DETROIT — Over 500 people turned out to celebrate the baseball accomplishments of Alan Trammell and Jack Morris while enjoying a very tasty and savory dinner at the MotorCity Casino & Hotel last night. The chicken entree got rave reviews. Tickets were $150. It was part of a series of events to commemorate the Hall of Fame inductions and number retirements of Trammell and Morris.
Dan Dickerson, the radio voice of the Detroit Tigers, emceed and facilitated the dialogue and conversations. The anecdotes about each player’s career was historical, informative and thrilling. General Manager of Baseball Operations, Al Avila made the opening remarks. Tribute comments for Morris were made by former teammate Larry Herdon and the praise for Trammell were made by long time double play partner Lou Whitaker.
The duo were inducted into The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum July 30, along with Chipper Jones, Trevor Hoffman, Jim Thome and Vladimir Guerrero. Morris will be honored again when his No. 47 will be retired Aug. 12, prior to a game against the Minnesota Twins, and Trammell’s No. 3 will be retired Aug. 26, prior to a game against the Chicago White Sox.
The two will now join other Detroit Tiger legends on the outfield Wall of Honor at Comerica Park, including Charlie Gehringer (2), Hank Greenberg (5), Al Kaline (6), Sparky Anderson (11), Hal Newhouser (16), and Willie Horton (23), as players with their numbers retired at Comerica Park. In addition all of Major League Baseball has retired the number of Jackie Robinson (42).
Others on the Wall of Honor are Ty Cobb, who played before the introduction of uniform numbers. Also included are Harry Heilmann, Heinie Manush, Hughie Jennings, Sam Crawford, Mickey Cochrane, and George Kell but they don’t have their numbers retired. Ernie Harwell is also honored in that special place.
The dinner had keynote sponsors including Meijer Stores and Strategic Staffing Solutions.
