Hall of Fame Poll: Alan Trammell

Next on the ballot would be left-handed reliever Mike Stanton, who pitched for 18 seasons as a setup man/LOOGY and one as a closer. He had a 3.92 ERA, 84 saves, 420 walks, 895 strikeouts in 1114 innings. He was good at what he did, but doesn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

On the other hand....

Alan Trammell was a terrific shortstop. There were some good ones in the AL in the 1980s. Trammell, Cal Ripken and Robin Yount changed the way the position was looked at. Before those three, teams tended to go with good glove, bad bat players at short. Those three showed you could have a good glove and a good bat. Ripken and Yount are in the Hall of Fame. Trammell isn't, yet.

Trammell hit 185 home runs, drove in 1023 and stole 236 bases in a 20 year career, all with the Detroit Tigers. His career batting line was .285/.352/.415. You can find his career numbers here.

He was named to 6 All-Star teams, won 4 Gold Gloves and 3 Silver Sluggers. His career WAR is 66.9, 101st on the career list. Bill James had him ranked as the 9th best SS of all time in his New Historical Abstract. He, more than likely, would have dropped a couple of spots in the 10 years since James wrote that.

He played most of his 20 year career with Lou Whitaker (a fine player, if not quite at the same level as Trammell). Off the top of my head I can't think of another pair of middle infielders that played together for most of 19 years.

This is Trammell's 12th time on the ballot, last year he appeared on 36.8% of the Writers' ballots, a nice jump from 24.3% the year before, but still a long way from the 75% needed.