George Sipple

Detroit Free Press

Don Kelly and Cameron Maybin are going to be Hall of Famers.

As part of the 22nd annual Whitecaps Community Foundation Winter Baseball Banquet on Thursday at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Kelly and Maybin will be inducted into the West Michigan Whitecaps Hall of Fame. The banquet, which is sold out with nearly 600 planning to attend, will also feature members of the Detroit Tigers as part of their Winter Caravan.

Al Avila, executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager, and Alan Trammell, special assistant to the GM, will join more than 20 Tigers players and coaches on the west leg of the caravan and will appear at the banquet.

Players scheduled to attend include former Whitecaps Wynton Bernard, Nick Castellanos, Jeff Ferrell and Montreal Robertson. Others scheduled to attend include Michael Fulmer, Matt Boyd, Tyler Collins, Anthony Gose, Shane Greene, Blaine Hardy, Bryan Holaday, Jose Iglesias, Mark Lowe, Drew VerHagen and Alex Wilson.

Maybin, a first-round draft pick in 2005, played for the Whitecaps (the team's low-A minor league affiliate) for the full 2006 season. He was traded to to the Florida Marlins in 2007 as part of the deal that brought Miguel Cabrera to the Tigers.

Maybin was brought back to the Tigers this past November in a trade that sent pitchers Ian Krol and Gabe Speier to the Atlanta Braves. Maybin could end up starting in centerfield, with Gose moving to left.

Maybin, then 19, hit .304 with nine home runs, 69 RBIs and 27 stolen bases for the Whitecaps in 2006. He played in the MLB All-Star Futures Game that season and led the Whitecaps to the 2006 Midwest League Championship while being named MWL Prospect of the Year.

Kelly played for the Whitecaps in 2002, after being drafted in the 8th round by the Tigers in 2001. He was named the starting shortstop in the Midwest League All-Star Game in 2002 and hit .286 with 59 RBIs for the Whitecaps.

Kelly, who had season-ending Tommy John surgery in July, is a free agent. He batted .234 with 23 home runs and 96 RBIs over six seasons with the Tigers (2009-2014).

Proceeds from the Winter Baseball Banquet go to the Whitecaps Community Foundation, which will donate funds from the event to the YMCA Inner-City Youth Baseball and Softball Program and the Detroit Tigers Foundation, an affiliate of Ilitch Charities.

Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@georgesipple.

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