Travis Fryman

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers drafted Fryman in the first round of the 1987 Major League Baseball draft out of Tate High School in Pensacola, Florida. He debuted with the Tigers at Tiger Stadium on July 7, 1990 in a 4–0 loss to the Kansas City Royals at shortstop, but ended up seeing more time at third over the course of his first season in the majors.

He split time between short and third in 1991 before an injury to Alan Trammell allowed him to inherit the starting shortstop job in 1992. He hit 20 home runs and drove in 96 runs to earn his first All-Star selection, and win the American League Silver Slugger Award at his position.

Fryman started the 1993 at shortstop, but earned the third base job by the end of the season. He remained at third for Detroit until joining the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks via a trade following the 1997 season for Matt Drews. Two weeks after joining the Diamondbacks, he was traded again, along with pitcher Tom Martin, to the Indians for third baseman Matt Williams.

Cleveland Indians

Fryman batted .287 with 28 home runs and 96 RBIs his first season in Cleveland to help lead his team to the American League Central division crown. Fryman batted only .167 with no RBIs and committed one error in the field in his first post-season as the Indians were ousted in the 1998 American League Championship Series by the New York Yankees.

Injuries hampered Fryman in 1999. He rebounded to have his best season in 2000. He established career highs in batting average (.321), slugging percentage (.516), on-base percentage (.392), hits (184), doubles, and RBIs (106). Additionally, he also only made eight errors in the field and had a 60-game errorless streak, on his way to winning a Gold Glove Award. His teammates rewarded his efforts with the Gordon Cobbledick Golden Tomahawk Award, and the Cleveland Baseball Writers' Association named him their Man of the Year.

Injuries once again limited Fryman in 2001, as he did not make his first appearance until June 2. In 2002, he had the lowest range factor of all major league third basemen (2.31), as well as the lowest zone rating (.680).

In a 13-season career, Fryman posted a .274 batting average with 223 home runs and 1,022 RBIs in 1,698 games. Fryman retired after the 2002 season.

Coaching career

Fryman became the manager of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, the short-season A affiliate of the Indians in the New York–Penn League, in 2008. It was his managerial debut after having worked as an infield instructor with the Indians during spring training that year. Fryman has been mentioned as a possible manager for the Cleveland Indians. David Wallace became the Scrappers' manager in 2011.

Currently Fryman is a hitting instructor for the Cleveland Indians farm system, travelling to all of the Indians AAA, AA, and A minor league teams.

Fryman has three children, Mason, Branden, and Cole.