Detroit Tigers All-Time 25-Man Roster
By Matt Snyder
Shortstop – Alan Trammell
Alan Trammell isn’t going to get voted into the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA, which is a major shame. The 2015-16 offseason represents his final season on the ballot, but a clogged field has meant he has been somewhere between the 8th and 12th best choice for several years now.
The 10 player ballot limit has prevented him from getting much support despite Hall of Fame standards (such as JAWS) showing him to be a deserving candidate.
But even though the hall will have to wait, he still remains the greatest Detroit Tigers player to ever play the shortstop position.
He appeared with the Tigers in each of his 20 major league seasons and hit for an .800 OPS during his 10-year peak from 1980 to 1990. Along with contemporary Cal Ripken Jr., Trammell helped usher in the age of the offensive shortstop. (They passed the torch to the likes of Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter).
But Trammell certainly wasn’t an one-dimensional player. He won four gold glove awards and three silver slugger awards as one of the most well-rounded players of his time.
Tram finished as the runner-up for the 1987 AL MVP award, but modern day metrics (like WAR) reveal that he was a much more valuable player (8.2 WAR) than actual winner George Bell (5.0 WAR).
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