How Verlander joining Giants causes jersey-number conundrum originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
With their reported addition of Justin Verlander, the Giants face an interesting dilemma as a franchise.
The veteran ace has worn No. 35 for essentially his entire storied baseball career, dating back to his days at Old Dominion University. It’s a tribute to one of his heroes, Frank Thomas, but San Francisco already has its own legend who wore No. 35 — two-time World Series champion shortstop Brandon Crawford.
Crawford officially retired from baseball at the end of November after spending the final season of his 14-year MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2024. He played his first 13 seasons for the Giants — the team he grew up rooting for — and became the best shortstop in franchise history as a homegrown star.
He did it all wearing No. 35, playing a franchise-record 1,654 games for his hometown team with 147 career homers, four Gold Gloves and three MLB All-Star nods. And Crawford of course was a key part of the Giants’ 2012 and 2014 World Series title runs.
So soon after Crawford’s departure, will the Giants let another MLB legend wear the same number in the Orange and Black? Many would argue the former shortstop deserves to have his No. 35 jersey retired in San Francisco. In the meantime, the Giants will celebrate Crawford at Oracle Park on April 26.
Verlander, the other No. 35, is in agreement with the Giants on a one-year, $15 million contract for the 2025 season, ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers reported Tuesday, citing sources.
Perhaps Verlander could make a change — he hasn’t worn No. 35 his entire career, to be fair. Verlander recorded the first strikeout of his MLB career wearing a different number when he made his first start in 2005. Forced to take what the Detroit Tigers gave him on short notice, Verlander wore No. 59 for his first two starts.
Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey won two of his three championships playing alongside Crawford, so he knows just how important the shortstop and his number are to San Francisco fans.
But for now, we’ll have to wait and see what becomes of No. 35 in the Bay.
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