Once again on my soapbox for Alan Trammell

Once again, we are approaching the time of year when Major League Baseball will announce that Alan Trammell has received 10-17% of the votes for election to baseball's Hall of Fame (75% is needed for election). This is also the time of year I have to ask: What does a guy have to do to get elected around here? Before I begin making my case for Trammell's HOF credentials, let me state that when I was growing up, Alan Trammell was my favorite player. I wrote my college admissions essay based on Alan Trammell, I always play number 3 in roulette for Trammell, and I believe he is one of the most underrated players of his generation. That being said - Alan Trammell should still have his bust in Cooperstown alongside other Tiger greats.

Alan Trammell played from 1977-1996 with the Detroit Tigers
During his 20 year career Trammell amassed 2365 hits, 185 HRs, 1003 RBIs, 1231 Runs, and 236 SBs.
He was the 1984 WS MVP (incidentally, no one from the 1984 championship team is in the HOF).
He should have been the 1987 AL MVP, but lost a close contest to George Bell, solely because Bell had more home runs.
He was a 6 time all-star.
He was a 4 time Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award winner.
When he retired, he was one of 7 shortstops to hit 0.300 six times or more. The other 6 were already in the HOF.
And possibly the strongest argument: Trammell was on Magnum PI with Tom Selleck. I don't know how any HOF voter can watch this video and not be swayed.

He had longevity and consistency. He and Lou Whitaker were the core of a great Tigers team in the 80s.

In all seriousness, the strongest argument for Trammell's induction to the hall goes as follows (this is not my argument, I just really like it): Ozzie Smith (who was a first ballot HOFer with 92% of the vote in 2002) played in the same era as Trammell. During both of their careers, there would not have been one year the Tigers would have ever traded Trammell for Smith straight up. Smith was flashier, but Trammell was the better player throughout their careers.

Trammell's HOF resume is probably hurt by the following:

1. He never got that MVP. Even though I would argue until the cows come home that Trammell was a More Valuable Player than George Bell in 1987, Trammell came up a bit short.
2. He was never flashy. He didn't do back flips or have funny quirks at the plate. He was just very good for a very long time.
3. He played in Detroit. It's a small market team in the midwest. If Trammell had the identical resume in Pinstripes, there is no doubt he would have been a first ballot HOFer
4. Trammell and Whitaker were referred to in the same breathe throughout their career. I think voters had trouble separating the two when it came to Cooperstown.

I would also argue that Trammell was hurt by the explosion of offensive short stops after he retired. As he came up on the ballot voters looked at A-rod, Nomar, Tejada, Jeter, Furcal ,etc - all putting up obscene offensive numbers from a traditionally defensive postion. Now it looks like all of these numbers were put up during an era that was an offensive explosion.

So will 2009 be any different for Trammell's HOF case? Probably not. His best chance will lie with the Veterans committee in the future. Until then I will be the voice of the minority (the 10-15% of voters who understand what Trammell meant to Detroit and baseball).