Final Card Friday: 1995 Lou Whitaker

With the Detroit Tigers dismal 2018 season, the Hall of Fame inductions of Jack Morris and Alan Trammell were a welcomed bright spot for their fans. Personally, I enjoyed the festivities very much. I attended Induction Weekend and enjoyed watching the jersey number retirements on television. However, in my joy, something was always missing: Sweet Lou Whitaker.

When telling friends about my plans to attend Induction Weekend, it was difficult for me to say, “I’m going to Cooperstown to see Morris and Trammell get inducted.” Frequently, I’d say, “Whitaker and Trammell” or “Trammell and Whitaker.”  Then I’d have to correct myself and include Morris. The names of the greatest double play combination in history are ingrained in my mind. Growing up in the 1980s, that shouldn’t be surprising. They did play a record 1,918 games together, and I watched many of them in person and on television. I always pictured Whitaker and Trammell being inducted into the Hall of Fame together. It was not to be.

Unfortunately, Lou Whitaker hasn’t been given the recognition he deserves since his retirement in 1995. In a perfect storm, Whitaker got lost on the 2001 Hall of Fame ballot and only 2.9% of the writers included him. Since he was below 5%, he was dropped from the ballot and wasn’t eligible for Veterans’s Committee induction for 14 years. After being bypassed once again in 2018, Whitaker’s next opportunity to make it to Cooperstown will be in 2020 via the Modern Baseball Era Committee.  From what I’ve read from Hall of Famers who might serve on that committee, his candicacy is gaining traction.

Hopefully, the committee will finally see Lou Whitaker’s credentials. Like Alan Trammell, Whitaker was a star in his own right. In 1992, Whitaker became only the second second baseman to play 2,000 games, hit 200 home runs, and collect 2,000 hits. Joe Morgan was first. Whitaker won the 1978 AL Rookie of the Year, made five All-Star teams and won three Gold Gloves. With modern metrics, he grades out as the 11th or 12th best second baseman in baseball history, somewhere between Ryne Sandberg and Roberto Alomar. He would be a much better selection than current Hall of Fame second basemen Bid McPhee, Johnny Evers, Red Schoendienst, and Bill Mazeroski.  What hurts Whitaker is a lack of big numbers. He never won an MVP, nor did he get 3,000 hits. He was simply an unassuming, All-Star caliber player for most of his 19 seasons. Unfortunately, Whitaker is a quiet man and didn’t bring attention to himself. He played in an era when only a handful of his games were on National television, and he played in a mid-market city, Detroit. Let’s just say, if Lou Whitaker had worn Yankee pinstripes for 19 seasons, he would have made it to the Hall of Fame in the early 2000s. In some ways, he was the 1980s version of Phil Rizzuto …only better and with a lot more home run power. But, Whitaker wore an Old English D cap and not one with a NY, and he didn’t have Yogi Berra and Pee Wee Reese pushing for him on the Veterans Committee. Yet, his fortunes have changed. Whitaker now has Hall of Famers Trammell and Morris leading his campaign.

Lou Whitaker’s final APBA card is great.  As a matter of fact, Whitaker finished his career with a flourish. In limited duty, his last three season saw him hit .290, .301, and .293 with solid power numbers. This final card is extremely accurate. Figuring in the 35-36 & 64-22, I project it to produce a .293 average, perfectly matching his actual season output.  Even though a 2B-7 defensive rating isn’t great, three zeroes (including one on 22) and a 66-1 will get most APBA players excited. If you were playing with this card in a tournament of sub-.500 teams, you’d try to work it into your lineup…the alternative being Scott Fletcher and his .231 average.

With the recent focus on the 1984 Detroit Tigers and Alan Trammell, I’m hopeful that Lou Whitaker’s Hall of Fame candidacy will pick up new steam. Whitaker showed tremendous grace when attending the festivities in Cooperstown. I saw him at the Bob Costas ceremony at Doubleday Field, in town signing autographs (I got one), and at the official induction ceremony. Also, I heard he toured the Hall of Fame Museum on his own. For both Jack Morris’s and Alan Trammell’s jersey number retirements, Whitaker came to Detroit to take part in the celebrations. I expect he’ll show similar class and dignity when he finally gets his plaque in Cooperstown.  It will be sweet music to my ears when the Tigers faithful in the crowd serenade him with, “Loouu!”