George Steinbrenner revenge decision led directly to Cam Schlittler's Yankees number

The New York Yankees had no choice but to relent and promote rookie Cam Schlittler to start in Clarke Schmidt's place on Wednesday night. Still, it was surprising to see an emergency starter rocking a number with such historical prominence.

The Allan Winans of the world (sorry, Allan) typically come up, operate under the dimmed spotlight of No. 67, and disappear into the night. Schlittler, with the 6'6" build and Gerrit Cole lettuce? He toed the rubber wearing No. 31, cementing his potential importance before he'd ever thrown a pitch.

Then, he started throwing pitches, and hurled the Yankees' seven-hardest ones of 2025, catching Cal Raleigh staring at a 100 MPH heater almost immediately. It's safe to say it seemed obvious very quickly why the Yankees hold Schlittler in such high regard — Aaron Boone confirmed in the postgame that he'll be back to make another start after the All-Star break.

Sure. There's a chance Wednesday was meant mostly as a showcase for a blockbuster trade deadline deal (please, no); Jeff Passan connected the Yankees again on Thursday to everyone from Eugenio Suarez to Emmanuel Clase to Seth Lugo, proving how up-for-grabs their July 31 really is.

But it's hard to ignore how special the arm talent is, and how silly it would feel to try to flip Schlittler for a rental or someone else's older standout. And the symbolism of No. 31 was truly hard to ignore. Hilariously, the only reason it was available for Schlittler to rock was because of George Steinbrenner's residual anger at one of his highest-paid star chases in Dave Winfield.

According to Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post, Steinbrenner — who fought viciously with Winfield and believed he was misappropriating funds, leading to the hiring of a sketchy PI and the owner's temporary ban from baseball — planned to retire No. 31 out of the kindness of his heart when the outfielder made the Hall of Fame.

Then, Winfield wore a Padres cap and the deal was off.

Yankees' Cam Schlittler wears No. 31, in part, because George Steinbrenner got angry in 2001

A good example of how Steinbrenner never forgave and never forgot, as well as how much he just hated Winfield, despite his regular-season stardom? Absolutely.

A better reminder that the Yankees would be best served seeing what they have in-house rather than sacrificing Schlittler and his surprisingly normal number to the trade deadline Gods? Undoubtedly.