| Alan Trammell | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Trammell with the Chicago Cubs in 2010 | |||||||||||||||
| Shortstop /Manager | |||||||||||||||
| Born: (1958-02-21)February 21, 1958 (age 67) Garden Grove, California, U.S. | |||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| September 9, 1977, for the Detroit Tigers | |||||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||
| September 29, 1996, for the Detroit Tigers | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .285 | ||||||||||||||
| Hits | 2,365 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 185 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 1,003 | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial record | 187–302 | ||||||||||||||
| Winning % | .382 | ||||||||||||||
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |||||||||||||||
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
| As player As manager As coach | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Member of the National | |||||||||||||||
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |||||||||||||||
| Induction | 2018 | ||||||||||||||
| Vote | 81.3% | ||||||||||||||
| Election method | Modern Baseball Era Committee | ||||||||||||||
Medals
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Alan Stuart Trammell (/ˈtræmɛl/TRAM-el;[1] born February 21, 1958) is an American former professionalbaseballshortstop,manager, andcoach. He is a member of theNational Baseball Hall of Fame. He played for theDetroit Tigers for the entirety of his 20-year playing career inMajor League Baseball (MLB). Trammell has served as a special assistant to the general manager of the Detroit Tigers since the 2014 season.
Trammell won the1984 World Series championship over his hometownSan Diego Padres,[2][3] earningSeries MVP honors. His team also won anAmerican League East division championship in 1987. Although his arm was not overpowering, he had a quick release and made accurate throws, ultimately winning fourGold Glove awards. Trammell's defense perfectly complemented his double-play partner,Lou Whitaker. The two formed the longest continuous double-play combination in major league history, playing 19 seasons together. At the plate, Trammell was one of the best-hitting shortstops of his era and won threeSilver Slugger awards.
Trammell later served as the Tigers'manager from2003 through2005. He also served as the interim manager for theArizona Diamondbacks during the final three games of the2014 season. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018.
Trammell attendedKearny High School inSan Diego, California and playedAmerican Legion Baseball. He was named the 1989 American Legion Graduate of the Year.[4]
TheDetroit Tigers selected him in the second round of the1976 MLB draft.[5] While playing for the Tigers' farm team in Montgomery of theSouthern League, Trammell played his first game with teammateLou Whitaker before the two infielders were promoted, making their major league debut atFenway Park together, during the second game of a double-header onSeptember 9, 1977, the first of nineteen seasons together. Both players became regulars at their positions the following season.
Trammellbatted .300 in 1980 as he made theAll-Star team for the first time. In 1983, he batted .319 with 14home runs, 66runs batted in and 30stolen bases.[6] Having hit .258 in both 1981 and 1982, Trammell won the 1983MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award in theAmerican League (AL).
Trammell and Whitaker made a cameo appearance on the television showMagnum, P.I., starringTom Selleck, during the 1983 season.[7][8] Selleck's character was a Tigers fan, as is Selleck himself.[9]
The Tigers enjoyed a championship-winning season in 1984, when they started the season 35–5 and led the AL wire-to-wire en route to winning the World Series.[10] Despite a season-long battle withtendinitis in his shoulder that caused him to miss 23 regular season games, Trammell finished fifth in the AL batting race with a .314 mark and ranked eighth inon-base percentage (.382). In theAL Championship Series against theKansas City Royals, he hit .364 with one home run and three RBI. Finally, in theWorld Series, he hit .450 (9-for-20) against theSan Diego Padres, including a pair of two-run home runs that accounted for all of the Tigers' scoring in a Game 4 victory. Detroit won the series 4–1, and Trammell was namedWorld Series MVP.[11][12]
In 1985, after two consecutive years of batting not lower than .314, Trammell was hampered by injuries and posted only a .258 batting average. He underwent postseason surgery on his left knee and right shoulder. The following season, a fully healthy Trammell hit 21 homers and stole 25 bases, becoming only the second player in Detroit history to hit 20+ home runs and steal 20+ bases in the same season. (Kirk Gibson was the other, whileCurtis Granderson andRobbie Grossman later joined the club.) Trammell also set a career-high with 75 RBI.
In 1987, asked by managerSparky Anderson to replace the departedLance Parrish ascleanup hitter, Trammell responded with his best major league season, hitting a career-high 28 home runs and .343 batting average (ranking third in the AL). In addition, Trammell appeared among the league leaders in most other AL offensive categories: third in hits (205), tenth in RBI (105), tied for fifth inruns (109), fourth intotal bases (329), fifth in on-base percentage (.402), eighth inslugging average (.551), sixth inon-base plus slugging (.953), fifth inOPS+ (155), and tied for fifth in game-winning RBI (16). In September, he batted .416 with six homers and 17 RBI and put together an 18-game hitting streak in which he hit .457. On the penultimate day of the regular season, he hit a walk-off single against theToronto Blue Jays to help his team take theAL East division lead, which they clinched the next day. He became the first Tiger to collect 200hits and 100 RBI in the same season sinceAl Kaline did it in 1955. Trammell also became the first shortstop to hit at least .340 with 20+ home runs and 100+ RBI in a season in big league history. Despite his efforts, Trammell finished second to Toronto'sGeorge Bell in the MVP voting (332–311).[13] After the season finale, Whitaker gave him second base, on which he had written:To Alan Trammell, 1987 Most Valuable Player, from your friend Lou Whitaker.[14]
Trammell followed up with a .311 season in 1988, though a stint on the disabled list limited him to 128 games that year.
Following the 1990 season, in which he hit .304 with 89 RBI in 146 games, Trammell suffered a long string of injuries that reduced his production over his final years. In 1991, knee and ankle injuries limited Trammell to 101 games. During the following season, he played in 29 games before breaking his right ankle and missing the remainder of the 1992 season. He hit .329 in a resurgent 1993 season but was ineligible to be ranked among the AL batting leaders because he only had 447 plate appearances. In his final five seasons, Trammell averaged 76 games played after averaging 140 games played the first 13 seasons of his career. From 1993 to 1996, Trammell saw less time at shortstop in favor ofTravis Fryman and eventuallyChris Gomez andAndújar Cedeño.[15] He instead saw playing time at several positions, including shortstop, third base, second base, left field, center field, and designated hitter.[16] Trammell retired following the 1996 season.
In his 20-year career, Trammell batted over .300 seven times, ending with a career average of .285 and 185 home runs with 1,003 RBI, 1,231 runs, 2,365 hits, 412doubles, 55triples, 236 stolen bases and 850 walks in 2,293 games.[6] He compiled a .977fielding percentage at shortstop, his primary position.
In 2001, Trammell was rated as the ninth-best shortstop of all time in "The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract", placing him higher than fourteen Hall of Fame shortstops. In subsequent years, Trammell's candidacy for the Hall of Fame picked up increasing support from the sabermetric community. In his first 12 years of eligibility, he received the following percentage of votes: 15.7% (2002), 14.1% (2003), 13.8% (2004), 16.9% (2005), 17.7% (2006), 13.4% (2007), 18.2% (2008), 17.4% (2009), 22.4% (2010), 24.3% (2011), 36.8% (2012), 33.6% (2013), and 20.8% (2014).[6] His boost in later years was likely due to voters being more receptive to advanced metrics, such aswins above replacement.[17]
Trammell was on his 15th and finalBaseball Writers' Association of America ballot in 2016, failing to earn enough for induction. Trammell was one of the last candidates to be allowed on the ballot for 15 years after the BBWAA reduced eligibility to ten years, and would next be considered for theVeterans Committee Expansion starting from 2017. On December 10, 2017, he was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Modern Baseball Committee alongside teammateJack Morris. They were inducted in July 2018.[18][19]
In 1998, Trammell was elected into theNational Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.[20]
Alan Trammell's jersey #3 was retired by the Tigers in a ceremony on August 26, 2018.[21] His name and number were added to the brick wall in left-center field atComerica Park, alongsideCharlie Gehringer (#2),Hank Greenberg (#5),Al Kaline (#6),Sparky Anderson (#11),Hal Newhouser (#16),Willie Horton (#23),Ty Cobb (no number) andJack Morris (#47).Jackie Robinson's #42 was retired throughout baseball in 1997. Double-play mateLou Whitaker had his #1 retired in 2022, and it now fittingly stands to the right of Trammel's on the outfield wall.
After his retirement, Trammell coached for Detroit (1999,hitting coach) and the San Diego Padres (2000–2002,first base coach) before becoming a manager.[22]
Trammell was named the manager of a struggling Tigers team on October 9, 2002.[23] The team lost 119 games in his first season in 2003, an American League record at the time, before posting a 72–90 record in 2004. In the 2005 season, however, the team's record regressed slightly, finishing 71–91. During Trammell's three years as manager, the Tigers compiled a record of 186–300.[22][24]
During the 2003 season, Detroit nearly matched the modern MLB record of 120 losses, set by the expansionNew York Mets (40–120) in 1962. The Tigers won five of their last six games to avoid the distinction. The Mets' major league record and Tigers' American League record for losses was later surpassed by the2024 Chicago White Sox.[25]
On October 3, 2005, the Tigers released Trammell after three seasons in which the organization failed to post a winning record.[22] Trammell was replaced byJim Leyland on October 4, 2005. Leyland led Detroit to a 24-game improvement in the regular season, an AL pennant, and aWorld Series appearance in 2006. While there was some media criticism regarding Trammell's managerial strategies and "nice" demeanor,[26] others contend that he was a rookie manager put in charge of a team that was severely lacking in talent, and believe his managerial stint played an integral role in re-instilling professionalism and pride throughout the Tigers organization. Leyland himself attributed a degree of the success that the Tigers saw in the 2006 postseason to Trammell's efforts in the three years prior.[27]
In October 2006, Trammell returned toComerica Park for the first time since his firing to participate, along withSparky Anderson, in pregame festivities prior to Game 2 of the World Series.[28] Trammell was showered with a lengthy standing ovation from Detroit baseball fans upon taking the field.
After being replaced by Leyland, Trammell turned down an offer to stay with the Tigers as a special assistant, instead opting to sit out 2006. In October 2006, he agreed to join theChicago Cubs as a bench coach for the 2007 season,[28] a possible precursor to an eventual return to managing a major league club.
During the four-game suspension ofLou Piniella in 2007, Trammell was acting manager of the Chicago Cubs.
Trammell was passed over for the Cubs' managerial position whenLou Piniella retired midway through the 2010 season.[29]
Trammell was namedbench coach of the Arizona Diamondbacks in October 2010, joining his former teammateKirk Gibson. Gibson had previously been Trammell's bench and hitting coach with the Tigers.[30] He and Gibson were fired on September 26, 2014, though Trammell stayed on for the final three games of the season to serve as the interim manager.[31] He had a record of one win and two losses with Arizona.[24]
On November 3, 2014, it was announced that Trammell would return to Detroit as a special assistant to Tigers' general managerDave Dombrowski.[32][33] During the 2015 season Trammell served as interim first-base coach whenOmar Vizquel temporarily left the team on bereavement leave. He wore #4 during this time, asIan Kinsler was wearing Trammell's familiar #3.[34] Trammell continued to serve as a special assistant to Tigers' GMAl Avila until Avila was dismissed in August 2022, and Avila was replaced as GM byJeff Greenberg in September 2023, with Trammell maintaining his special assistant role.[35][36][37]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| DET | 2003 | 162 | 43 | 119 | .265 | 5th in AL Central | – | – | – | – |
| DET | 2004 | 162 | 72 | 90 | .444 | 4th in AL Central | – | – | – | – |
| DET | 2005 | 162 | 71 | 91 | .438 | 4th in AL Central | – | – | – | – |
| DET total | 486 | 186 | 300 | .383 | – | – | – | |||
| ARI* | 2014 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 5th in NL West | – | – | – | – |
| ARI total | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Total[38] | 489 | 187 | 302 | .382 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by TBA | Detroit Tigers Hitting Coach 1999 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | San Diego Padres First Base Coach 2000–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chicago Cubs Bench Coach 2007–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Arizona Diamondbacks Bench Coach 2011–2015 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
