AT: The Alex Trebeks

Infield: Shortstop Alan Trammell (1977-96) was probably better than half of the shortstops in the Hall of Fame. He was a Gold Glove fielder who hit .285 for his career with a good batting eye, decent speed and some pop in his bat (412 doubles, 185 home runs). He drove in 1,000 runs and scored 1,200. Trammell batted .300 seven times, drove in or scored 100 runs four times, but oddly enough the only thing he ever lead the league in was sacrifice bunts (twice). He and Lou Whitaker became the Tigers’ double play combo in the final days of the 1977 season, when Trammell was 19 and Whitaker was 20, and they anchored the Tigers’ infield for the next two decades, winning a World Series title in 1984 (Trammell was MVP of the Series.) First baseman Andre Thornton (1973-87) was a .250-.260 hitter, but he drew a lot of walks (90-100 a year given regular playing time) and he hit home runs (253 in his career). He was slow, and he was just a so-so glove at first base, and combined with the perception of his low batting average, those shortcomings caused people to underestimate him for years. He was traded several times for players who weren’t as good as him, and he wasn’t given 500 at-bats in a season until his late 20s. The Indians made him their regular DH, and he thrived in that role for several years. Third baseman Andy Tracy (2000-09) hit almost 300 home runs in the minors and drove in more than 1,000 runs. A lefty slugger, he played well for Montreal as a rookie, batting .260 but drawing a good number of walks and popping 11 home runs in fewer than 200 at-bats. He struggled the following year, though, and only got a few cups o’coffee after that. His major-league career to date consisted of 314 plate appearances and 277 at-bats, roughly a half-season’s worth, and his totals included 13 home runs, 43 RBI, 35 runs, 30 walks and 99 strikeouts. Second baseman Alex Taveras (1976-83) was a minor-league speedster who couldn’t steal first base in the bigs. (He was apparently no kin to Frank Taveras, but had similar skills.)

Outfield: Center fielder Andres Torres (2002-13) was a minor-league speedster who was better (and luckier) than Alex Taveras. He knocked around for a decade or so, mostly in the minors, until he landed with the Giants in 2009 at age 31. Given playing time he hit well, and given a full-time job for the first time at age 32 he was one of the key players on the Giants championship team in 2010. That was the peak of his career, and he was gone a few years later. Andy Tomberlin (1993-98) was signed out of high school by the Braves as an undrafted pitcher, and then converted to an outfielder at age 20. He was a .300 hitter in the minors, touted as a hot prospect, but his major-league career never really took shape. He played for five teams, never came to the plate 100 times in a season, and batted .233 for his career. Left fielder Andrew Toles (2016- ) is a 5-foot-9 fireplug who is just getting started with the L.A. Dodgers, but he has already shown enough to earn a starting spot ahead of the rest of the A.T. outfield. Batted .314 in 105 at-bats as a rookie. It's a start.

Catcher: Al Todd (1932-43) batted .276 for his career and once had 10 triples in a season. He’s no great shakes, but hey, he had an actual career. On this roster, only Andre Thornton and Alan Trammell had more career at-bats.

Rotation: Adonis Terry (1884-97) won 197 games in his career, threw two no-hitters and struck out 230 batters at age 19. He was a good enough hitter that he also played regularly in the outfield for much of his career. His given name was William H. Terry, and he was 5-11 and 168 pounds, so it’s not clear where the nickname “Adonis” came from – most likely it is a reference to the fact that he was a clean liver who kept himself in good condition during an era when many ballplayers were drunks and carousers. Amaury Telemaco (1996-2005) who won 23 games for three times. He had a live arm and showed some promise, but he had trouble keeping the ball in the park. Lefty Al Tedrow (1914) was 22 years old when he was given three starts by the Indians in 1914. He put up a 1.21 ERA in 22 1/3 innings. That was it for his major-league career. You might wonder why he wouldn’t get a longer look, given his apparent success, and the answer might be that (a.) he gave up as many unearned runs as earned that season, and (b.) he had a losing record in a short minor-league career. Other than that, we don’t know. Andrew Triggs (2016- ) is just getting started with the A's. He didn't throw his first pitch in the majors until age 27, so there's only but so much upside on him. But he has gotten off to a decent start, and that's enough for a spot in this rotation.. Aloysius Travers (1912) had a unique major-league career. In May 1912, Ty Cobb leaped into the stands in New York to attack an obnoxious (and physically handicapped) fan who had been coming to games for several years just to taunt Cobb. The American League suspended Cobb indefinitely, and his Detroit teammates protested by refusing to play their next game. The team, desperate to field a team for a game in Philadelphia, hastily grabbed a handful of players from St. Joseph’s University, gave them Tigers uniforms, and threw them out on the field with a couple of coaches to face the Philadelphia A’s. Twenty-year-old Al Travers was the starting pitcher for the Tigers that day, and he worked a complete game. He gave up 26 hits and 24 runs (though only 14 of them were earned). He struck out one and walked seven. Unfortunately, no pitch count was recorded. Cobb appealed to his teammates to end their sitdown strike, the league shortened his suspension, and the major-league career of Aloysius Travers came to an end – until the Alex Trebeks take the field, that is.

Bullpen: Anthony Telford (1990-2002) will serve as the closer. For four years his early 30s, the Expos used him as a durable setup guy and he pitched consistently well. He was never actually a closer in the majors, or for that matter during his lengthy minor-league career, but he was a dependable reliever and on this roster, that’s enough. Alex Torres (2011- ) had a cup of coffee in 2011 and then had a very fine rookie season in 2013, putting up a 1.71 ERA for Tampa. Aaron Taylor (2002-04) was a 6-foot-7, 230-pound reliever from Valdosta, Ga., who was known as “Big Country.” Pitching a few games here and there for the Mariners, he struck out almost a batter per inning, but he gave up lots of hits, runs and home runs. He had a couple of good years as a minor-league closer and could get a shot at that role here. Lefty Angel Torres (1977) appeared in five games for the post-championship Big Red Machine. He was 24 years old, and he put up a 2.16 ERA, with eight strikeouts and eight walks in 8 1/3 innings. He had logged a lot of minor-league innings at a young age, and the injuries set in. He was out of baseball by the time he was 27. Al Tate (1946) made one start and one relief appearance for the Pirates, working nine innings, giving up five runs, and walking seven. Andrew Tomasic (1949) had a long minor-league career but got hit hard in two games for the New York Giants.  Lefty Aaron Thompson (2011-15) went 1-3 with a 4.94 ERA over the course of a short major-league career.

Bench: Alejandro Trevino (1978-90) had a long career as a backup catcher and was part of the cast of characters assigned to replace Johnny Bench in Cincinnati. He actually had more plate appearances than all but two starting position players on this roster. He was your basic .250 hitter with no power and no speed. Infielder Al “Tiny” Tesch (1915) appeared in eight games and batted seven times, hitting .286 for the Brooklyn Tip Tops. Outfielder Arlie Tarbert (1927-28) – full name Wilbert Arlington Tarbert, have fun with that one – batted .186 for the Red Sox. Outfielder Albert “For Pete’s” Thake (1872) batted .295 in 18 games for the Brooklyn Atlantic just a few years after the end of the Civil War. He died after that season, still just 22 years old and only the second major-league ballplayer to die. Thake drowned when he fell out of his fishing boat and became entangled in his own lines. Infielder Andres Thomas (1985-90) played in 577 games for the Braves, and given the starting shortstop job he hit 13 home runs in 1988 and then another 13 in 1989. He wasn’t doing anything else, though, and he was out of baseball before he turned 30.

Manager: Andrew Thompson managed the 1884 St. Paul White Caps to a 2-6 record in the Union Association. He will have to make do with limited resources (and he is thankful that the Tigers went on strike for one day in 1912), because the above roster represents almost every man who ever played in a major-league game with the initials A.T. (Two of the others, both backup catchers, were Art Twineham and a different guy named Andrew Thompson. They’ll warm up pitchers in the bullpen.)