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On July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig became the first Major League Baseball player to have his number, 4, retired by his team. Since then, over 120 other people have had their numbers retired. The Yankees were the first team to retire a number. Number 4, Lou Gehrig was the first player to have his number retired
Lou Gehrig 1940
Lou Gehrig was the first Yankee to have his number retired. The #4 was retired by the Yankees in 1939.
Jackie Robinson was the first player to break the Major League Baseball "Color Barrier". He broke the barrier wearing the number 42 which is now retired for all of Major League Baseball. The only player left wearing it is Marino Rivera of the New York Yankees. Jackie Robinson broke the barrier with The Brooklyn (now L.A.) Dodgers
Jackie Robinson's jersey number are retired from all MLB teams because Robinson was the first African American baseball player in MLB history.His number was not retired because he was one of the best players but, because of the reason stated above.Most experts do not believe that he was not among the top players in history; some even say he is not the best to wear his jersey number, 42.