Texas Rangers: Revisiting 2019 New Year’s Resolutions One Year Later

Resolution #1: Retire Adrian Beltre’s and Michael Young’s Jerseys

The Texas Rangers had the opportunity to honor a pair of franchise legends this past season and they did just that. I’m sure Jon Daniels saw my post last year. The Rangers retired both Adrian Beltre’s number and Michael Young’s number, cementing their legacies as legends of the Texas Rangers organization.

Adrian Beltre got his deserved jersey retirement on June 8th, less than seven months after he announced his retirement from the game. That gap seems like rapid speed for a retirement but Beltre is arguably the best player to play in Texas and despite playing for a few teams along his career, will likely be most remembered for his time in Arlington. He’ll be a first ballot Hall of Famer and the Rangers wanted to be proactive in making sure his legacy and the organization will be intertwined for the rest of time.

Michael Young’s retirement was not nearly as swift and had many more hurdles to overcome. Nobody has worn No. 10 since he left he organization to finish out his playing career in Philadelphia and the NL side of Los Angeles. He retired from the game in 2014 and his number retirement was a no-brainer for the Rangers front office. Still, it took five years for him to finally be honored, likely due to the fact that another influential player in club history, Jim Sundberg, also wore the No. 10 before Young’s time. However, what was once a wrong has now been righted and the Ranger can check resolution one off their list.

Verdict: Completed