The Detroit Tigers will be retiring Lou Whitaker’s number 1 on
August 6. It’s a long overdue honor for one of the Tigers’ all-
time greats. And it bodes the question, does Whitaker belong in
the baseball Hall of Fame?
You can argue both ways as Whitaker straddles the fine line of
was he just a very good player or was he one of the best of best
deserving a spot in Cooperstown?
Let’s look at his stats. He had 2,369 hits over a 19-year career
with a career batting average of .276 and an on base % of .363.
He hit 244 home runs with 1,084 RBIs, which is pretty good for
a second baseman who batted near the top of the lineup for
most of his career.
He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1978 when
he hit .285. He was a 5-time all-star who won 3 gold gloves.
Whitaker had a career WAR of 75.1, which is 7 th all-time for
second basemen. The other 6 are all in the HOF, by the way.
That is a pretty impressive career, but is it a Hall of Fame
career? One of the challenges for middle infielders making the
Hall is that their offensive numbers usually don’t jump off the
page at you like the sluggers who play first base or the outfield.
Middle infielders need to be smaller in stature in order to have
the quickness & athleticism that is required to play the position
at a high level defensively, which Sweet Lou certainly did.
When you compare him to some of the other middle infielders
who are already in the Hall of Fame, Alan Trammell, his partner
in crime for all 19 years in Detroit, is the first name that comes
to mind. Their statistics are eerily similar as Trammell had 2,365
hits, 185 home runs and 1,003 RBIs. His career batting average
was .285 with an on base % of .352. He was a 6-time all-star
and won 5 gold gloves.
If Trammell is in the HOF, then Whitaker certainly should be in.
That said, there are some people who feel Trammell doesn’t
belong in the Hall and he didn’t get in until 2018 when the
Modern Baseball Committee voted him in.
Phil Rizzuto, aka The Scooter, is another Hall of Famer who he
more than favorably compares to. Rizzuto played 13 seasons
with a career batting average of .273 with only 38 home runs
and 563 RBIs. The fact that Rizzuto played his career with the
powerhouse Yankees has a lot to do with why he made into the
Hall.
So, should Whitaker be in the Hall of Fame? Well, his career
statistics are border-line worthy in my opinion, but if Trammel
and Rizzuto are in the HOF, then Sweet Lou should be there
along side them.
