Lou and Tram: Still no justice

It was a touching tribute to Derek Jeter last night at the All Star Game. I couldn't help but think, though, he was a 10-year-old kid in Kalamazoo in 1984 when the Tigers won the World Series, and how Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker have been discarded by baseball history. Jeter will be a first ballot Hall of Famer. A slam dunk. Yet, in terms of WAR (Baseball-Reference.com version), he is just slightly ahead of Trammell (93rd all time at 70.4) and slightly behind Whitaker (77th all-time at 74.9) among all-time great MLB players. Jeter is 87th all-time at 72.1.
It does make you wonder if Tram and Lou played in New York, how different the perception of their careers would have been. Jeter is going to get a monument at Yankee Stadium. Tram and Lou can't even get a statue at Comerica Park.
Whitaker didn't even get named on the necessary five percent of ballots to remain in consideration after his first year. Trammell doesn't even close each year. Sure seems like an injustice to me, especially when juxtaposed to the iconic status Jeter has, justifiably, been given.

My column. Six reasons the Tigers are sitting pretty at the All Star break: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/sports/20140713/six-reasons-the-detroit-tigers-are-sitting-pretty-at-all-star-break-pat-caputo-says?source=most_viewed