Here's an idea...

An interesting quandary has been served up by the guys at River Avenue Blues. And it has to do with honoring past Yankee heroes.

With the new stadium on tap for 2009, and fans clamoring for appropriate ways to honor retired Yankees of the late 1990s, why not come up with something novel that not only allows the retired guys -- and specifically we're talking about Bernie Williams and Paul O'Neill -- to have a special place in Yankee lore, but also allows the sacred uniform numbers to remain in play?

Retiring jersey numbers is as time-honored as the games themselves, but for practical purposes, the practice becomes a problem the longer the game goes on. Conceivably, with enough great players in the history books -- and which franchise has had more great players than the Yankees? -- a franchise will begin to run out of numbers, at least numbers that are considered traditional for everyday players to wear. Already, the Yankees have shelved the numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 (twice), 9, 10, 15, 16, 23, 32, 37, 42, 44, and 49. With the numbers 2 (for Derek Jeter, no question about it), and 5 (for Joe Torre, almsot no question about it), headed for posterity, the Yankees certainly aren't in danger of putting letters on their backs (how would 'Z' look running down a fly ball in center?), but you get the point.

With the appearance of the number 21 on Morgan Ensburg's spring training uniform, fans were first stunned, then inquisitive. How dare he?, some asked. Then others countered with, Well, it's the Yankees' fault for leaving the number available. But does O'Neill really merit a fully-retired number? After all, eight of his 17 major league seasons were spent in Cincinnati -- not true of Bernie, who was a once and future Yankee, for always and for all time. Yes, O'Neill was an indispensible cog in the wheel for all of his years in the Bronx; no one disputes that. But the argument will rage on about his 'retirement' status, with no easy answer to the question.

But one easy solution is to retire a jersey with 'O'Neill' printed atop a '21.' Yes, I know, the Yankees do it the right way by not printing palyer names on their field uniforms, but this is a retired jersey, and it would not only serve O'Neill appropriately for his legendary contributions to the team, but it also would allow the number to remain in circulation.

(Personally, I think a current player wearing a hallowed veteran number is a better tribute to the wearers past. It keeps the 'spirit' of the retired players alive, whereas a retired number seems almost to be a memorial to the honored dead. But that's just me.....)

Anyway, there is no doubt the Yankees have to do something for O'Neill and especially for Bernie. What they will do, who knows? But retiring jersies might just be a better gesture than taking all these numbers out of circulation.

I mean, our great-great grandkids might one day be watching a hot young shortstop with a number 102 on his back. And that's not really baseball, is it?