Alan Trammell (2018)


Date of Birth: 2/21/1958
Birthplace: Garden Grove, California

Alan Trammell played American Legion baseball while he was in high school. After graduating, the Detroit Tigers drafted him in the second round on June 8, 1976. He played in their minor league system in 1976.

Detroit Tigers

Trammell played his entire career (1977-1996) with the Tigers. He spent most of 1977 in the minors, joining the Tigers for just 19 games.

In 1978, his first full season in the major leagues, Trammell batted .268 with 120 hits, 14 doubles, 34 RBIs, and 56 strikeouts to 45 walks in 139 games. The next year, he batted .276 with 127 hits in 142 games.

Trammell batted .300 in 146 games in 1980. He finished the season with 168 hits, 21 doubles, and 65 RBIs. He walked a career high 69 times, while striking out only 63 times. He won his first Gold Glove in 1980, playing shortstop for the Tigers. He made 412 assists, 89 double plays, 225 putouts, and 13 errors in 144 games.

In the strike shortened 1981 season, Trammell batted .258 with 101 hits in 105 games. He walked 49 times and struck out just 31 times. He won his second Gold Glove for making 347 assists, 65 double plays, 181 putouts, and 9 errors at shortstop.

Trammell played in a career high 157 games in 1982. He finished the season with a .258 batting average. The following year, he had a career high 30 stolen bases in 142 games. He batted .319 in 1983 and he had 161 hits, 31 doubles, and 66 RBIs. He won his third Gold Glove that year. He made 367 assists, 71 double plays, 236 putouts, and 13 errors. He was named the Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year in 1983.

Trammell had one of his best years in 1984, both during the regular season and in the postseason. He finished the regular season with 174 hits, 34 doubles, 69 RBIs, 19 stolen bases, and a .314 batting average in 139 games. Defensively, he again won a Gold Glove at shortstop. He made 314 assists, 71 double plays, 180 putouts, and 10 errors in 114 games. He excelled in the postseason and he won the World Series MVP award. In 8 games, he had 13 hits, including a double, a triple, and 3 home runs, 1 stolen base, 9 RBIs, and a .419 batting average. He walked five times and struck out three times.

Trammell had average seasons in 1985 and 1986, batting .258 in 1985 and .277 the following year. His best offensive season came in 1987, when he won his first Silver Slugger award. He had career highs in hits with 205, home runs with 28, RBIs with 105, and batting average with .343. He played in 151 games and he had 34 doubles, 21 stolen bases, and 47 strikeouts to 60 walks.

The 1988 season, although a good one for Trammell, was the first one in which he spent time on the DL. He played in 128 games and he batted .311 with 145 hits. He won his second Silver Slugger award in 1988. The following year, he was again on the DL. In 121 games in 1989, he batted .243.

Trammell was healthy in 1990, and he played in 146 games that year. He won his third and last Silver Slugger award for batting .304 with 170 hits, a career high 37 doubles, and 89 RBIs.

Trammell was plagued with injuries from 1991 through 1996, playing in over 100 games only in 1991 (101 games) and 1993 (112 games). He batted under .300 all of those seasons except for 1993, when he batted .329 with 132 hits, 25 doubles, and 60 RBIs. In 1996, his last season as a major league player, he batted just .233 in 66 games.

Awards

  • Gold Glove (4 times)
  • Silver Slugger award (3 times)
  • Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year award
  • World Series MVP

Career Statistics

Batting statistics for Trammell in 20 seasons (1977-1996) in the major leagues include:

  • 7 seasons with 150 or more hits, with a high of 205 in 1987
  • 6 seasons with 30 or more doubles, with a high of 37 in 1990
  • 8 seasons with more walks than strikeouts, with a high of 69 walks in 1980
  • 7 seasons with a batting average of .300 or better, with a high of .343 in 1987

Career batting statistics for Trammell include:

  • 2,293 games played
  • 2,365 hits
  • 412 doubles
  • 185 home runs
  • 236 stolen bases
  • 1,003 RBIs
  • 874 strikeouts to 850 walks
  • .285 batting average
  • .352 on-base percentage
  • .767 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Trammell as a shortstop include:

  • 2,139 games played
  • 6,172 assists
  • 1,307 double plays
  • 3,391 putouts
  • 227 errors
  • .977 fielding percentage

Post Playing Career

Trammell retired after the 1996 season. Three years later, he was hired to be the hitting coach for the Tigers. He was the first base coach for the San Diego Padres from 2000 through 2002.

The Tigers hired Trammell as their manager in 2003. He held that position through 2005. As their manager, he led the Tigers to 186 wins and 300 losses.

In 2014, Trammell was the bench coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks. While in that position, he had the chance to manage three games and he led the team to one win and two losses.

Trammell was hired as a special assistant to the Tigers' general manager in 2014.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Alan Trammell
ESPN - Alan Trammell
Baseball Reference - Alan Trammell

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