Paul O'Neill will be immortalized among some of the biggest names in the history of baseball this summer when the New York Yankees retire his No. 21.
O'Neill will join names such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio when the Yankees retire his number on Aug. 21.
The last Yankee to wear No. 21, LaTroy Hawkins in 2008, caused some negative reactions among the Yankees faithful by wearing fan favorite O'Neill's number.
In nine seasons with the Yankees, O'Neill hit .303 with a .377 On-base percentage, 1,426 hits, 185 home runs and 858 RBI. He was also a member of four World Series-winning teams.
Paul O'Neill:At long last, New York Yankees will retire number 21 this summer
A fourth-round draft pick by the Reds in 1981 from Columbus Brookhaven High School, O'Neill spent eight seasons in Cincinnati. He hit .259 with a .336 OBP, 679 hits, 96 homers and 411 RBI. He was the right fielder on the 1990 World Series championship team.
He was traded by the Reds in the 1992 offseason for Roberto Kelly.
USA Today MLB writer Pete Caldera described O'Neill's arrival in New York:
Upon his arrival in the Bronx, O’Neill won the fans’ affection by wearing his emotions on his pinstriped sleeve, treating each at-bat as a personal war and helping to lift the Yankees from their early 1990s darkness to the Canyon of Heroes.
He posted career numbers of a .288 batting average, .363 OBP, 2,105 hits, 451 doubles, 281 home runs and 1,269 RBI. He was a five-time All-Star and the 1994 American League batting champion.
O'Neill had a plaque placed in Monument Park on "Paul O'Neill Day" in 2014.
New York Yankees retired numbers
No. 1 (Billy Martin, 1986)
No. 2 (Derek Jeter, 2017)
No. 3 (Babe Ruth, 1948)
No. 4 (Lou Gehrig, 1939)
No. 5 (Joe DiMaggio, 1952)
No. 6 (Joe Torre, 2014)
No. 7 (Mickey Mantle, 1969)
No. 8 (Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey, 1972)
No. 9 (Roger Maris, 1984)
No. 10 (Phil Rizzuto, 1985)
No. 15 (Thurman Munson, 1979)
No. 16 (Whitey Ford, 1974)
No. 20 (Jorge Posada, 2015)
No. 23 (Don Mattingly, 1997)
No. 32 (Elston Howard, 1984)
No. 37 (Casey Stengel, 1970)
No. 42 (Mariano Rivera, 2013)
No. 44 (Reggie Jackson, 1993)
No. 46 (Andy Pettitte, 2015)
No. 49 (Ron Guidry, 2003)
No. 51 (Bernie Williams, 2015).
*The Associated Press contributed.
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