With 21 days to go until Opening Day, we look back at two great careers wearing the number 21 jersey for the Mariners. On top of that, let’s look at the greatest player to wear the number 21 jersey and the movement for no one to ever wear the number again in baseball.
Alvin Davis
There have been 12 players in Mariners history to wear the number 21, and the seventh to do so was “Mr. Mariner” Alvin Davis. Davis was the first player in Mariners franchise history to be somewhat of a star and he is now a member of the Mariners Hall of Fame. Davis only made one All-Star Game in his career, his Rookie of the Year award-winning first season, but had a .920 OPS season in1989. In his eight-year Mariners career, Davis had a 128 OPS+ and 160 home runs.
Franklin Gutierrez
Guti, or as he also went by, Death to Flying Things, had a seven-year career in Seattle that started off promising but was ruined by injuries. After being acquired in a trade from Cleveland, Gutierrez started 153 games in center, hit 18 home runs, had a 6.6 WAR, and an insanely good 3.7 dWAR in 2009. Due to injuries, he would only play one more full season and would never be able to match those numbers except for two seasons later in his career (2013, 2015) where he still only played in 100 games between the two.
The Great One
Roberto Clemente is the greatest player to ever don the number 21 uniform, and because of his impact on and off the field, there is now a movement to have no one ever wear the number again just like the number 42. Spearheaded by the Pirates and Puerto Rican players, the hashtag “#Retire21” has taken off over the past few seasons.
https://twitter.com/SugarDiaz39/status/1303915400317394944?s=20
The annual MLB award for community service is named the Roberto Clemente Award and “Roberto Clemente Day” is celebrated in September by all teams. But due to his immense impact and legacy, the number 21 could be retired across the league as well. He would be joining Jackie Robinson’s 42 as the only numbers to be retired across the entire league if it were to happen.