The Keystone Combination

Of Them All…

Growing up in Michigan and listening to baseball announcers Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey on the radio was a treat. It's amazing that we took for granted the wonderful summer voices of Ernie and Paul on the radio on a daily basis. Honestly, Ernie was the voice of summer for many Michiganders. You can't beat the opportunity to listen a legendary broadcast duo every single day growing up!

Sometimes, but not too often, former Tigers George Kell and Al Kaline would get to entertain us, as well. George and Al were all right, entertaining, and informative, but they weren't Ernie and Paul. But that was okay because if you were hearing George and Al, you were watching one of the rare Tigers games on television. This was back in the day before every single game was televised. Televised baseball was a treat "back in the day."

I can hear it now, "Good afternoon everyone, this is George Kell along with Al Kaline coming to you from Baws-ton where the Red Sox are hosting your Detroit Tigers." One afternoon, George told Al that the Green Monster was seven stories high. From memory, I think it was 38 feet, but that's not seven stories!

Anyway, from an early age, those Detroit Tigers announcers introduced this Tigers fan to many a Tiger. Legendary one year warrior, Mark Fidrych; young up and coming Punch and Judy hitter Alan Trammell; his double play partner, Lou Whitaker; Michigan State alum Kirk Gibson; the dogged Jack Morris; "Peaches" Dan Petry, The Wheel Lance Parrish … But for some reason, there was just something special about Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell, even from those early days in the late '70s. They came up together as the second baseman and short stop. And they seemed to play incredibly well together, and each of them knew the moves of the other. They seemed to push one another, encourage one another, and strive to make their teams better. Batting first and second for much of their time together, when Lou and Alan got on base in 1984, great things were about to happen.

Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker were Tigers for life. They both played their entire career in Tigers uniforms, and they played together for a long, long time. They even appeared on an episode of Magnum PI.

If all goes well, we will soon learn that Lou Whitaker is joining Alan Trammell in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. It's amazing with his career statistics that Whitaker only received like two percent of the vote his first year he was eligible and fell off subsequent ballots. He was a unique person, a bit aloof, but he was one helluva second sacker. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the day I met him.