2018 Sportlots purchases: Hall of Tram

Credit:  Detroit Free Press

Like all Tigers fans I was thrilled for Jack Morris and Alan Trammell as they joined four other very deserving players in entering the Hall of Fame this afternoon.  To celebrate Tram's admission here's a look at the 13 cards I added to his collection via Sportlots this time:

We'll begin way back in 1981 with a fun Kellogg's hologram food issue.  This one has stats from the previous year when Trammell earned the first of his six All-Star nods, plus it looks awesome.  That's followed by somewhat of a spiritual successor, 1989 Sportflics.  While the '88 season for both player and team didn't live up to the exciting 1987 run he was again an All-Star and also won a Silver Slugger Award.

The next bunch is from the latter years of Alan's career, starting with one of his two 1994 Fleer base appearances; he shares the other with double-play partner Lou Whitaker, who should have joined Trammell in Cooperstown today.  Then there's a quartet of 1995 parallels:  Score's Gold Rush, SP Championship's Die Cuts (again, one of two), Stadium Club's Virtual Reality, and Topps' Cyberstats.  The latter pair extrapolate some stats from the strike-shortened '94 campaign, coming up with 108 hits (78 in actual games), 10 homers (8), 51 RBI (28), and a .254 average (.267).

Sticking with 1995 we move on to Upper Deck's good looking if hard-to-scan Special Edition.  The back refers to Tram as "The linchpin of the Tigers offense and defense throughout the 1980s".  Got that right!  Then we have the first of three cards today that were produced after his retirement:  UD's 2002 Sweet Spot Classics.  That beautiful design does justice to a great player's career.

The second group finishes off the vertically oriented cards, moving on up to Donruss' Team Heroes product from 2005.  The back makes this one of several cards today to note Tram's 1984 World Series MVP nod, and it mentions that he was the first in franchise history to combine 150+ homers with 200+ steals.  As it turns out, Trammell is one of just five Tigers to pile up more than 200 stolen bases, and the next closest to the HR/SB feat were all PC guys:  Kirk Gibson (short by six steals), Charlie Gehringer (19), and Lou Whitaker (57).  That's good company!

Next is a 2013 Panini Product, Hometown Heroes, and its Homegrown Heroes insert.  This one actually justifies the "hometown" name somewhat as Trammell's MVP performance in the '84 Series led the Tigers over the Padres from San Diego, where he lived as a kid.  Hey, he was a hero for somebody, just not the home team San Diego hoped!

At least we get to a pair of horizontal cards.  The first--a 1986 Fleer base--was an obvious choice because it pairs Tram with the other great AL SS of the 80s, Cal Ripken Jr.  As a matter of fact the back states that they "have no challengers in the American League"!  I'd definitely agree with that assessment.

Last up today is a '96 Score Dugout Collection parallel, a card that was produced as Alan was playing his sunset season, the end to a career that saw him put up the following numbers and accomplishments:

• 1984 World Series title (MVP)
• Six All-Star selections
• Four Gold Gloves
• Three Silver Slugger awards
• .285/.352/.415 BA/OBP/SLG
• 2365 hits, 185 HR, 1003 RBI, 1231 runs, and 236 steals
• 70.7 career bWAR and 57.8 JAWS (currently 11th overall among SS)

A career Tiger who even came back to manage (if unsuccessfully), he rightfully enters the Hall today and will be further honored in August by seeing his #3 retired by the team.  Congratulations, Alan Trammell!