Hall calls Detroit duo
Former teammates Jack Morris and Alan Trammell elected
LA K E BUENA VISTA, FLA.» Former Detroit Tigers teammates Jack Morris and Alan Trammell were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, completing the journey from Motown to Cooperstown.
Morris, a big-game pitcher, and Trammell, a star shortstop, were picked by a 16-man Modern Baseball Era committee that considered 10 candidates whose biggest contributions came from 1970-87.
Morris received 14 votes and Trammell drew 13, one more than the minimum needed.
They will be inducted July 29. It’s fitting that they will go in together — both began their bigleague careers in 1977 with Detroit, and played 13 seasons alongside each other with the Tigers.
“Time has made this even more special. I’ve learned a lot along the way,” the 62-year-old Morris said.
Former catcher Ted Simmons fell only one vote short of election and former players union leader Marvin Miller was five votes shy of the 12 needed for election.
A durable right-hander, Morris posted 254 wins. His most famous victory was a 10-inning, 1-0 shutout for Minnesota over Atlanta in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.
“No question it was my defining moment in baseball,” Morris said. “I’ve never pitched a game where I had better focus. I never had a negative thought, even though I was in trouble several times.”
Morris finished with a 3.90 ERA, the highest of any pitcher in the Hall. He also won World Series titles in Detroit — with Trammell, in 1984 — and Toronto in 1992.
Now 59, Trammell was a steady presence in the middle of the diamond while playing all 20 of his seasons in Detroit.
Trammell was the 1984 World Series MVP, hitting .450 as the Tigers trounced San Diego in five games and finished off a season in which they started out 35-5.
A six-time all-star and four-time Gold Glove winner, Trammell scored 1,231 runs and drove in 1,003. He batted .285 with 185 homers and a .352 on-base average — he walked 850 times and struck out 874.
Trammell never came close to election during his 15 tries on the Hall ballot in voting by Baseball Writers’ Association of America members. His best showing came in his last year, when he received 40.9 percent in 2016. Morris got a lot closer. Starting at 22 percent in his first Hall ballot appearance in 2000, Morris peaked at 67.7 percent in 2003, falling 42 votes short. He dropped to 61.5 percent four years ago in his final time on the writers’ ballot, 78 votes shy.