Who was the best Tiger of the 1980s?

**Casimir** · 01-09-2013, 07:56 AM

Regarding the thread title, it has to be Trammell and Whitaker.

Regarding the hall of fame, yes, they should both be in. I'm less inclined to be worried about what the HOF distinguishes as greatness vs what is not worthy of induction. The HOF voting results can be just as incorrect as anything else. Obviously it stinks for them and fans as they deserve the ceremony and accoclades that come along with it.

I think individually they belong in as well as when you give consideration to the fact that they were such a long running duo up the middle. Is the latter part fair? Maybe and maybe not. FWIW, I think Craig Biggio deserves serious consideration beyond his basic stats because of his ability to have played multiple positions as well as he did, notably C and 2B which were generally not known for offensive prowess in his playing era. I think taking things like that into context as well as considering the raw data are fine for HOF discussion.

**Shelton** · 01-09-2013, 08:26 AM

I'll be glad when this week is over so all the hall of fame chatter can go away.

**DTroppens** · 01-09-2013, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by tiger337

I remember on a couple of occasions Morris losing his cool when Brookens made errors behind him and it seemed to affect his pitching.

Morris frequently lost his cool - bad defense, umpire calls, etc.
He almost lost his cool during his no-hitter.

**DTroppens** · 01-09-2013, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by TigersSlappy

I felt the same about Freehan for a long time, but really think I could construct a better HoF case for Mickey Lolich based on numbers.

Mickey Lolich isn't even close in my book. Great innings guy. Had some great seasons. But he also had some pretty poor ones. Because he comes up so much, I do know his career ERA+ was 104. That's just a touch above average. If one wants to say he did that over a ton more innings than many pitchers during his era, that's fine. It elevates his case of being a workhorse and maybe a bit above average, but that's about it. I think a lot of Tiger fans look at 1968 (and his ERA during the regular season was actually above the average ERA in the AL that season), and remember a stretch of two seasons and want to put him in the HOF. But, his numbers just don't bear it out. He was a solid workhorse pitcher who had some great years, but also had a lot of average and a couple not-so-average seasons. But he also pitched during one of the great pitcher's eras in baseball history, so if one wants to look at his ERA and say "Hey, he has a 3.-whatever ERA with 200 wins" and then say he won three games in the 1968 World Series, I think it's easy to just flip his name in the HOF argument.

I think his 104 ERA+ is crucial. He's the Jack Morris of his era. I don't think Jack deserves it. I don't think Lolich does as well. Tommy Bridges remains the long-time Tiger pitcher that I think deserves a nod well before anyone else.

**DTroppens** · 01-09-2013, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by Shelton

I'll be glad when this week is over so all the hall of fame chatter can go away.

It doesn't last long, so it's fine with me.

**DaYooperASBDT** · 01-12-2013, 01:07 PM

Well shoot if you aren't going to vote in any of the steroid boys, then why not vote
in players like Whitaker and Tram who didn't have a forehead that weighed 20 lbs yet
still put in solid numbers (while playing great defense)? Looking at the current roster
of middle infielders in the HOF, it appears that these two fall somewhere near the mean
and deserve election. Agree with Chas that Lou actually ranks a tick > Trammell.

**Boattown Tiger** · 01-14-2013, 05:50 PM

Who was the best Tiger of the 80s?

Tram IMO.

**roarintiger1** · 01-14-2013, 07:15 PM

Trammell......without a doubt.

Rusty Kuntz ...... a close second.

**OhioTiger** · 01-22-2013, 11:05 PM

I believe both Tram and Lou should be in but because they are forever linked together that hurts both their chances.

There was something about Morris I didn't care for. After reading where he said Lou was lazy and cost him some games, I now know why!

**chasfh** · 01-23-2013, 03:41 PM

I remember during the big collusion winter of 1987 when Morris was trying to shop his services around, same as Gibson did the year before without success. I remember seeing a picture of Morris in the paper, visiting the Twins and showing up in this huge fur coat--I mean, like a pimp fur. And I just thought, "Ick."

Right at that point I concluded I just didn't like the guy, and Morris hasn't done anything since to make me regret coming to that conclusion.

**Yoda** · 01-23-2013, 04:23 PM

At least it's not as bad as this:

**chasfh** · 01-23-2013, 04:42 PM

Hmmm, I remember Morris's fur being a lot bigger and whiter than that.

**OhioTiger** · 01-23-2013, 10:56 PM

Those photos prove you shouldn't make heroes out of jocks.

**tiger337** · 01-23-2013, 11:18 PM

Originally Posted by OhioTiger

Those photos prove you shouldn't make heroes out of jocks.

Pro athletes seem to be getting to be more like Hollywood actors every year. I've pretty much given up thinking of them as anything but entertainers.

**Charles Liston** · 01-24-2013, 12:21 AM

Morris looks like a tool. But that photo of Namath was taken 20 years earlier, and back in those days, anything that Joe Namath did was automatically cool, like the Beatles.

In the late '60's Adidas was the first brand to achieve an elite status over Keds and deck shoes and the like, if you were in high school and aspired to be a jock. So all the cool guys were wearing white leather running shoes with three blue stripes. And then one day in the summer of 1969, there in the newspaper, is a picture of Namath in street clothes, and he's wearing Pumas - same white leather, but the curving black stripes down the side. Did I go out and order a pair - they weren't in any stores - through a friend of mine who worked in sporting goods retail? You bet I did.