Alan Trammell

Alan Stuart Trammell (born February 21, 1958) is a retired American baseball shortstop of the Detroit Tigers from 1977 to 1996. Trammell, nicknamed "Tram", played his entire career with the Tigers, highlighted by a World Series championship in 1984 and an American League East division championship in 1987.

An excellent defensive shortstop of the 1980s, Trammell had good range, soft hands and was smooth turning the double play. Although his arm was not overpowering, he had a quick release and made accurate throws. Trammell's defense perfectly complemented the play of his double play partner, Lou Whitaker. Trammell would later serve as the team's manager from 2003 through 2005. He currently is the bench coach for the Chicago Cubs.

Playing Career

Early Years

While playing for the Tigers' farm team in Montgomery of the Southern League, Trammell played his first game with teammate Lou Whitaker before the two infielders were promoted, making their major league debut at Fenway Park together, during the second game of a double-header on September 9, 1977, the first of nineteen seasons together.

In 1980, Trammell batted .300 in 1980 as he made the All-Star team for first time. In 1983 he batted .319 with 14 home runs, 66 runs batted in and 30 stolen bases. He won the MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award in the American League.

Trammell and Whitaker also made a cameo appearance on the television show Magnum, P.I. starring Tom Selleck during the 1983 season.


1984

Trammell, along with his Tiger teammates, enjoyed a special season in 1984, when they started the season 35-5 and won the World Series. Despite a season-long battle with tendinitis in his shoulder, which caused him to miss 23 regular season games, he finished fifth in AL batting race with .314 and ranked eighth in on base percentage. In the 1984 American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals, Trammell hit .364 with one home run and three RBI. Finally, in the World Series, he was 9-for-20 against the San Diego Padres, including a pair of two-run home runs that accounted for all of Tigers' runs in a Game 4 victory. Detroit won the series 4-1 and Trammell was named World Series MVP.


Glory Years 1985 to 1988

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 left knee and right shoulder. The following season, playing without any injuries, Trammell became only second player in Detroit history to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases (Kirk Gibson was the other and Curtis Granderson has since joined the club). Trammell also set a career-high with 75 RBI.

In 1987, asked by manager Sparky Anderson to bat cleanup, Trammell responded with the best season of his career. In September, he batted .416 with six homers and 17 RBIs, putting together an 18-game hitting streak in which he hit a .457, helping his team to win the AL East division by two games on the last day of the season. He became the first Tiger to collect 200 hits and 100 RBI in the same season since Al Kaline did it in 1955. In addition, Trammell appeared amongst the league leaders in most AL offensive categories: third in batting average (.343), tenth in RBI (105), third in hits (205), tied for fifth in runs (109), fourth in total bases (329), fifth in on base percentage (.402), eighth in slugging average (.551), and tied for fifth in game-winning RBI (16). Despite his efforts, Trammell finished second to Toronto's George Bell in the MVP voting (332-311). After the season finale, Whitaker gave him second base, with the inscription: To Alan Trammell, 1987 AL MVP. From, Lou Whitaker.


Later Years, Injuries and Retirement

The following years, Trammell suffered a long string of injuries that slowed his production both at bat and on the field. In 1991, he was limited to 107 games because of knee and ankle injuries. It was even worse in 1992. He played 29 games before breaking his right ankle, losing the rest of the season. His days as a regular shortstop for Detroit were close to being over. After two more seasons, he retired in 1996.

In his twenty year career, Trammell batted over .300 seven times ending with a career average of .285 and he hit 185 home runs with 1,003 RBIs, 1231 runs, 2365 hits, 412 doubles, 55 triples, and 236 stolen bases in 2,293 games. After finishing his playing career, Trammell served as a hitting coach for Detroit (1999), the first base coach for the San Diego Padres (2000-2002), manager for the Tigers (2003-2005) and is currently a bench coach with the Chicago Cubs.