A look at the MLB face of the franchise for the 21st century for each team.
When your mind pictures a particular league uniform, whose face is wearing it?
It’s likely the face of a veteran mega-star, somebody of the stripe of the Cardinals’ Yadier Molina. Molina retired at the end of the 2022 season after a 19-year career, all of that time spent behind the plate for St. Louis.
Every team has a franchise face, somebody you see when you picture the team’s colors. That player may be a long-time local idol, as Molina is in the Gateway City. Or it may be a star in his prime. Jose Altuve fits that mold. It may also be a retired star such as Yankee Hall of Famer Derek Jeter.
What follows is a look at each franchise’s 21st century “face,” that single person who exemplifies the team’s recent past, present and (sometimes) its future.
Selection of the face is generally performance-related, but not entirely. Personality factors can influence the final selection. About one-third have already retired, and a couple have found their way to Cooperstown. Others are bound there, while some will never make it.
But each selectee has one thing in common with all the others. Each, whether still in uniform or already departed, possesses an exceptional identity with “his” franchise, its personality and its fan base.
Take a spin through the list, and see how many selections you agree with. Or perhaps you have a list of your own. We’ve also added a notation at the end of each entry assessing which players we might be talking about as a franchise face a decade from now.