Alan Trammell
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Birth Name: Alan Stuart Trammell College: none Personal:
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Trammell to Whitaker to first for another double play. If there was a sound clip to define Alan “Tram” Trammell’s career that likely would be it. Trammell’s good range, soft hands and quick release made him one of the best shortstops in baseball. Early Years Trammell and Lou Whitaker made their major league debuts Septermber 9, 1977. It would be the first of ninetenn years together. In 1980 Trammel made his first All-Star team and after a dissapointing 1982, was selected as the Comeback Player of the Year in 1983. 1984 and the World Series Trammell would miss 43 games in 1984 due to tendonitis but was back in time for the post season. After the Tigers disposed of the Kansas City Royals, they faced the San Diego Padres in the World Series. Trammell would go 9-for-20 including a pair of two-run homers in Game 4. The Tigers won the series 4-1 and Trammell was selected as the World Series MVP. Trammell and teammate Lou Whitaker, won their second pair of Gold Gloves together. (1983 and 1984) Putting together a career In 1986 Trammell became only the second Detroit Tiger to hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases. His 75 RBI’s were also a career high. It was just the stepping point. Sparky Anderson came to Trammell in 1987 asking him to bat clean up. He responded with the best year of his career. In September alone he hit .416 with 6 homers and 17 RBI, notching an 18-game hit streak which paved the way for the Tigers to win the AL East by two games. It also marked the first time a Tiger has 200 hits and 100 RBI in the same season since Al Kaline in 1955. His name riddeled the AL offensive leader board. Ironically Toronto’s George Bell won the MVP award (332-311) a devision that is still controversial today. After the Tigers had finished the last game of the season, Whitaker gave Trammell second base with the inscription “To All Trammell, 1987 AL MVP. From, Lou Whitaker.” Injuries, a position change and Retirement 1988-1991 saw injuries rack up for Trammell. Despite the injuries Trammell manged to hit well when in the lineup. Even posting a .304/.377/.449 line in 1990 including 89 RBI. In 1992 Trammell played in only 29 games before injuries forced him to miss the season. In 1993, he posted the second best OPS of his career but after three sub-par years he hung up the cleats following the 1996 season. A turn to managing The Tigers hired Trammell as their hitting coach in 1999, he would spend the next three years as the San Diego Padres first base coach after management choose Phil Garner as manager. Trammell came back to the Tigers in 2003 and served as the manager for a team that lost an AL-record 199 games. The team improved to 72-90 the following year, marking the biggest turn around in the AL since 1989. Following a 71-91 season, in 2005 Trammell was let go. Debate goes around whether Trammell hurt his legacy with the managerial stint but others point out that he was a rookie manager pushed on a team with a lack of talent. Many of the players Trammell managed were on the Tigers American League Championship team in 2006. After sitting out the 2006 season, Trammell agreed to join the Chicago Cubs as a bench coach for 2007. |
