Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Commentary: Tigers’ Trammell is a great player, great statesman

PLAYERS OF all reputations and stature were coming out of the dugout, some beginning to stretch and get loose and some content to shoot the bull. Leaning against the grandstand rail, fans pressed for autographs, calling out names in an effort to attract attention.

Up popped Alan Trammell from the dugout steps, and before the small pregame crowd near the Detroit Tigers' dugout at Cashman Field could surmise the situation, he was there in front of them. "I'll sign," he said, as if the inconvenience was no inconvenience at all.

"Where do you want that?" he asked a young man who was hoping to get some player -- any player -- to sign a blank ball. Having done this thousands of times before, Trammell obviously knew collectors have their idiosyncrasies, some wanting the player's signature in precisely the right spot.

On and on he went, filling a few minutes in which he, too, could have been doing something less taxing than accommodating a few fans in a minor-league park that happened to be hosting a major-league game.

While his teammates seem like first-class professionals, it was Trammell who answered the fans' call. It was as if he was the rookie intent on making a good first impression, not the 20-year veteran with the Hall of Fame credentials.

Every sport has its Hall of Fame, of course, but many seem littered with names and faces too obscure for such a triumphant accolade. But in baseball, only the very best are ever summoned to Cooperstown, N.Y., for an annual ceremony that inevitably leads to tears. Most years, only one or two ex-players are seen as worthy inductees.

When the time comes for Trammell to sink or swim before the voters, the number of autographs he has signed or his willingness to sign will be of no relevance. He'll be admitted or rejected on his between-the-line accomplishments and nothing else.

But it doesn't hurt to be regarded as a heck of a nice guy.

"It's the ultimate honor," the Tigers' shortstop said of the baseball Hall. "But whether I get there or not isn't for me to say, and it isn't important for my ego."

With the Tigers wrapping up their four-game series with the displaced Oakland Athletics today at Cashman, fans attending the game can take a last look at Trammell and see something special. Twenty years ... 19 of them with the now-retired Lou Whitaker by his side at second base ... and Trammell has earned a spot as one of the game's great players and statesmen.

Asked about the Hall of Fame, he implies he's a borderline case.

"I'm not going to campaign for it," he said. "Maybe my numbers are good enough, maybe they're not. The way I look at it, I was a pretty good player, although there are a lot of guys who fall into that category.

"If I never make it to the Hall of Fame, I'll still always tell people how much I enjoyed playing the game and how I played all 20 years of my career with the Detroit Tigers."

Flawless in the field and a noted clutch hitter, Trammell would seem to be Hall of Fame material. But what about Whitaker retiring, and what about the notion that the two of them -- more or less as a single entry -- should be inducted together? As it now stands, Whitaker will become eligible for the Hall of Fame in the year 2000, while Trammell will have to wait at least until 2001.

"I know what you mean, but he didn't really want to play this season and I did," Trammell said. "So about all I can say is that years from now, the fact we didn't play together one season is something hardly anyone will remember."

Trammell said he saw Whitaker a few times during spring training in Lakeland, Fla., where Whitaker is living and staying busy by selling suits in a men's store.

"I think he still has some desire to play," Trammell said, although, to date, Whitaker appears to have made his decision and is living with it.

Trammell, meanwhile, plays on, perhaps taking it all in one last time at age 38. Coming into this season he had played 2,227 games, hitting .287 with 184 home runs and 987 RBIs -- all great numbers, especially for a shortstop.

Many will argue the Hall of Fame can't keep him out, yet there is an abundance of Hall-worthy players in the sport today. A few go in for sure: Cal Ripken, Ken Griffey Jr., Tony Gwynn, Barry Bonds, Greg Maddux, Ozzie Smith, Wade Boggs and Frank Thomas. Several others are building solid cases, including Roger Clemens, Ryne Sandberg, Eddie Murray, Kirby Puckett, Barry Larkin and Joe Carter. A number of others -- UNLV product Matt Williams and ex-Las Vegas Stars Roberto Alomar and Carlos Baerga included -- could, in time, deserve to be honored.

Many feel Trammell belongs on the A list, although his own humility prevents him from staking that claim himself. "That's very nice of you," he replied when a stranger wished him well and congratulated him on what has already been a fabulous career.

The civility of the response, coupled with the sight of his one-man autograph session, said here is a decent guy who appreciates his good fortune. He played the great game of baseball and became a star without losing sight of reality.

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