it maybe means more.
“I was proud to watch my teammates’ numbers go in there, and they were very deserving. They were part of a run that we don’t know if or when we’ll see again in sports,” he said. “To have Mr. Steinbrenner keep those teams together gave us opportunities, and that doesn’t always equate into winning World Series. It did for us, and it’s amazing to me that people associate me as part of those teams.”
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