Friday trivia: Replacing Joe DiMaggio
The Yankees’ other No. 5
In the long, storied history of the New York Yankees, no one on the team wears the No. 5 after the 1951 retirement of Hall of Fame center fielder Joe DiMaggio.
After wearing No. 9 as a rookie in 1936, DiMaggio dons his iconic No. 5 during his final 12 active seasons with the Yankees from 1937-42 and again from 1946-51.
Joe DiMaggio and his No. 5
DiMaggio misses three full seasons from 1943-45 while serving in the military during World War II.
During those three seasons, DiMaggio’s No. 5 is given to a solid, left-handed hitter who for those three seasons replaces DiMaggio as the Yankees’ top run producer.
During his three seasons wearing DiMaggio’s No. 5, this player hits .283 in 360 games for the Yankees with 54 home runs, 309 runs batted in. He also collects 264 walks (36 of which are intentional) to push his on-base percentage north of .380.
Of course, when DiMaggio returns from World War II and reclaims his No. 5, the player who replaces him as the Yankees’ top run producer switches to another number – which, coincidentally, happens to be DiMaggio’s original No. 9 from 1936.
And the name of that player?
We will wait.
And wait.
And then wait just a little longer until you come up with the name of Nick Etten, the former Philadelphia Phillies first baseman whom the Yankees acquire before the 1943 season.
Etten stays with the Yankees through 1946 – DiMaggio’s first season back after the war.
Now wearing DiMaggio’s original No. 9, Etten struggles to hit .232 in 108 games with only nine homers and 49 RBIs.
Etten is sold back the Phillies on the eve of the 1947 season.
Etten, then 33, plays in only 14 games for the Phillies before they send him back to the Yankees.
He eventually finds himself in the minor leagues with the Boston Braves and Chicago White Sox, totaling 37 homers over 274 games in the American Association and Southern League before retiring after the 1950 season.
Nick Etten, right, in 1946 with Joe DiMaggio and teammate Joe Gordon, center