Alan Trammell played twenty seasons in the Major Leagues from 1977 to 1996, all for the Detroit Tigers, and is near the end of his run on the Hall of Fame ballot. A great all-around shortstop, Trammell peaked in the mid-80s, making four of his six All-Star games from ’84-’88. A .285/.352/.415 lifetime hitter, Trammell has never garnered many votes from the BBWAA, receiving his highest percentage of votes in 2012 (36.8%).
Even with his recent vote uptick due to his high WAR numbers and an outcry from the sabermetric community, Trammell is still nowhere near the seventy-five percent needed to gain entry into the Hall. Including this year’s ballot, Trammell has two years of eligibility remaining, and due to a crowded ballot Trammell will probably miss out on Cooperstown, even though his resume is more than good enough when compared to his peers at the shortstop position.
Alan Trammell Hall of Fame Profile
Pros:
While Trammell has never received much praise there are a group of writers who are strong believers in his candidacy. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is one of those writers, “I’ve voted for Alan Trammell [for the Hall of Fame] every year that he’s been eligible. I think he combined both offense and defense, and he was a great leader. I think he began the movement toward more offensive-type shortstops in the league and he was just a very consistent player for many, many years.”
According to Jay Jaffe’s JAWS system, Trammell is a Hall of Famer when his peak and overall value are examined. He is eleventh all time among shortstops in JAWS, and eight of the ten shortstops in front of him are enshrined. Furthermore, according to “The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract”, Trammell is the ninth best shortstop of all time, putting him higher than numerous shortstops that have reached the Hall. Accumulating 2,365 hits, 412 doubles, 185 home runs, 1,003 RBI, 236 steals, 850 walks, and 874 strikeouts in his twenty years on the diamond, Trammell is lacking in the counting stats and was never viewed as a dominant player or a year-in-and-year-out MVP candidate.
Cons:
Not reaching 3,000 hits hurts Trammell. That threshold number helps fringe players get into the Hall; Craig Biggio, for example would be in the same position as Trammell without the magical 3,000. Even with four Gold Gloves, three silver sluggers, and a World Series in 1984, Trammell never won an MVP and only finished top-five in the voting once, a second place finish in 1987.
HoF Prognosis:
Even while missing some flash on his resume, Trammell compares favorably to Derek Jeter and Barry Larkin in WAR and JAWS. What separates Larkin, a Cooperstown member, and Jeter, a virtual lock for the Hall, from the other are MVPs and better peaks. Shockingly, Trammell ranks 62nd all time in career WAR among position players, which should make him a no-doubt Hall of Famer. Unfortunately Trammell will always be overlooked because he didn’t hit for much power (career high of 28 home runs), and he doesn’t have 3,000 hits or that many All Star games or awards. Trammell will probably make Cooperstown one day when his name lands on the desk of the Veterans Committee, but he probably won’t gain induction from the BBWAA, and that’s a real shame.
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