From left Darrell Evans, Lou Whittaker, Dave Rozema, Alan Trammell
Today on this baseball vacation I was reminded of several things that I love. Putting a clean baseball uniform on, with real stirrup socks. Pounding my glove before making a catch. Gripping the ball across the seams. Green grass. The warm sun on your neck (wasn’t I just snowblowing on Saturday?). The cracking sound of a baseball flying off the sweet spot of a wooden bat. The butterflies as you walk toward the pitcher’s mound hoping you have enough control to get 3 outs. The feeling of loneliness as you are perched on top, 60 feet away, staring down at the batter, catcher and umpire. The shout of encouragement after a mistake. Shaking hands with the winners and losers.
I also enjoyed being in the presence of greatness. Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker, one of the greatest double-play combinations of all time taught us how to play the infield. It was awesome. As I listened to Tram explain how to play shortstop, out of the corner of my eye I saw Justin Verlander walk onto the field next to us. He was just dressed in a warm up shirt and shorts, with a catcher in tow. Here was the MVP and Cy Young Award winner from last season not resting on his laurels. He was up and working out at 9 a.m. when he didn’t have to be because pitchers and catchers don’t even have to report yet. I was thinking “This is what truly makes him great – the effort he puts in when nobody else is around.”
We had a fun dinner celebration for Alan Trammell. Some of his teammates praised and roasted him. Dave Rozema concluded by saying that “Tram loves people – so he’s kind of like me just a leeetle bit different.” That brought a big laugh as you couldn’t meet two people whose personalities were more different. One was sober. You don’t have to guess which one. Darrell Evans said it best when he said “If you think of the 1984 Tiger era the person you are going to think of – the person who represents us the best – the player most responsible for us winning the World Series – is Alan Trammell.”
Trammell himself was very humble. He praised Lou Whitaker because back in 1976 after being named the Florida Southern League MVP as a THIRD baseman, the Tigers switched Lou to 2nd base to pair him with the newly drafted Trammell and he never complained about it. He also said that “No matter how good I get at anything there is always room for improvement.” A class act.
As I sat in the Tigertown cafeteria, another thought struck me. All of the tables have inset Tiger memorabilia, oodles of old photos and programs. I glanced around. There was Larry Pashnick. Over to the right was George Alusik. Underneath him was Steve Demeter. Who are these guys? I never heard of any of them. Fame is fleeting. Sometimes fame never comes. After all, here I am at Fantasy Camp because after I passed age 15 there really weren’t any games left to play for someone with my baseball talent. There was just school, and a job, and a family to raise. And it reminded me of John Maxwell’s definition of success that I heard about 20 years ago. “Real success is having those who are the closest to you love and respect you the most.” I wondered how true this was of all those players staring at me from the tabletop. Some people attain both fame and success. Some attain neither. But as I sat there, having gone 0-2 at the plate in fantasy camp today, I realized how grateful I am to God for everything that he has given to me and what He has taught me about fame and success…
