Alan Trammell's afternoon becomes Lou Whitaker's afternoon, as well

Anthony Fenech | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Alan Trammell: Detroit Tigers fans have treated me like HOF Detroit Tigers great Alan Trammell speaks to the media after having his No. 3 retired by the team on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2018, at Comerica Park.

The chants were deafening, and on Alan Trammell’s afternoon — with his No. 3 painted on the brick wall beyond left-center field, ready to be unveiled — he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

"Lou! Lou! Lou!"

This summer was about Trammell, the iconic Detroit Tigers shortstop, and his teammate Jack Morris, who were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame last month and had their uniform numbers retired this month. But in so many ways, it was also about Lou Whitaker, who has been more visible than ever before. Whitaker was a part of the festivities in Cooperstown, N.Y., for Hall of Fame weekend and on Sunday afternoon, he took the podium to a chorus of “Lou!” chants, talking about his double-play partner who was about to receive another well-deserved accolade.

“A dream come true for Tram,” Whitaker said afterwards. “It’s a dream, to actually play with Tram for those years and see him go. Maybe one day, like they say. … Am I supposed to be mad or am I supposed to be envious? No. We were a shortstop-second base combination and all the Hall of Famers say, ‘How can this be?’ But that’s life sometimes.”

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No, Trammell’s true dream — that he and Whitaker would go into the Hall of Fame together — did not come true, but going in with Morris was the next best thing. And no, it doesn’t sound like Cooperstown is Whitaker’s dream — he wasn’t even on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot long enough to dream of getting there. But Whitaker’s name was never out of the conversation this summer.

Trammell spoke of him in his Hall of Fame induction speech on July 29 and again in front of Tigers fans again on Sunday, and those words offer optimism that, like Trammell and Morris, Whitaker one day will receive the same credit for his standout career.

“I’ll wait my turn,” Whitaker said, relaying what Twins manager Paul Molitor told him in Cooperstown last month: “Lou, you’re a patient man.”

Like Trammell in years past, Whitaker’s numbers stack up favorably with other second basemen in the Hall of Fame. In 19 years, he was a .276 hitter with 244 home runs and 1,084 RBIs. He won four Silver Slugger Awards and three Gold Glove Awards.

“I did what I was supposed to do in playing the game,” he said. “I don’t walk around saying much more than that.”

Asked if he thought the day would come, he said, “Patience, patience, patience. And what can I say, I could be dead next year, so I won’t see it, you know what I mean, if I make it? But my family would see it. But the thing is, being realistic, what am I supposed to say?”

Realistically, Whitaker still has some years to go. The Hall's Modern Baseball Era Committee — which selected Trammell and Morris in 2017 — will meet again in 2019. Even then, there were deserving candidates on the ballot that weren’t selected this time around. And Whitaker was likely kept off that ballot in favor of Trammell and Morris.

But his candidacy was revived this summer because of Trammell and Morris, and the way the 1984 World Series champion Tigers were finally recognized on the Tigers' wall of retired numbers.

“I meant that when I said that,” Trammell said, about going into the Hall of Fame with Whitaker. “That was the story when a lot of you had asked me that over the years. To me, that’s the dream story and I think it’s still something that can happen. Might not be exactly the way I was hoping for initially, but that’s a moot point. If Lou gets in, when he gets in, hopefully in a few years, I’ll say the same thing.”

Trammell’s speech was similar to that of a month ago, but this one, in front of the fans who backed him for 20 years, was more special. He can say that he didn’t play baseball to make the Hall of Fame or get his uniform number retired, but there is little doubt that seeing the curtain fall away from his number on the wall at Comerica Park is one of the cooler experiences of his lifetime.

And perhaps, for Trammell, something more fulfilling will come in the future, when he sees his double-play partner get showered with the same praise that he has received this summer.

There’s always been a sense that Whitaker should be in, too.

In an unfiltered way, but without any proclamations on his prospects, Whitaker spoke with more optimism than ever before. After all, he heard first-hand from a bevy of Hall of Famers last month in Cooperstown, N.Y., that he should be there with Trammell. And those Hall of Famers will be responsible for getting him there, as they serve on future committees.

“I’ll see y’all in two years,” Whitaker said, putting an exclamation point on his post-ceremony comments.

And though Sunday afternoon was about Trammell, the empty spot to the right of his No. 3 was never more obvious. One day, it will be occupied by Whitaker's No. 1, the way it was meant to be, just as Whitaker himself spent so many years directly to Trammell's right on the field.

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech.