Honoring Paul O’Neill’s No. 21 elevates him in Monument Park but removes him from an odd fraternity of players whose numbers are out of circulation but have not been officially retired.
For Morgan Ensberg, damage control started when he saw his uniform number at spring training in 2008. It was 21, the number worn by Paul O’Neill for nine sterling seasons in pinstripes, and after six years out of circulation, the Yankees had decided to quietly reintroduce it.