Lou Whitaker

Professional playing career

Whitaker first played with shortstop Alan Trammell while with the old Double-A Montgomery Rebels. The two first played together in the major leagues when they were both called up to Detroit at the end of the 1977 season. Both players became starters by the end of April 1978. They would remain teammates until Whitaker retired in 1995. Trammell and Whitaker also made a cameo appearance together on the television show Magnum, P.I. starring Tom Selleck, as themselves, during the 1983 season.

In 1978, Whitaker won the American League Rookie of the Year Award, hitting .285 with 71 runs, and a .361 on-base percentage.

Whitaker enjoyed a strong season in 1983, hitting for a .320 average with 12 home runs, 72 runs batted in (RBI), and 94 runs. That year he made the first of five consecutive All-Star appearances. In 1984, Whitaker and the Tigers won the World Series. The day Detroit clinched the Series, the second eldest of Whitaker's four daughters was born.

In 1985, Whitaker set a record for Detroit second basemen with 21 home runs and, in 1986, was a member of a Tigers infield in which every member hit at least twenty home runs. He hit a career-best 28 homers in 1989, one of four times he reached the 20-HR plateau, upping his record for the most homers in a season by a Tiger second baseman. Whitaker now shares the season record with Ian Kinsler, who hit 28 homers in 2016 as the Tigers regular second baseman.

Whitaker reached two career milestones in 1992, recording both his 2,000th hit and his 200th home run.

Along with his American League contemporaries Frank White and Willie Randolph, Whitaker set the standard for defensive play at his position throughout the 1980s. Whitaker is also only one of a select handful of players ever to hit a ball over the roof of Tiger Stadium.

Whitaker was an immensely popular player in Detroit and during his career was greeted by chants of "LOUUUUUUUUUU", which sounded a lot like boos at Tiger Stadium. He was an effective leadoff man, adept at drawing walks (averaging 81 BB per 162 games), quick on the bases, and able to drive the ball with power to all fields.

In his 19-year career, Whitaker batted .276 with 244 home runs, 1,084 RBI, 1,386 runs, 2,369 hits, 420 doubles, 65 triples, and 143 stolen bases in 2,390 games. He also recorded a 1.089 walk-to-strikeout ratio. He retired following the 1995 season. Whitaker is unique among long-career players in that he had the highest OPS of his career in his final season, .890 in 1995. Equally unique, Whitaker's OPS actually improved in each of his three final seasons.

After retirement, Whitaker became an instructor for the Tigers during their spring training sessions in Lakeland, Florida, where he helped coaching hitters through the 2009 season. He and the Tigers parted ways in 2010 by mutual agreement.

All-Star Games

Whitaker was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game five times: 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987.

In the 1985 All-Star Game, Whitaker forgot to pack his uniform. Making this discovery just before the game, he had to make do with replica merchandise available for purchase at the park. He obtained an adjustable mesh hat and a blank jersey. He finished off his outfit by scrawling his number on the back in magic marker (or, by some accounts, having a fan do so for him). The Smithsonian requested the jersey and it remains a part of their collection.

During the 1986 All-Star Game, Whitaker was one of the five players struck out consecutively by National League pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, tying Carl Hubbell's mark. Whitaker also homered in the game, a two-run homer in a game the American League won 3-2.

Team records

Whitaker ranks among the Tigers' all-time leaders in many categories, including the following:

Legacy

Although the team had not officially retired Whitaker's jersey, there was some debate among fans on social media outlets and on sportstalk radio when it was announced in August 2013 that newly acquired infielder José Iglesias would take over the number. Iglesias was the first player to wear jersey #1 since Whitaker's retirement in 1995.

Whitaker is ineligible for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America; he did not receive the required five percent of the votes in his first year of eligibility (in 2001). Despite having statistics comparable to other second basemen in the Hall of Fame (including contemporary Ryne Sandberg, a third-year inductee), Whitaker was dismissed from the ballot after receiving fifteen votes, or 2.9%. This surprised many observers, including Bill James, who named Whitaker the thirteenth-best second baseman of all time in The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. Whitaker will be eligible for consideration by the Veterans Committee beginning in 2016.