By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
While the Philadelphia Phillies have traded various franchise icons from their run of National League dominance between 2007 and 2011 in the last 24 months, they haven't passed on the numbers that the players became synonymous with.
Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer caught up with Frank Coppenbarger, the head of the Phillies team travel and clubhouse services, who says that the recently traded Carlos Ruiz won't have his No. 51 handed out soon, which puts him in a growing line with some of his former teammates:
When the Phillies traded Carlos Ruiz to Los Angeles, Frank Coppenbarger had yet another number to freeze. No one will wear No. 51 for the Phillies, at least in the near future, just as no one has worn Nos. 11, 26, and 35 this season.
Gelb would go on to note that the Phillies eventually will give these numbers back out, though Coppenbarger seems as though he isn't in a rush to do that.
The only thing that stops a player's number from being given out again is if they are elected to the Hall of Fame, according to Gelb. Of the numbers currently frozen, Ruiz has no chance of being a Hall of Famer, meaning his number will be reissued at some point. Ryan Howard will fall into the same category. Hamels could end up being a Hall of Famer — the guess here is that he won't — though it won't be for some time. Hamels is still very much in his prime and has to be retired for five seasons to be eligible for the Hall of Fame, so even if he is eventually elected, chances are someone will wear his number in the meantime.
Utley and Rollins seem to fall into a different category. Rollins appears that he may be finished playing and Utley, at most, has a few seasons left in the league. So the Phillies can afford to wait on the duo, who at least will garner hard Hall of Fame consideration. Even if neither is elected, it would feel rather silly for the Phillies not to retire the numbers of both, considering both are in the discussion of being top five players in franchise history.
In any event, it would seem that the numbers of Ruiz, Howard, Utley, Hamels and Rollins won't be issued for multiple seasons. The club waited from the Aug. 16, 2013 firing of former manager Charlie Manuel until this Spring Training to allow his No. 41 to be issued again. With all due respect to the winningest manager in team history, the five mentioned had more of an impact on the Phillies organization than he did, meaning their numbers are likely to get an even longer lay-off.
