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		Will MLB retire Babe’s No. 3? By Daniel Dullum June 5, 2008

	Ten years after Major League Baseball universally retired Jackie Robinson’s No. 42, Babe Ruth’s granddaughter wants to see her famous granddad get the same treatment. Linda Ruth Tosetti has been busy securing signatures for a petition she’ll be presenting to MLB in an attempt to have Ruth’s No. 3 retired throughout the majors. So far, Hall of Famers Rich Gossage, Whitey Ford, and Duke Snider have signed on. For what it’s worth, some teams have already retired No. 3. In addition to the Yankees, the Twins (Harmon Killebrew), White Sox (Harold Baines), Indians (Earl Averill), Braves (Dale Murphy) and Giants (Bill Terry) have also retired it, and the Babe starred for the Red Sox before they implemented uniform numbers. Tosetti just wants to see the other 25 teams get with the program. While Tosetti acknowledges the significance of Robinson breaking the color barrier, she points out that if it weren’t for Ruth, Robinson would have had no game of baseball to integrate. She’s referring to the Black Sox gambling scandal of 1919 and how her grandfather’s power hitting feats revived the sport’s fan interest and saved the game. Tosetti has a valid point. Then throw in some other feats, like his AL-leading 54 home runs in 1920, which exceeded the total homers of the next three sluggers combined. Or when he hit 60 homers in 1927, more than twice the number of any other major leaguer and more than his Yankee teammates combined. Then there are his 94 wins as a pitcher – including two 20-win seasons – and he was 3-0 with a 29 scoreless innings streak in World Series play. All that, and Babe Ruth was bigger than life. Decades after his death in 1948, his name still resonates with baseball fans, even those who think he actually had a candy bar named after him. As for retiring his number throughout baseball, I have mixed feelings on retired numbers in general. It’s a great honor, but teams like the Yankees have abused the privilege and they’re running out of baseball numbers – the Bronx Bombers could become the first team to wear triple digits on their jerseys. Personally, I prefer a ring of honor, where the players are identified along with their numbers, but the numbers are still worn by other players. There’s no shame in that; in fact, seeing a lesser talent wearing a number previously occupied by a hall of fame type can sometimes provide cheap humor for those who pay attention to such things (Imagine, for example, the Giants having the guts to issue No. 25 to a light-hitting utility infielder). Some teams don’t believe in retiring numbers, while others prefer to be stingy with the honor, so they don’t trivialize it. The Latino community would like to see Roberto Clemente honored in this fashion, but hasn’t succeeded. And they have a good case for their argument as well. It’ll be interesting to see if MLB goes along with Tosetti’s petition. If you’re so inclined, the petition can be signed electronically at www.retirebabesnumber.com. Smoltz injury could be devastating to Braves Just when the Atlanta Braves needed a break to stay in the National League East race, they received the worst kind. Veteran pitcher John Smoltz will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. Smoltz has been throwing sidearm of late to try and take some of the pressure off his right shoulder, but it wasn’t working. He’s come back from surgeries before, including a Tommy John operation, but he’s now 41 and the possibility of a comeback at 42 or 43 isn’t likely. But then, who thought Randy Johnson would still be pitching for Arizona at 44 following back surgery? The odds are against Smoltz, but don’t bet against a comeback attempt. It’s hard to believe it’s been 21 years since Atlanta acquired Smoltz from Detroit as the player to be named later in a pennant-race deal for Doyle Alexander. I’m not sure what Alexander is up to these days, but Smoltz is headed to Cooperstown, even if his career ends this week.