People love to prop up the "He didn't win a World Series" here as a reason to not retire his number. And that's fine.
Two hypotheticals for you to consider:
1. Gunnar Henderson has a career that goes down in history as one of the greatest SS/3B of all time. .300/.400/.500 slash line (Chipper Jones territory), 500+ homers, an MVP award, WAR, WAR, WAR, some Gold Gloves and a bunch of All-Star appearances. He is a slam dunk, first ballot Hall of Famer.
He does this all in an Orioles uniform. And while Gunnar's teams make the playoffs several times over the course of his career and he has some big moments, the Orioles don't win a World Series.
Are you in favor of retiring his number? Or are you still going to hold that line?
2.
Gunnar Henderson is having a scalding hot 2028 season when he goes down in early May with a torn ACL and he's done for the year.
The Orioles go on to win the World Series. It is the only season in Gunnar's career where the Orioles win the World Series. Like the above hypothetical, he goes on to have a ridiculous career and the ACL tear is a bump in the road for him on his way to Cooperstown. He finishes his career as an Oriole.
Technically, in this hypothetical Gunnar never won a World Series, he never played in a World Series despite his team winning one. And his injury happened early enough in the season to where he didn't make too much of an impact over the course of the season.
Are you in favor of retiring his number in this hypothetical? Or are you still going to hold the line?