2023 Michigan Sports Hall of Fame ballot a reminder of better days in Detroit

Times weren’t always so tough in Detroit sports.

It has been a decade since the city last saw a team advance in the playoffs — when the Tigers beat the A’s in the 2013 ALDS, after Justin Verlander threw eight shutout innings and struck out 10 in win-or-go-home Game 5. (No need to talk about what happened between Joaquin Benoit and David Ortiz one week later at Fenway Park.) The Tigers currently have baseball’s longest postseason drought at eight years.

The Red Wings won a playoff series in 2013 as an underdog 7-seed over the 2-seed Anaheim Ducks; we also don’t talk about what happened in the conference semifinals, which definitely was not a gut-wrenching Game 7 overtime loss to rival and 1-seed Chicago. The Red Wings’ season ends Thursday, having missed the postseason for the seventh consecutive season, the second-longest drought in the NHL.

It has been 15 years since the Pistons’ last playoff series victory, when they dispatched Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic in the 2008 Eastern Conference semifinals. The Celtics knocked the Pistons out of the postseason the next round in six games, and the Pistons have not won a postseason game since, swept in all three postseason appearances. Their 14-game playoff losing streak is an NBA record.

The Lions haven’t won a postseason game since the 1991 season; it’s the only playoff win to the franchise’s name since 1957. But hey, they’re trending up!

Now that we’re all cheered up, it’s time to mention this is a chance to relive some of those good times by selecting the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023 — voting will stay open until May 12.

Finalists are split into four categories: professional, amateur, coaches and media.

Among the professional ranks, Richard Hamilton, Ivan ‘Pudge’ Rodriguez, Henrik Zetteberg all either won or played in a championship series for Detroit.

Both Michigan and Michigan State are well-represented in the amateur category, with Jim Harbaugh, Drew Henson, Jake Long, LaMarr Woodley, Lorenzo White, Shawn Respert and Ryan Miller.

Tommy Ivan, a three-time Stanley Cup champion coach of the Red Wings, highlights the coaches portion of the ballot. The media section is littered with greats like Jack Ebling, Terry Foster and Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick.

The class will be officially announced later this spring, with plans for induction ceremonies at a to-be-determined location this fall. All finalists below.