July 4, 1939, remains one of the most emotional days in sports history. The Yankee Stadium crowd assembled to honor Lou Gehrig and bear witness to his “Luckiest Man” speech. Co-owner Ed Barrow was one of the less memorable speakers that day. He announced the club would never give #4 to another player ever again, thus making it one of the only retired numbers in professional sports and the first in MLB.
As decades passed, the New York Yankees remain the unquestioned best franchise in sports at celebrating their own history. They now have nearly as many retired numbers as they do active players on the roster.