A’s legend calls out team over jersey retirement confusion

The Oakland Athletics appear to have annoyed a franchise legend over the uncertain status of his jersey retirement ceremony.

Former A’s ace Dave Stewart was asked on Twitter Tuesday whether there were any updates on the plans from the team to retire the pitcher’s jersey. The A’s had announced in 2019 that Stewart would have his No. 34 retired, with the ceremony planned for 2020. The ceremony was postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic, but there was no word of a rescheduled ceremony in 2021. Similarly, the team’s 2022 promotional schedule makes no mention of a ceremony for Stewart.

That led a fan to ask Stewart over Twitter if there was an update.

The A’s ace sounded exasperated in his Twitter response, saying he had “no idea” what the team was doing. Stewart seemed so frustrated that he said he didn’t even care if they “just retire the number with no celebration.”

I have no idea what the A’s are doing. At this point they can just retire the number with no celebration as far as I’m concerned. Come to the park and it will be on display with the other retired numbers. If you find out something before I do, please let me know? 🙄

— Dave “Smoke” Stewart (@Dsmoke34) April 12, 2022

Stewart’s No. 34 is already out of circulation, as the team officially retired it for Rollie Fingers in 1993. Stewart had worn the same number prior to it being retired for Fingers, which prompted the team’s plans to specifically honor Stewart as well.

This isn’t a great look for the A’s. Obviously, the team had little choice but to postpone the initial ceremony. One would think they would have made it a priority to get a new date set up, but evidently that has not happened. Now that Stewart has called them out, perhaps that will catch the team’s attention.

Photo: Sep 6, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Dave Stewart reacts during an MLB game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports