Jackson Holliday will wear No. 7 in Orioles’ debut; Cal and Billy Ripken said their family is thrilled

BOSTON–When the Orioles officially added Jackson Holliday to their 26- and 40-man rosters on Wednesday, they also announced that the 20-year-old will wear No. 7. That number was last worn by longtime Orioles coach and manager Cal Ripken Sr., whose final season with the team was 1992. It was one of the handful of uniform numbers that hasn’t been retired, but not handed out.

The last player to wear No. 7 was Billy Ripken, who wore it in 1988 as a tribute to his father, who was fired six games into a historic 21-game losing streak that began the season. Mark Belanger, who won six Gold Gloves as a shortstop, also wore it from 1966-1981.

Cal Ripken, Jr. commented on X, formerly known as Twitter:

“Our family is thrilled that @J_Holliday7 will be wearing dad’s #7 … Excited to watch him play!”

Jackson Holliday’s father, Matt, wore No. 7 from 2010-2016 with the St. Louis Cardinals and in 2018 with the Colorado Rockies. Matt Holliday wore No. 5 from 2004-2008 in his first iteration with the Rockies and with Oakland in 2009. That number has long since been retired by the Orioles in honor of Brooks Robinson.

Billy Ripken said on MLB Network that Matt Holliday had recently reached out to him about the possibility of wearing No. 7.

“My brother did touch base with me, actually this morning, and said: ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘You know what, if anybody’s going to do it, I think that family is going to honor the fact that Senior was a part of that.’ It gives us another opportunity to throw Senior out there. I’m all on board with it.”

During spring training, Holliday wore No. 87, and he wore No. 7 for Triple-A Norfolk.

To make room for Holliday on the 26-man roster, infielder/outfielder Tony Kemp, who was hitless in nine at-bats, has been designated for assignment.

The Orioles’ 40-man roster has 38 players.