Alan Trammell back with the Tigers as a special assistant to the GM

If there was ever a worthy successor to the role of Mr. Tiger after Hall of Famer Al Kaline retired from the field of play, it was Alan Trammell.

He had a borderline Hall of Fame career with the franchise, forming the longest-standing double-play combination with Lou Whitaker, then returned to the franchise as manager.

Trammell is now back with the organization again, working alongside Kaline as one of several special assistants to president and general manager Dave Dombrowski.

“I am very excited to be back on board with the Tigers,” Trammell said in a press release, announcing the move Monday. “It is an honor to return to Detroit and I am looking forward to working with Dave and contributing to the organization.”

Trammell joins Kaline, Willie Horton and former manager Jim Leyland as Dombrowski's corps of special assistants. According to the team, Trammell will assist on-field at both the big league and minor league level, and travel throughout the minor-league system, as well as taking on a community relations role.

“On behalf of ownership and the Detroit Tigers organization, we’re thrilled Alan Trammell has returned to the ballclub,” said Tigers President, CEO and General Manager David Dombrowski. “’Tram’ will forever be revered as one of the greatest Tigers to ever wear the olde English ‘D’ and we view this as an opportunity to add an outstanding baseball person who offers a wealth of experience and perspective from his 20 plus seasons, all with the Tigers, and his most recent years of managing and coaching. It’s great to have him back.”

Trammell managed the Tigers from 2003-05 and was the bench coach with the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2010-14, with good friend and former Tigers teammate Kirk Gibson as manager, until both were fired at the end of the season.