For your consideration: Alan Trammell vs Barry Larkin.
Posted on September 2, 2026 at 01:25:04 PM by brick
Career bWAR: Trammell 70.6, Larkin 70.5
Career fWAR: Larkin 67.0, Trammell 63.7
Career slashes: Trammell .285/.352/.415, OPS+ 110. Larkin .295/.371/.444, OPS+ 116
Career playoff lines: Trammell 13 games, .333/.404/.588, 3 HR, 1984 WSMVP. Larkin 17 games, .338/.397/.465, 0 HR.
Top 4 seasons:
Trammell (1987, 1984, 1990, 1986): 28 bWAR, .314/.380/.492, OPS+ 138, 77 HR, 77 SB/114 attempts (67%).
Larkin (1996, 1988, 1991, 1995): 26.2 bWAR, .305/.380/.496, OPS+ 136, 80 HR, 151 SB/179 attempts (84%)
HOF vote:
Larkin-51.6% Y1, 62.1% Y2, 86.4% Y3 (in)
Trammell-15.7% Y1, 14.1% Y2, 13.8% Y3, etc. Peaked at 40.9% his last year on the ballot.
I submit to you that the biggest difference in the perception of these players was baseball media wildly overrating Jack Morris in Detroit.
It aināt market size (Detroit is bigger than Cincy in every way)
It aināt team success (both won one WS, made playoffs one other time. wash)
It aināt stats (wash)
Itās Jack MidMorris.
Back to the board
Thread:
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For your consideration: Alan Trammell vs Barry Larkin.
- By brick
September 2, 2026 at 01:25:04 PM
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Baseball has been very good to me - JOSE RIJO*
- By Cincywolve
September 2, 2026 at 02:27:47 PM
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Great stats but your conclusion is asinine
- By Rich
September 2, 2026 at 01:32:18 PM
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If Morris's fame hurt Trammell, it was all after he had left the Tigers and pitched with the Twins. That's his most "famous" time- when he pitched a CG shutout vs. the Braves in the WS.*
- By mjhollen
September 2, 2026 at 03:59:58 PM
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For some reason Larkin was a guy who had star buzz around himra from the beginning of his career in a way that Trammell didn't T
- By Paul
September 2, 2026 at 02:05:24 PM
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Disagree with your assessment of the media perception, both contemporaneously and subsequently
- By brick
September 2, 2026 at 02:02:09 PM
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Following up, here are the Tigers of the Year from 78-92 (Tiger MVP voted by local media)
- By Rich
September 2, 2026 at 01:53:24 PM
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The first tier was smaller than that: Gibson, Tram, Morris. And of that group Morris was the most celebrated during the pre-analytics era. Agree that brickās conclusion was a reach, tho**
- By Brad
September 2, 2026 at 01:43:22 PM
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Parrish was more celebrated than Gibson nationally. Even locally. Gibson never made an All Star game. Parrish was the best catcher in the AL for a few years*
- By Rich
September 2, 2026 at 01:46:03 PM
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Not true. Gibson was 6th in MVP voting in 1984 (4th among position players). Parrish was 16th. Also, Gibsonās WAR shouldnāt even have had him in the top-15. Tramās was 6.8 that year (he arguably should have been AL MVP). Gibson got more attention from fans/the media b/c he was a charismatic ā¦
- By Brad
September 2, 2026 at 01:53:19 PM
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Gibson had charisma and local following but OTOH Parrish was an 8 time All Star and Gibson was selected zero times. So how well was he really viewed?*
- By Rich
September 2, 2026 at 01:59:47 PM
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The options for all star catchers in the AL in the 80s were unusually shitty: Rich German, Terry Kennedy, Matt fāin Nokes, Tim Laudner, Terry Steinbaxh, etc. Meanwhile Gibson was competing with Reggie Jackson, Winfield, Puckett, Rickey Henderson, Jim Rice, Canseco, Bainesā¦**
- By Brad
September 2, 2026 at 02:28:22 PM
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Disagree, perception was that Morris was a big game pitcher and a bulldog which over shadowed the actual stats. That was local and national.*
- By MasterBates
September 2, 2026 at 01:42:35 PM
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