How Verlander joining the Giants causes jersey number conundrum originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
With their reported addition of Justin Verlanderthe Giants face an interesting dilemma as a franchise.
The veteran ace has worn number 35 for virtually his entire baseball career, dating back to his days at Old Dominion University. It’s a tribute to one of its heroes, Frank Thomas, but San Francisco already has its own legend who wore number 35 – two-time World Series champion shortstop Brandon Crawford.
Crawford has officially retired baseball in late 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 local star.
He did it all wearing number 35, playing in a franchise record 1,654 games for his hometown team with 147 career home runs, four Gold Gloves and three MLB All-Star nods. And Crawford of course played a key role in the Giants’ title run in the 2012 and 2014 World Series.
Soon after Crawford’s departure, will the Giants let another MLB legend wear the same number in orange and black? Many would say 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, agrees 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.
Maybe Verlander could make a change – he didn’t wear number 35 his entire career, to be fair. Verlander recorded the first strikeout of his MLB career under a different number in his first start in 2005. Forced to accept what the Detroit Tigers gave him on short notice, Verlander wore #59 for his first two starts.
Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey won two of his three championships alongside Crawford. So he knows how important the shortstop and his number are to San Francisco fans.
But for now, we’ll have to wait and see what happens to No. 35 in the Bay.
