How #99 became Yankees-rookie default
The Yankees have one of the strictest jersey-number management practices in pro sports — the franchise has retired 23 numbers, more than any other team in any of the four major leagues, leaving very few single-digit and teen numbers available. The team has assigned high numbers (60-99) to spring-training non-roster invitees and to rookies who haven’t been promised a permanent number. Aaron Judge arrived at Yankees spring training in February 2017 as a non-roster invitee — meaning his locker had #99 on it.
Judge made the Yankees’ Opening Day roster as a 24-year-old rookie. He hit 4 home runs in April, 9 in May, 9 more in June, and finished the season with 52 — at the time the AL rookie home-run record. He won the 2017 AL Rookie of the Year unanimously, finished second in the AL MVP voting, and made the All-Star team. The Yankees offered him any available number after the season; he chose to stay with #99.
The 2022 #99 record-breaking season
Judge’s 62-home-run season in 2022 made #99 famous beyond the Yankees community. He passed Roger Maris’s 1961 AL record (61, set with the Yankees) on October 4 against the Texas Rangers in Arlington — Maris’s son Roger Jr. was at the game. Judge was wearing #99. The Yankees did not consider switching him to #61 or any other number to honor Maris.
Judge won the 2022 AL MVP unanimously. His 62 home runs is the AL single-season record (Sammy Sosa’s 64 in 2001 is in the NL but pre-PED-testing). The number 99 is now widely associated with Judge specifically — only one other AL player (the Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve, briefly in 2022) has worn 99 since Judge claimed it.
Other notable #99s in baseball
Before Judge, the most-known MLB #99 was Manny Ramirez (Boston Red Sox, 1996-2008), who wore the number partly because his original #24 was Carl Yastrzemski’s retired number in Boston. Ramirez kept 99 through his post-Boston career with the Dodgers. Mitch Williams, Lance Lynn, and Hisashi Iwakuma have all worn 99 in shorter stints.
In hockey, #99 is permanently retired league-wide for Wayne Gretzky — only the second league-wide retirement in pro sports (after MLB’s #42 for Jackie Robinson). In basketball, #99 is rarely worn but not retired. In football, #99 is a common defensive lineman number; Hall of Famers Mark Gastineau, Jason Taylor, and J.J. Watt all wore it.
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Wayne Gretzky 99: The Story Behind the Number Why Did Michael Jordan Wear 23? Why Kobe Bryant Changed From #8 to #24 Why LeBron James Wears 23 (and Briefly Wore 6)Background facts cross-referenced with the Wikipedia article on Aaron Judge and Pro-Football-Reference / Basketball-Reference public records. Lead image via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).