Today is Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) which commemorates the
Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the
Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867).
But at “Top Of The Third” we will hold our own Cinco de Mayo where we
will list our top five favourite Major League Baseball players of all time who
wore the number five. Enjoy.
George Brett, Kansas
City Royals, 1975-1993
George Brett started his career
in 1973 when he played 13 games for the Royals and wore number “25”. He wore
the same number in his official rookie season of 1974 before switching to
number “5” in 1975. He would
continue to wear the number until he retired after the 1993 season, having
played his entire career with Kansas City.
Brett was a 13-time All-Star,
the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 1980 when he flirted with hitting
.400 (he finished batting .390), won two Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers and
was the ALCS MVP in 1985 while helping the Royals to their first World
Championship. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.
Rance Mulliniks,
Toronto Blue Jays, 1982-1992
Rance Mulliniks is one of my
favourite Blue Jays of all time. When I played baseball as a kid, I was nicknamed
“Rance” because I wore glasses while playing and I never wore batting gloves.
Mulliniks started his career in 1977 with the California Angels, where he
played parts of three seasons wearing number “18.” After two season with the
Kansas City Royals where he wore the same number, he joined the Jays in 1982
and was given number “5” which he wore until he retired after the 1992 season.
Mulliniks was never an All-Star,
never won awards but he helped the Jays win American League Eastern Division
titles in 1985, 1989 and 1991. He played in 1115 games with Toronto, batting
.280, hitting 68 home runs and adding 389 RBIs.
Brooks Robinson,
Baltimore Orioles, 1957-1977
Brooks Robinson played with the
Orioles from 1955 to 1977, but didn’t wear number “5” until 1957. He played six
games with Baltimore in 1955, wearing number “40”, and played 15 games in 1956,
wearing numbers “6” and “35”. Altogether, he played in parts of 23 seasons with
the O’s, appearing in 2896 regular season games, 18 ALCS games and 21 World
Series games.
One of the finest defensive
third baseman of all time, Robinson won 16 consecutive Gold Gloves from 1960 to
1975, while appearing in 15 All-Star Games and winning the American League MVP
Award in 1964. For his career, he batted .267, hit 268 home runs and added 1357
RBIs. He was inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 1983.
Hank Greenberg,
Detroit Tigers, 1934-1941, 1945-1946
Pittsburgh Pirates,
1947
Hank Greenberg played one game
for the Detroit Tigers in 1930, when the Tigers didn’t have uniform numbers
yet. He then wore number “7” in 1933 before switching to number “5” in 1934.
The only years he didn’t wear that number for Detroit was between 1942 and 1944
when he served in the military in World War II. His final year for the Pirates
in 1947 saw him wear number “5” as well.
Greenberg was a two-time
American League MVP (1935, 1940) and a four-time All-Star. He led the AL in
home runs three times (36 in 1935, 58 in 1938 and 41 in 1940) and RBIs three
times (168 in 1935, 184 in 1937 and 150 in 1940). For his career, he played in
1394 games, batted .313, hit 331 home runs and added 1274 RBIs, and missed
three seasons during the war in which he could have added to those numbers. He
was inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 1958.
David Wright, New
York Mets, 2004—Current
David Wright is the only player
on my list that was never worn a number other than “5” in his big league
career. He was drafted by the Mets in 2001 and made his debut in July of 2004
against the Montreal Expos. He is a seven-time All-Star, was won two Gold
Gloves and two Silver Slugger Awards.
In 1546 career games, Wright has
batted .298, hit 235 home runs, added 956 RBIs and stolen 193 bases. He helped
lead the Mets to the playoffs in 2006 and 2015.
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