DETROIT -- Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson's No. 11 is retired, but none of the numbers associated with the players on the 1984 Detroit Tigers has been honored that way.
They are the only World Series champions in franchise history that do not have two players with retired numbers. The day could come when the No. 1 of second baseman Lou Whitaker and No. 3 of shortstop Alan Trammell are retired. But that day won't be Monday, when their 1984 title team is honored on its 30thanniversary prior to a 7 p.m. game with the Oakland A's on FOX Sports Detroit.
The one thing that is fairly certain is that their numbers will only be retired together. They debuted together in the second game of a doubleheader in Boston on Sept. 9, 1977, and played together for a major league record 19 seasons until Whitaker retired after the 1995 season. Trammell played one more year alone. They played 1,918 games together and never for another team.
"Sweet Lou" and "Tram" combined for 4,734 hits, 2,087 RBI and seven Gold Gloves as Tigers.
When asked about retiring their numbers, Lance Parrish said, "It's over-due and it's justified."
"I know it's not easy to retire all the numbers you want," added Parrish, the All-Star catcher who played with them from 1977 to 1986 and now manages the Double-A Erie SeaWolves for Detroit. "But Lou and Tram were a huge part of that ball club for such a long time that they definitely deserve it."
Whitaker, 57, now retired and living in Greensboro, N.C., still hopes the day will come.
"I thought they might retire my number in 1996," said Whitaker. "But who knows? If I'd had my number retired, I might not be here today."
Meaning?
"I still have something to look forward to," said Whitaker. "And it would be great to have that happen with Tram."
Trammell, 56, has managed the Tigers and now coaches under Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson, his long-time Detroit teammate.
"If it ever was to happen," said Trammell, "it should be together. There were so few duos like us that people associate together -- like Maris and Mantle were, like George Brett and Frank White were. Would it be a great honor? Absolutely. It would be cool. It would be very special, but that's not my style (to push for it)."
Current Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler asked to wear No. 3 to honor Trammell alongside a shortstop, Jose Iglesias, wearing No. 1. Tigers clubhouse manager Jim Schmakel, who hands out numbers to players, called Trammell to get approval before issuing it to Kinsler.
"Schmakel called me out of respect," Trammell said. "I gave Kinsler my blessing, and I'm glad he's wearing it. I hope there are a lot of hits in it for him, too. Ian does a heck of a job and is a great player."
If their numbers are retired, Kinsler and Iglesias, out for the season with shin fractures, could be grand-fathered into being the last to wear Nos. 1 and 3 for Detroit.
Hank Greenberg's No. 5 and Charlie Gehringer's No. 2 both were retired in 1983. They were members of Detroit's first champions in 1935.
Hal Newhouser (No. 16) joined Greenberg in that honor for the 1945 Series winners.
And the iconic No. 6 of Al Kaline and Willie Horton's No. 23 have been retired from the 1968 champions.
Horton is the only non-Hall of Famer so honored. And so that qualifier can't be attached to retiring a Detroit baseball hero's number. None of the '84 Tigers players are in Cooperstown, but Trammell remains among the leading vote-getters and Morris came close before failing in his 15th and final Hall of Fame election.
Though, Trammell and Morris could someday make it through a veteran's committee vote. And Trammell told me that if he doesn't get in via the Baseball Writers' Association of America vote, he hopes the veteran's committee will eventually elect both him and Whitaker.
Retiring their numbers is strictly a team matter, though, requiring no vote except a vote of confidence.
Kansas City Royals first base coach Rusty Kuntz said "there's no question about" the numbers of his two former '84 teammates being retired.
"What they accomplished will probably never be done again because of free agency." Kuntz said. "And look at the numbers they put up and their love of this city. What more could you want two guys to do? Without them at the top of the lineup, do we win in '84? Nah!
"They have some bronze statues in Chicago (of White Sox Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio and second baseman Nellie Fox), and I think of Lou and Tram every time I see it at their ballpark. That, to me, would be the ultimate."
Ty Cobb (who did not wear a number), Gehringer, Greenberg, Horton, Kaline and Newhouser have bronze statues on the stadium concourse above their numbers retired on the brick wall below. So, such statues would most likely be part of the number retiring honor.
And erecting a statue of Sparky along with Tram and Lou could just be the icing on the cake.
'84 JERSEY GIVEAWAY: The first 20,000 fans attending Monday night's game for the 1984 Tigers' 30th anniversary reunion will receive '84 replica road jerseys.
