Trammell deserves to be in the Hall. He compiled 70.4 Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement (WAR) in his 20 year career. As late as 1993, he was worth 4.2 WAR in only 112 games. He was worth more than 6 WAR six times, with his best ever season coming in 1987, when he finished with 8.2 WAR and second in MVP voting. He lost to George Bell, who only had 5 WAR.
Trammell won 5 Gold Gloves in his career at shortstop. He was worth almost 2 WAR in many seasons for his defense alone. But, his bread and butter was above average offense from the shortstop position. He only hit more than 20 homers twice in a season, but often posted solid on-base percentages and a career OPS of .767, good for a OPS+ of 110.
His counting numbers may not have been enough for traditional Hall-of-Fame voters. But, his contributions to his team relative to his position versus the rest of the league at the time gave him a case with the baseball veteran voters. FanGraphs only has him at 63.7 career WAR, but that’s still more than enough to be considered and more than many other Hall-of-Famers. Trammell was one of the better players in his day and definitely deserves the recognition.
What's An Alan Trammell Baseball Card Worth?
Like most baseball players, Alan Trammell's rookie cards are his baseball cards with the most valuable. In fact, Alan Trammell has two baseball cards with a lot of value. His most expensive rookie card is the 1980 Topps Rookie Stars #707 that he shares with fellow Hall-of-Famer Paul Molitor!
Trammell and Molitor share the Rookie Stars card with U.L. Washington of the Royals and Mickey Klutts of the Yankees. U.L. Washington had a couple of good years with the Kansas City Royals and had an above average glove. Mickey Klutts didn't do much in the majors. But, because Trammell shares his rookie card with Molitor, this card has sold for $700 to $800 when graded a PSA 9! Fortunately, if that's a bit out of your budget, there are SGC 8.5 and PSA 8 copies available for under $200 as of February 2019.
Alan Trammell's other rookie card was the 1978 Burger King release. It was sort of an oddball issue with a strange checklist and often plagued by centering issues. But if you find a well-centered version graded a PSA 9, you'll expect to pay over $250! You can find excellent condition raw copies for $20 to $30, however, and sometimes even lower. Both Alan Trammell rookie cards have plenty of value and are worth adding to any baseball card collection.