Category Archives: Tiger History

Injuries, Managing & Strategy, Pitching, Players, Spring Training, Tiger History

Tiger Roundup

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The Tigers moved to 2-0 during grapefruit league action after outslugging Cincinnati 17-10. Danny Knobler reports that Justin Verlander was shaky at first, but managed to pitch his way out of it. And he did it without a visit from Jim Leyland or pitching coach Chuck Hernandez.

Leyland isn’t against mound visits, but he’s also big on individual responsibility. He wants players to think for themselves, and he wants to see how they react in tough situations.

“Get out of your own jam sometime,” he said this morning, before Verlander even took the mound. “Figure out how to do it.”

Former Tiger pitching coach Bob Cluck has found a job. He’ll be a minior league pitching consultant for the San Diego Padres.
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Tiger History

Tiger of the decade?

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Tram & LouWhile on the Comerica Park tour during Fanfest, I noticed a large display just outside the Tigers clubhouse. It was actually on a wall adjacent to the clubhouse, facing the kitchen/food area. It was floor to ceiling high and featured Tiger history by decade. Each decade featured one photo prominently which presumably represented the Tiger of the Decade. Al Kaline was the 60’s, Willie Horton the 70’s, Trammell the 80’s and Whitaker the 90’s. It raised several questions for me.

  • Was it awkward for Trammell to have that big honkin’ picture/tribute on the wall while he was a manger?
  • Whitaker was by far my favorite Tiger, but was he really the Tiger of the decade? Was that more a tribute to Whitaker or an indictment on the decade in general? Who else could it have been? Cecil Fielder? Travis Fryman? Mike Henneman? Tony Clark?
  • And lastly, who has been the Tiger of the decade for the 00’s?

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Former Tigers, Tiger History

Wrapping up Trammell and the Hall

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Baseball Toaster has been conducting a roundtable regarding this year’s Hall of Fame candidates. Part III features a debate about the merits of Alan Trammell, and to a lesser extent Lou Whitaker. These wise and educated men are in agreement that Trammell clearly deserves a spot, going so far as to say:

Maybe I need to do a Lederer campaign [Rich Lederer’s efforts surrounding Bert Blyleven] extolling the virtues of the Tigers double play combo. It’s truly amazing to me on how asleep a majority of the voters could be on these two players, considering their all-time ranking.

There are also charts and numbers and stuff. Definitely it is worth a read, as are the other parts of the discussion.

The last few weeks have had me pondering a Tram campaign. But given the utter lack of support he’s received this year, I fear that it would be a quixotic endeavor. By my highly unscientific and unofficial tally (updated through January 3rd), Trammell will only appear on about 20-30% of the ballots. That’s up from last year’s 17%, but no where near gaining the momentum necessary to make a push for enshrinement.

UPDATE: Repoz of Baseball Primer posted in the comments that he has tallied 64 ballots, and the outlook is even more grim with Trammell’s total at a meager 14%.

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Tiger History

Trammell and the Hall of Fame

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It’s Hall of Fame voting season, and with the ballots due in soon, some BBWAA members have begun to post their ballots. For Tiger fans, this is the time of year when we are typically disappointed that our heroes of 84 get shockingly few votes. Now the candidates from that team are down to two, Alan Trammell and Jack Morris. While a case could be made for both, Trammell remains the more compelling candidate. At least as long as Bert Blyleven is kept out t, Morris can’t claim to be the most deserving pitcher on the ballot. On the other hand, Trammell is arguably the best infielder under consideration.

I’m not so much interested in making the case for Tram’s inclusion, but in tracking his chances. A player needs to be on 75% of ballots for inclusion, and Trammell only garnered 17% last year. After a quick search of Google News, here is how the votes breakdown:

Votes For (9):

Votes Against (24):

Now 16 17 18 votes does not a sample size make, so don’t read too much into this. However, things once again look grim, as not even a weak class can get Trammell noticed. As I see more columns in the coming weeks I’ll update this tally.

UPDATE 12/30: Twenty ballots that I’ve come across so far, and Trammell has only received 30% of the vote. At this rate an improvement over last year, but still disappointing.

UPDATE 1/04: Over the 33 ballots I’ve seen, Trammell has only 27% of the vote. Yes, an improvement over last year. But not nearly enough momentum and too low a starting point for real consideration. I think I’m done with the exercise for this year. The ballots have been cast and the results are due next week.

For more info: 2006 Hall of Fame Wikipedia Entry
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