Posted on 12/10/2017 8:29:02 PM PST by TBP
Jack Morris and Alan Trammell were both elected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame today, as announced on the MLB Network. The two longtime Tigers greats were voted in via the HOF’s Modern Baseball Era Committee, who weighed the cases of Morris, Trammell and eight others who weren’t originally selected in the traditional writers’ vote. (MLB.com’s Barry M. Bloom has the details on the Modern Era Committee’s composition and process.)
Both Morris and Trammell went the full 15 years on the Baseball Writers’ Association Of America ballot without getting the necessary 75% of the vote necessary for election. Still, both players (as well as the others on the Modern Era Committee’s ballot) had their share of supporters who felt that the duo was long overdue to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
Morris won 254 games over his 18-year career, with 14 of those seasons coming in Detroit. While advanced metrics weren’t always keen on Morris’ work, he was a prototypical old-school workhorse, tossing complete games in 175 of his 527 career starts. His most famous outing, in fact, was a complete game on the sport’s biggest stage — Morris tossed 10 shutout innings in Game Seven of the 1991 World Series to help lead the Twins to the championship. That was one of four World Series rings Morris earned during his career, while posting a 3.90 ERA and 2478 strikeouts over his 3824 career innings.
Trammell spent all 20 seasons of his career in Detroit, highlighted by his World Series MVP performance in the Tigers’ championship season in 1984. Trammell hit .285/.352/.415 with 185 homers over 9376 career plate appearances, with six All-Star appearances, four Gold Gloves and three Silver Slugger Awards to his credit. Despite this impressive resume, Trammell’s overall steady play may have actually led to his being underrated in comparison to star shortstops of his era (as recently argued by MLB.com’s Joe Posnanski), hence his long wait for Cooperstown.
The Modern Era Committee focused on names from 1970-87, with other candidates including union leader Marvin Miller and former star players Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Ted Simmons, and Luis Tiant. Simmons came closest to induction, falling just a single vote shy of the 12-vote threshold. Miller was the next-highest candidate, earning seven of 16 votes.
Only Tigers?
What’s with this back door way to get into the Hall of Fame? Aren’t they like damaged goods, or an asterisk by their names, since they didn’t qualify the regular way?
That game seven Morris pitched was just unreal. No doubt one of the best in World Series history.
The Twins got a year’s worth of Morris, but it was a helluva year.
Lou Whitaker should have walked into the Hall of Fame arm in arm with Alan Trammell!
Congrats to Jack Morris and Alan Trammell.
What about Lou?
“Lou Whitaker should have walked into the Hall of Fame arm in arm with Alan Trammell!”
Yep.
84 Tigers still the greatest team I’ve ever seen....”Bless You Boys.”
I have no problem with Morris and Trammell making the hall. Liked both players. But when the voting hits an obvious set up, it makes it hard to appreciate the award.
Here’s a comparison:
A six-time All-Star, Trammell scored 1,231 runs and drove in 1,003. He batted .285 with 185 home runs and a .352 on-base average — he walked 850 times and struck out 874.
On the other hand, Chipper Jones scored 1,619 runs and drove in 1,623. He batted .303 with 468 home runs and a .401 OBP. He won a batting title in 2008. He was an all-star eight times and an MVP once and won 2 silver slugger awards. He is recognized as the best switch hitter ever as he is only one of the three to hit over 400 home runs and have a lifetime average over .300. Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray are the other two.
Another problem with it is that the Tigers were not as competitive as the Braves. They played with Trammell one time in a world series and one division series.
The Braves played in three world series with Jones and 14 division title years.
Whereas I appreciate the work Ron Trammell did, when such glaring stats come out it, it kind of ruins the award and looks like it was given just to give the two a chance to go in together rather than being the best player selected. And I’m not a Braves fan.
rwood
Mickey Mantle was the greatest switch hitter ever!
People worship “round” numbers far too much. Ok, so Chipper Jones hit the magic .300 for his career. That is a huge achievement, no doubt.
But Mickey Mantle batted .298 for his career while doing so many other great things. Falling an eyelash or two below .300 does not lessen Mantle’s achievements overall.
Not sure what the Chipper Jones complaint is. 2018 is his first year of HOF eligibility, he’s on the ballot, and is considered a first-ballot lock.
Trammell was a marvelous shortstop. Fluid. No notice was paid to that aspect of the game in this report. The same sort of thing happened with Mazeroski. His batting was so-so but his nickname, “no-hands” said it all. He led second basemen in fielding for many many years. I don’t know, but I would suggest that Trammell might have done the same, and like Mazeroski he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.
I remember Morris’ two years with the Jays. He had 21 wins in 1992 but went 0-3 in the postseason, when Toronto defeated Atlanta. 1993 was a mess: 7-12 and a horrid ERA. But he got two rings in two years.
Don’t forget also that Mantle held on longer than he should have . . . producing a couple of injury prone subpar years before finally retiring. Take those out and he easily clears .300.
One of the problems with your analysis is the fact that the HoF — right of wrong — seeks to compare players of any given era by the position that they played.
Richie Ashburn was a 2-time batting champion centerfielder for the Phillies. His problem — Willie Mays, Mickie Mantle and Duke Snider were considered to be better. Now Ashburn finally got in, but it was via the Veterans Committee.
Chipper Jones will get in too, I expect. I know he killed the Phillies. Clutch player.
Best pitcher of the ‘80s, but with plenty of negatives. He probably deserves a HOF spot, but also deserved to wait for it.
BTW, contrary to his gruff image and competitive nature, Jack is a genuinely nice person. He dabbled in draft horses for a while and did business with my wife’s family.
The Hall of Fame gets more watered down with each passing year. But, then, why should I care?
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