Should the Phillies retire the numbers 11 for Rollins and 26 for Utley at some point?
The Philadelphia Phillies franchise has been playing baseball for 134 seasons now. The team first began using uniform jersey numbers in the 1932 season.
NO NUMBER RETIRED FOR KLEIN
The lone Hall of Famer who played in a significant portion of his career with the Phillies, and yet does not have a formal number retired, is Chuck Klein.
Klein played with the Phillies in two stints, from 1928-33, and again from 1936-44. In his first four seasons, the Phils still were not issuing uniform numbers.
Klein was with the club when it began issuing numbers for that 1932 campaign. He was issued the number “3”, which he again kept in the 1933 season.
Traded in November 1933, Klein was reacquired in a May 1936 trade. He would be released in June 1939, and subsequently sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the balance of that season. But he was back with the Phillies the following year until his retirement.
Beginning with his 1936 return, Klein would play in parts of nine more seasons with the Phillies. Over those nine years he would wear seven different numbers, including his old #3 in the 1942 campaign
Because he wore that #3 the most with the club, three seasons, the Phillies could have chosen to retire it in his honor. Instead, the Phillies have chosen to retire the official logo lettering used by the team during their tenures in honor of both Klein and Alexander.
MATT VEASEY 