Every Retired Number in Big Four Sports History
From Babe Ruth's No. 3 to Wayne Gretzky's No. 99 to Jackie Robinson's No. 42 - the complete database of every jersey hung from the rafters, frozen in time, across all four major North American sports leagues.
All 540+ Retired Numbers, By League and Team
The tradition of retiring jersey numbers is one of sports' most solemn honors - an acknowledgment that a player's contribution was so singular, so tied to a franchise's identity, that no future player should wear that number. The practice began in 1939 when the Yankees retired Lou Gehrig's No. 4 during his farewell speech - two years before Gehrig died of ALS.
Use the league tabs and search to explore all four major leagues. Numbers highlighted in gold indicate a player who later had their number retired by multiple teams. Click any badge to see position and year retired.
The stat that gets me: The Boston Celtics have retired 21 numbers. Next closest in the NBA is the Lakers with 11. The Celtics have basically retired a number for every player who drank from the water fountain at the Garden. Meanwhile the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (among others) have zero. Zero! Not one jersey worth keeping off the field for eternity. That tells you something about franchise culture.
Key Sources
- MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL official team media guides and historical records
- Baseball Reference, Basketball Reference, Pro Football Reference, Hockey Reference
- Elias Sports Bureau historical data
- Individual team communications and Hall of Fame records
- Data current through 2025 season. Some recently announced retirements may not be reflected.
