This season the Tigers double play combo will feature Jose Iglesias and Ian Kinsler. They will be wearing the numbers 1 and 3, respectively. For someone like me, this means that images of Tram and Sweet Lou flood my mind. As a kid, there was nothing more beautiful than seeing Tram and Sweet Lou turn the double play. My grandparents took my brother and I to see the Tigers play every spring, and they anchored the infield every game we attended.
May 15th, 1987, I (Allen, Dan's editor) was ten, and it was 3-3 in the bottom of the 9th against the Indians. Lou was the first batter up, as Tiger Stadium reverberated from the "Looouuu!" chant that greeted him at every at bat. He took the 0-0 pitch and drilled a walk-off home run. The stadium erupted! To this day, is the most electric moment I have experienced at a ball game.
Tram and Lou were the Dynamic Duo of the Motor City; they are arguably the greatest SS-2B combo in the history of baseball. Not to mention the fact they made a guest appearance on Magnum P.I. (Pop culture put Tom Selleck on the map as a Ferrari driving Hawaiian P.I. who always wore the English D ball cap.)
Yes, you read that right. They were the best in the 80s, and a case can be made for their ranking among the best of the best. They were amazing to watch together. The center of the Tigers infield was locked down. If a man was on first, he was going to be doubled up. This is a huge reason why in 1984 the Tigers started 35-5 and walked to a World Series Championship over Steve Garvey and the San Diego Padres.
And yet, Iglesias and Kinsler will wear 1 and 3.
These guys are good players. But they shouldn't be wearing 1 and 3, like no other pitcher for the Tigers ought to wear 47 (don't even get me started on the travesty that is Jack Morris being skipped over for the Hall of Fame.) It's time for these numbers to be hung on the wall in the outfield. It's time for a bronze statue of Sweet Lou and Tram to be placed alongside Cobb, Kaline and other legends from the D.
Mr. Illitch, it's time.
Don't wait until they're dead like you did with Sparky. Follow the Piston's lead and honor your '80's icons. Let's pay tribute and 'Bless Those Boys.'
I really hope this season with it being the 30th anniversary of the Bless You Boys Championship, that we see 1, 3, and 47 celebrated with their numbers retired as they should have been many years ago.
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