Hallbound 2018. And the Motor City Rejoices!!!

1985 Topps #610 Jack Morris and #690 Alan Trammell

On Sunday, July 29, 2018, the National Baseball Hall of Fame will be welcoming what should be a large and unique class of new inductees. Players who should be making their speeches after the big announcement on Wednesday, January 24, 2018, will be up there on stage, talking about their playing days, and thanking all of those who helped them become better ball players, and certainly, better human beings.

But before we get to talking about the 33 players who are on the BBWAA ballot, let's talk about two players who stayed on the ballots for 15 years and were not able to get the necessary 75% of the votes to be inducted during the regular voting cycles. Thanks to the revamped Veteran's Committees, these two men, teammates for many years, will be enshrined as Hall of Famers, and join whoever makes it in from the writer's vote, as part of the HOF Class of 2018.

On Sunday, December 10, 2018, it was announced that pitcher Jack Morris and shortstop Alan Trammell, part of a 10-person Modern Baseball Era ballot (contributions from 1970-1987), earned over 75% of the votes from a panel of 15 Hall of Fame players, managers, executives, writers, and historians that was taken on the last day of Baseball's Winter Meetings. Teammates from 1977 through 1990, both men were part of the dominant 1984 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers.

Jack Morris played in the Majors from 1977 through 1994 with the Tigers, Twins (1991), Blue Jays (1992-93) and Indians (1994). He pitched in 549 regular season games, 527 of them as a starting pitcher, posting a record of 254-186 with a 3.90 ERA, striking out 2478 batters in 3824 innings of work. He led the AL in wins in both 1981 (14) and 1992 (21), and was part of 4 World Series winning teams (1984 Tigers, 1991 Twins, and 1992-3 Blue Jays) being named the WS MVP in 1991. He was a 5-time All-Star, 7-time Cy Young candidate, and 5-time MVP candidate. He set the record for most consecutive opening day starts by a pitcher with 14 starting nods.

Alan Trammell was a lifelong Tiger, playing 20 seasons in the Motor City from 1977 through 1996. In 2293 regular season games, Trammell hit for a .285 average, with 185 home runs, 1003 runs driven in, stole 236 bases, and had a slash line of .352/.415/.767.  He was a six-time All-Star, four0-time Gold Glove winner, a 3-time Silver Slugger, and a 7-time MVP candidate. He was also named the MVP of the 1984 World Series, hitting .450 with 2 home runs and 6 runs driven in. For 19 seasons, Trammell shared the middle infield duties with second baseman Lou Whitaker, a man who many feel was slighted from the HOF voting and dropped from the writer's ballot after only a couple of years. Alan and Lou were so synonymous with Tigers baseball that not only did the pair set the record for most games played as an infield combo, but they made an appearance on Magnum PI. It is hoped that with Morris and Trammell both getting the call that "Sweet Lou" gets another look. Who knows, maybe one day he will join his teammates and manager (Sparky Anderson was inducted in 2000) in Cooperstown.

So who'll be joining the long-time teammates in July? The Hall of Fame announcement will take place on Wednesday, January 24, at 5:00 pm CST.

Post about the 33 candidates forthcoming.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama