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Travis Fryman
Born: 1969

3B-SS 1990- Tigers, Indians

Travis Fryman's Teammates

  • All-Star in 1992-94, 96, 2000
  • Gold Glove 2000

GamesAverageHRRBI
Career 1482.279209929
League DS 9.21414
League CS 6.17400

Stats through the 2000 season


RELATED LINKS
Submissions
» The Top 100 Greatest Indians

Around the Web
» Travis Fryman from baseball-reference.com
» Oft-injured Fryman announces retirement from mlive.com
» Fryman: It's the right time to go from cleveland.com
» Indians chatter from cleveland.com
» Tribe players can only wait, hope for best from cleveland.com
» Fryman's miscue a real throwback from sfgate.com (4/12/98)

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After eight long but productive seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Fryman finally got a chance to play for a contender when he took over at third base for the Indians in 1998. Although the Tigers shuttled him back and forth between shortstop and third base for parts of four years, Fryman was always right at home in the batter’s box. In 1991, his first full season, he ripped 21 home runs and drove in 91 runs for Detroit, becoming at age 22 the youngest Tiger to top the 20/90 marks since a 20-year-old Al Kaline had done so in 1955.

Similar production would follow throughout his career in Detroit, where he became one of the few bright spots on a franchise stuck in decline. Fryman was originally groomed to take over at shortstop for perennial Tigers All-Star Alan Trammell. Not until the second half of the 1993 season did Detroit finally conclude that Fryman was better suited for third base.

Following the 1997 season Fryman was traded twice in a span of two weeks, first heading to the nascent Arizona franchise shortly after the expansion draft, and then getting dealt to Cleveland in exchange for third baseman Matt Williams. While stuck in an early season slump, Fryman ruffled a few feathers among the Indians’ veterans by saying that the club lacked leadership. “I was trained for that in Detroit,” he said afterwards. “The veterans on the club and Sparky Anderson told me when certain guys were gone, it was going to be my team. And that’s what happened when Alan Trammell retired. Coming over here, it was a little different. You have to earn that right. You have to build relationships and earn the respect of your teammates.” Fryman recovered from his early struggles to bat .287 with 96 RBI and a career-high 28 home runs, helping the Indians to their fourth-straight AL Central title and reaching the post-season for the first time in his career.

Fryman wound up on the disabled list twice during the 1999 season, the first time due to chronic back problems that stemmed from a high school football injury when he was 15. He later missed nearly two full months after tearing ligaments in his right knee, but managed to recover in time for the playoffs.

While the Indians narrowly missed out on the post-season in 2000, Fryman enjoyed one of his finest campaigns, setting career highs with a .321 batting average, 38 doubles and 106 RBI while launching 22 home runs. He also won his first Gold Glove for his defensive work at third base.

During the offseason, Fryman keeps himself busy hunting with a bow and arrow. “My buddies and I hunt wild hogs near my home in Florida, or we look for deer in Alabama,” he says of his archery avocation. “Sometimes I’ll shoot down in the basement of where I live in Cleveland. Sometimes in the second half of the season I’ll take my bow on road trips. I’ll practice drawing in my room. It’s a good little exercise. Keeps your muscles in shape.” (AGL)


Contribute your recollections of Travis Fryman by clicking here.
FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
» April 13, 1993: The Tigers defeat the Athletics, 20-4. Rob Deer, Mickey Tettleton, and Travis Fryman each contribute 3-run homers. Detroit collects 18 hits and leaves 12 on base.

» April 17, 1993: Seven players score as the Tigers score 20 runs in a game for the 2nd time this week, beating the Mariners, 20-3. Rob Deer is 1-for-2 and scores four runs, while Travis Fryman has four hits and scores five times. Chad Kreuter adds four hits and three runs and Gary Thurman paces the Bengals with four RBIs. Mike Hampton takes the loss with 2.1 innings of work.

» June 6, 1993: Tigers defeat the Angels, 11-4. In the course of the game, they pull off a rare feat by hitting for the cycle in a 4-hitter span. With one out in the 3rd inning, Travis Fryman singles, Cecil Fielder homers, Kirk Gibson doubles, and Chad Kreuter triples. Of the five California pitchers to take the mound, the only one to retire Detroit in order is IF Rene Gonzalez, who has not pitched since American Legion ball.

» June 17, 1993: Cleveland 2B Carlos Baerga hits three home runs in the Indians' 9-5 loss to Detroit. The Tigers hit five 4-baggers of their own, including a pair each by Travis Fryman and Dan Gladden. Three players with two or more homers in a game ties an American League mark.

» July 22, 1993: Kansas City's Greg Gagne hits a home run off Detroit's Mark Leiter in the Royals' 12-6 victory. The home run is the 10,000th hit in the long history of Tiger Stadium, making it the 1st ballpark to reach that figure. During the game, Detroit 3B Travis Fryman draws a walk off KC P Enrique Burgos, then proceeds to circle the bases on three wild pitches by Burgos.

» July 28, 1993: Detroit 3B Travis Fryman strokes five safeties as he hits for the cycle in the Tigers' 12-7 loss to the Yankees. He is the first Tiger to cycle in 43 years.

» August 12, 1993: The Tigers defeat the Orioles, 17-11, as C Chad Kreuter hits a grand slam. It marks the 3rd consecutive game in which a Tiger hit a grand slam, tying a major league record set by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1978. The two teams combine for 37 hits. Travis Fryman is the only one with four hits, including three doubles. Twelve players score for the Tigers, one short of the American League record, and seven for the O's.

» June 1, 1994: Detroit 3B Travis Fryman strokes five hits in the Tigers' 11-3 win over the Orioles.

» July 16, 1994: Detroit defeats KC, 13-7, despite five hits, all singles, by Royals' 1B Wally Joyner. Travis Fryman's grand slam powers the Tigers.

» July 6, 1997: In Detroit, the Tigers top the Orioles, 14–9, their 3rd straight win after 11 consecutive losses. Brian Johnson and Travis Fryman homer for the Tigers while teammate Bobby Higginson adds a two-run inside-the-park homer, his fifth round tripper this week. For Scott Erickson (11-4) it is the worst start of his career for Baltimore, allowing all 12 runs, 11 earned, and 10 hits in four 1-3 innings. Willie Blair (6-4) takes the win in relief. The O's are led by Rafael Palmeiro's homer, triple and single and homers by Geronimo Berroa, Jeff Reboulet and Tony Tarasco.

» August 22, 1997: The Tigers pound the Brewers, 16-1, with the aid of 23 hits and an 11-run 7th inning. Bobby Higginson gets five hits for Detroit, while Travis Fryman and Tony Clark drive in four runs apiece.

» September 26, 1997: Four Yankees pitchers combine to 1-hit the Tigers, winning by a score of 8-2. Andy Pettitte starts and allows a 2-run single to Travis Fryman in the 3rd inning, giving Detroit a 2-1 lead. Pettitte leaves after four frames and is succeeded by Brian Boehringer (3 innings), Mariano Rivera (1 inning), and Jeff Nelson (1 inning). Rivera receives credit for the win when NY explodes for six runs in the 9th inning.

» November 18, 1997: The expansion draft for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks is held in Phoenix, Arizona. Florida pitcher Tony Saunders is taken with the 1st pick by the Devil Rays, while the Diamondbacks select pitcher Brian Anderson from Cleveland. Following the draft, the Diamondbacks acquire 3B Travis Fryman from the Tigers in exchange for infielders Joe Randa and Gabe Alvarez and P Matt Drews. They also obtain OF Devon White from the Marlins in exchange for P Jesus Martinez. In a rash of moves, the Devil Rays get 1B Fred McGriff from the Braves in exchange for a player to be named, C John Flaherty from the Padres in exchange for P Brian Boehringer and IF Andy Sheets, SS Kevin Stocker from the Phillies in exchange for Bobby Abreu, and sign free agent P Roberto Hernandez to a 4-year contract.

» December 1, 1997: The Diamondbacks obtain 3B Matt Williams from the Indians in exchange for 3B Travis Fryman, P Tom Martin, and $3 million.

» June 8, 2001: The Tigers defeat the Brewers, 9-4, as Damion Easley hits for the cycle and drives home four runs. Easley is the 9th player in team history and the first since Travis Fryman, on July 28, 1993, to cycle.

» October 5, 2001: In only the 2nd doubleheader ever played at the SkyDome (the first was 1989), the Blue Jays sweep the Indians, 5–0 and 4–3 in 11 innings. Jose Cruz Jr. leads the offense by stealing three bases and hitting a homer in his 6th straight game—a club record: he joins the 30-30 club. Roy "Doc" Halladay flirts with a no-hitter before Travis Fryman singles with two out in the 8th. Wil Cordero added a single in the 9th. Halladay lost a no-hitter in 1999 when he gave up a 2-out 9th inning home run to Bobby Higginson in his first ML win. Halladay had been sent all the way to single A Florida State league earlier in the year, following his 10.64 ERA in 2000, the worst in ML history.