The New York Yankees announced Monday that Bernie Williams (No. 51), Jorge Posada (No. 20) and Andy Pettitte (No. 46) will each have their uniform numbers retired and will be honored with plaques in Monument Park.
Willie Randolph also will be recognized with a Monument Park plaque.
The ceremonies are part of a recognition series that saw the honoring of Joe Torre, Rich “Goose” Gossage, Tino Martinez and Paul O’Neill in 2014.
Williams, Posada and Pettitte will become the 18th, 19th and 20th members of the Yankees to have their numbers retired, joining a list that includes legends Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle.
Williams will be celebrated on Sunday, May 24, before the Yankees’ game against the Texas Rangers. Randolph will be honored during Old-Timers’ Day festivities on Saturday, June 20, prior to the game against the Detroit Tigers. Posada will take his place in Monument Park on Saturday, August 22, and Pettitte will be recognized the next day.
Williams played his entire 16-year major league career with the Yankees (1991-2006), batting .297 in 2,076 games. In franchise history, the former center fielder ranks third in doubles (449), fifth in hits (2,336), sixth in games played and runs scored (1,366) and seventh in home runs (287) and RBIs (1,257). The five-time American League All-Star (1997-2001), four-time Gold Glove winner (1997-2000) and Silver Slugger Award recipient (2002) won the American League batting title in 1998, leading the league with a .339 batting average. A four-time World Series champion in pinstripes (1996, ’98, ’99, 2000), Williams is the Yankees’ all-time postseason leader in home runs (22) and RBIs (80), ranks second in playoff runs scored (83), hits (128) and doubles (29) and is third in games played (121).
Posada spent each of his 17 major league seasons with the Yankees from 1995-2011, hitting .273 with 1,664 hits, 900 runs, 379 doubles, 275 home runs and 1,065 RBIs in 1,829 games. As a player on five World Series championship teams (1996, ’98, ’99, 2000, ’09), Posada finished his career among baseball’s all-time postseason leaders in games played (second, 125), doubles (third, 23) and hits (fourth, 103), while his 119 postseason contests at catcher are the most all time. In 2011, the Puerto Rico native became the first major leaguer to catch at least one game with the same team in 17 straight seasons (1995-2011) since Cincinnati’s Johnny Bench did so in 17 consecutive seasons from 1967-83. Posada was a five-time All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner (each in 2000-03, ’07).
Pettitte was selected by the Yankees in the 22nd round of the 1990 draft and pitched in 15 seasons with the club (1995-2003, ’07-10 and ’12-13), going 219-127 with a 3.94 ERA over 2,796 1/3 innings. He had 2,020 strikeouts in 447 games (438 starts). The left-hander is the franchise leader in strikeouts, is tied with Whitey Ford for most games started and trails only Ford (236 wins, 3,171 innings) and Red Ruffing (231 wins, 3,168 innings) as a Yankee.
As a Yankees pitcher, Pettitte went 18-10 with a 3.76 ERA over 251 1/3 innings in 40 career postseason starts and is the organization’s all-time playoff leader in wins, starts, innings pitched and strikeouts (167). He appeared in eight career World Series (seven with the Yankees and one with Houston), earning the Series-clinching victory in Game 4 at San Diego in 1998 and Game 6 vs. Philadelphia in 2009, while also winning championships with the Yankees in 1996, ’99 and 2000.
Pettitte admitted using human growth hormone, a banned performance-enhancing drug, during his career but never was suspended.
Randolph spent 13 seasons playing for the Yankees from 1976-88, batting .275 with 1,731 hits, 1,027 runs, 259 doubles, 58 triples, 48 homers, 549 RBIs and 251 stolen bases in 1,694 games. He appeared in 1,688 games at second base with the team, more than any other player at the position in Yankees history, and ranks third on the organization’s all-time list in stolen bases. The five-time American League All-Star (1976-77, ’80-81 and ’87) was named a 1980 AL Silver Slugger in the award’s inaugural season. He played in 37 postseason games with the Yankees from 1977-81.
On March 4, 1986, Randolph and Ron Guidry were named Yankees co-captains. Randolph also spent 11 seasons coaching for the organization, serving as third base coach from 1994-2003 and bench coach in 2004.