There are a lot of real injustices and tragedies in the world. Then there are those not-real injustices which bug a person and that, though it is embarrassing to admit, take up more mental real estate than some of the actual injustices.
For example, I have long been concerned about the rainforests. Terrible business, that. I’d be lying, however, if I thought as much about the rain forests as I’ve thought about how wrong it was for the Detroit Tigers to let Gary Sheffield and Ian Kinsler wear Alan Trammell’s number three since Trammell retired after the 1996 season.
OF COURSE that’s not as important as the rainforests. I would never suggest such a thing! I’m just saying that it’s a thing that has occupied more of my brain’s displeasure centers than some other, more pressing problems facing the world, such as the rainforests. And, um, the whales. And nuclear proliferation. Jeez, will you cut me some slack here? We are all animals of limited capabilities in the grand scheme of things, and all of us have some limited concerns that can obscure the grander scheme.
I have one less of those today, though, because the Tigers finally did the right thing and retired Trammell’s number three yesterday. The video of the whole ceremony is below.
Given my feelings about Alan Trammell — which I’ve written about many, many times in the past — I’m not even gonna pretend to be objective here, so allow me to simply say that this is a long overdue honor. Yes, I realize the Tigers have a rule about not retiring numbers unless a guy makes the Hall of Fame, but that’s a dumb rule and Trammell should’ve been the last guy to wear it. Likewise, just because the Hall of Fame electorate has, thus far, been too dumb to put Lou Whitaker in doesn’t mean lesser talents like Jose Iglesias should be allowed to wear his number 1.
Now, perhaps I’ll try to squeeze in some thoughts about the rainforests between now and lunch.
