My Top 50 Players on Cardboard--#50 Trammell/Whitaker

My Top 50 Players On Cardboard 
#50
Alan Trammell/Lou Whitaker 

1996 Fleer Lou Whitaker/Alan Trammell

Hobby Impact-
These two long-time Tigers infielders have had little actual hobby impact, but they do have a surprisingly loyal and dedicated fan base.  The majority of their careers was spent during the eighties when there were no inserts, short-prints, printing plates, relics, or certified autographs.  Trammell has signed for a few things since his retirement, but Sweet Lou has been out of sight for the most part since leaving the field.  Still, if you are looking to find two really good players from the eighties who are fun to collect you cannot go wrong with these two.  I love the fact that their careers ran parallel, they played for the same team for a really long time, and can be found in just about every set from 1978 until 1995

On The Field Impact-
The obvious answer to this question is the 1984 season when the Tigers steamrolled the rest of baseball on their way to a World Series title.  The duo of Trammell and Whitaker had many other good years beyond 1984 and the duo was a fixture at the All-Star game for much of the mid 80s.  Both players get a lot of play in Hall of Fame arguments and they both have some really good career comparables.  I've been getting into the JAWS ratings recently which rates Lou Whitaker as the 11th best second baseman of all-time and Trammell as the 11th best shortstop.

Favorite Card-

1978 Topps Rookie Shortstops Paul Molitor/Alan Trammell RC

This card flies under the radar often, but this card has two great rookies in Trammell and Molitor.  U.L. Washington having his picture taken with his toothpick would have made it a slam dunk all-time great, but you cannot have everything.  The card is easy to find, inexpensive, and who wouldn't want a rookie/prospects card from the late 70s or early 80s.  Pretty sweet card and definitely worth check into if it's not already in your collection.  Whiatker's rookie card is also a rookies card similar to this one, but the names on his card are more Mickey Klutts and less Paul Molitor.