A Sweet and Subtle Coincidence

It was hardly a surprise to see Luke Voit in the on-deck area swinging a bat fitted with a donut. The device, invented and promoted by the late and beloved Yankee Elston Howard, has become standard issue in baseball since the 1970s, replacing the previous tradition of players loosening up by swinging several bats. 

Then, when Luke got back in the field, I noticed that instead of his usual number 59, he was wearing 32, which the Yankees retired to honor Elston Howard after his death from a heart infection in 1980. 

No Yankee will ever again wear 32. But Sunday, Voit was playing for Triple A Scranton-Wilkes Barre, so no rule was broken. Instead, it was a very nice coincidence -- matching the other legacy of the Yankees first Black player, and 1963 American League MVP -- and, as we learned during his years in coaching, one of the most inventive.


 

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