Gibby's Idea From The Heart, But Unfathomable

The voice on the other end of the phone was, as usual, direct and without any sort of wishy-washiness.

"If the Tigers had any sort of class at all, they'd fly Alan Trammell in and have him throw out the first pitch of Game 1 of the playoffs," the voice said. "He worked his (expletive) ass off for the organization."

And then Kirk Gibson admitted that it would never happen.

Gibson says he hasn't spoken to Tram recently, but that #3 was "fine" with the decision made last October to strip him of his Tigers stripes and hire Jimmy Leyland. Of course, you can't strip what's wrapped around a man's heart.

Motor City Sports Magazine will be doing a feature on Gibby's son, Cameron, who's quite a hockey and baseball player, and Chris Chelios' hockey-playing son, for a future issue. But for a moment on the phone, the talk turned to today's Tigers.

"Craig Monroe pulled a Kirk Gibson last night," I said about C-Mo's game-winning homer in New York Wednesday night.

"That was some good stuff," Gibby said. "He's doing really well. Happy for him."

But back to the Trammell/throwing-out-the-first-pitch thing.

It's a sweet thought, I suppose, but there's no way the team will look backward in a year that's causing everyone to look forward. It also would not be without some controversy, I believe. Trammell was fired. He did not quit. If he had his druthers, he'd still be roaming the dugout. And everyone knows that. Too uncomfortable. And not fair to Leyland, either -- although he's a grizzled guy who can take care of himself.

I suggested another kind of tribute.

"They should build a statue in Comerica Park of Trammell and Lou Whitaker turning a double play, to join the other ones out there," I said.

"Don't hold your breath," Gibson said.

I hope he's wrong. It's not too soon in CoPa's history to start thinking about the next statue.

You could do worse than to honor Trammell and Whitaker, don't you think?