With the inclusion of Alan Trammell and Chipper Jones in this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame induction, there are now a mere 51 players in Hall of Fame history who have spent their whole career with a single team. These players are a dying breed, with the idea of franchise stars becoming less important than teams building for the future.
It also means that with more and more frequency, as players are added to the Hall of Fame going forward, they will need to make the difficult decision of choosing which team’s cap they will wear to be immortalized in Cooperstown’s hallowed halls.