Bronx Bomber Gets Honored

Playing for one of the most iconic franchises in all of sports is a pretty big deal. Getting your number retired by that franchise is another huge honor. When that happens for the New York Yankees, you know you made one hell of an impact. That's what Paul O'Neil did. He is the next Yankee to get tabbed for that honor. His number 21 will be retired on August 21st, when the Yankees play host to the Toronto Blue Jays.

All of this of course is pending on whether or not we will actually have baseball this season, but that's for another time. Now we just look at the body of work for Paul O'Neil as a Yankee.

November 3rd, 1992. That's the day that O'Neil got traded by the Reds to the Yankees for Roberto Kelly. The rest as they say, is history. O'Neil was a four time All Star and won four World Series while playing in the Bronx. During his time in New York, O'Neil had a .303 batting average. He had 1,426 hits, 304 doubles, 185 home runs, 858 runs batted in, a .377 on-base percentage and an .869 OPS. To top it off, he hit .359 in 1994, which won him the AL Batting Title. It was more then just that.

O'Neil was fondly remembered by Yankees fans as a warrior and is considered by many to have been the heart and soul of those dynasty teams of the Yankees in the late 90s. He had such a passion and love for the game and that came through every day on the field. As of this, half of the Yankees numbers have been retired between one and thirty.

Congrats on a big honor for a hell of a ball player,