Although his arm was not overpowering, he had a quick release and made accurate throws, ultimately winning four Gold Glove awards.

Trammell attended Kearny High School in San Diego, California, and played American Legion Baseball.

Trammell and Whitaker made a cameo appearance on the television show Magnum, P.I., starring Tom Selleck, during the 1983 season.

[10] Despite a season-long battle with tendinitis in his shoulder which caused him to miss 23 regular season games, Trammell finished fifth in the AL batting race with a .314 mark and ranked eighth in on-base percentage (.382).

In the 1984 American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals, he hit .364 with one home run and three RBI.

Finally, in the World Series, he hit .450 (9-for-20) against the San Diego Padres, including a pair of two-run home runs that accounted for all of the Tigers' scoring in a Game 4 victory.

In addition, Trammell appeared among the league leaders in most other AL offensive categories: third in hits (205), tenth in RBI (105), tied for fifth in runs (109), fourth in total bases (329), fifth in on-base percentage (.402), eighth in slugging average (.551), sixth in on-base plus slugging (.953), fifth in OPS+ (155), and tied for fifth in game-winning RBI (16).

Following the 1990 season, in which he hit .304 with 89 RBI in 146 games, Trammell suffered a long string of injuries that reduced his production over his final years.

From 1993 to 1996, Trammell saw less time at shortstop in favor of Travis Fryman and eventually Chris Gomez and Andújar Cedeño.

[17] He served as the bench coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks under former teammate Kirk Gibson[18] until returning to the Tigers in late 2014 as a special assistant to the general manager.

[22] His name and number were added to the brick wall in left-center field at Comerica Park, alongside Lou Whitaker (#1), Charlie Gehringer (#2), Hank Greenberg (#5), Al Kaline (#6), Sparky Anderson (#11), Hal Newhouser (#16), Willie Horton (#23), Ty Cobb (no number) and Jack Morris (#47).

[17][24] During the 2003 season, Detroit nearly matched the modern MLB record of 120 losses, set by the expansion New York Mets (40–120) in 1962.

Leyland led Detroit to a 24-game improvement in the regular season, an AL pennant, and a World Series appearance in 2006.

[26] In October 2006, Trammell returned to Comerica Park for the first time since his firing to participate, along with Sparky Anderson, in pregame festivities prior to Game 2 of the World Series.

After being replaced by Leyland, Trammell turned down an offer to stay with the Tigers as a special assistant, instead opting to sit out 2006.

In October 2006, he agreed to join the Chicago Cubs as a bench coach for the 2007 season,[27] a possible precursor to an eventual return to managing a major league club.

[24] On November 3, 2014, it was announced that Trammell would return to Detroit as a special assistant to Tigers' general manager Dave Dombrowski.

[30][31] During the 2015 season Trammell served as interim first-base coach when Omar Vizquel temporarily left the team on bereavement leave.