Biographical

Portrait of Lou Whitaker

Lou Whitaker 2BTigers

Tigers Player Cards | Tigers Team Audit | Tigers Depth Chart

Career Summary
Years PA AVG OBP SLG DRC+ WARP
19 9967 .276 .363 .426 115 48.5
Birth Date5-12-1957
Height5' 11"
Weight160 lbs
Age66 years, 11 months, 14 days
BatsL
ThrowsR
WARP Summary

MLB Statistics

YEAR TEAM AGE G PA H 2B 3B HR BB SO HBP SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ DRAA BRR FRAA BWARP
1977 DET 20 11 37 8 1 0 0 4 6 0 2 2 .250 .333 .281 78 -0.8 0.2 -0.9 -0.1
1978 DET 21 139 567 138 12 7 3 61 65 1 7 7 .285 .361 .357 93 -2.7 4.5 9.6 2.8
1979 DET 22 127 520 121 14 8 3 78 66 1 20 10 .286 .395 .378 111 8.4 9.0 -1.9 3.0
1980 DET 23 145 568 111 19 1 1 73 79 0 8 4 .233 .331 .283 79 -12.4 2.4 0.1 0.5
1981 DET 24 109 382 88 14 4 5 40 42 1 5 3 .263 .340 .373 105 1.4 3.9 7.1 2.4
1982 DET 25 152 619 160 22 8 15 48 58 1 11 3 .286 .341 .434 109 7.7 1.9 0.5 2.8
1983 DET 26 161 720 206 40 6 12 67 70 0 17 10 .320 .380 .457 128 22.8 4.9 -12.9 3.6
1984 DET 27 143 629 161 25 1 13 62 63 0 6 5 .289 .357 .407 115 13.0 -0.3 -10.9 1.9
1985 DET 28 152 701 170 29 8 21 80 56 2 6 4 .279 .362 .456 121 19.5 1.1 -16.6 2.3
1986 DET 29 144 651 157 26 6 20 63 70 0 13 8 .269 .338 .437 115 12.3 4.9 2.6 3.9
1987 DET 30 149 684 160 38 6 16 71 108 1 13 5 .265 .341 .427 101 1.0 4.1 -5.9 1.8
1988 DET 31 115 477 111 18 2 12 66 61 0 2 0 .275 .376 .419 118 9.9 -5.2 -4.5 1.3
1989 DET 32 148 611 128 21 1 28 89 59 3 6 3 .251 .361 .462 132 22.6 -3.3 -9.0 2.8
1990 DET 33 132 552 112 22 2 18 74 71 0 8 2 .237 .338 .407 113 8.2 -2.2 5.7 2.8
1991 DET 34 138 572 131 26 2 23 90 45 2 4 2 .279 .391 .489 141 28.3 2.2 4.6 5.3
1992 DET 35 130 544 126 26 0 19 81 46 1 6 4 .278 .386 .461 137 24.4 -0.2 -12.3 2.7
1993 DET 36 119 476 111 32 1 9 78 46 4 3 3 .290 .412 .449 124 15.7 1.3 10.7 4.1
1994 DET 37 92 372 97 21 2 12 41 47 1 2 0 .301 .377 .491 116 9.2 4.1 8.4 3.1
1995 DET 38 84 285 73 14 0 14 31 41 2 4 0 .293 .372 .518 126 10.4 -0.6 -2.3 1.5
Career23909967236942065244119710992014375.276.363.426115198.832.6-28.048.5

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.
YEAR Team Lg LG G PA oppAVG oppOBP oppSLG BABIP BPF BRAA repLVL POS_ADJ DRC+ DRC+ SD FRAA BRR DRAA BWARP
1977 DET MLB AL 11 37 .263 .316 .394 .308 107 -0.8 1.0 0 78 13 -0.9 0.2 -0.8 -0.1
1978 DET MLB AL 139 567 .263 .323 .387 .318 104 2.3 14.7 -0.7 93 7 9.6 4.5 -2.7 2.8
1979 DET MLB AL 127 520 .270 .330 .407 .330 101 11.5 14.6 -0.7 111 10 -1.9 9.0 8.4 3.0
1980 DET MLB AL 145 568 .268 .328 .396 .273 104 -12 15.3 -0.7 79 7 0.1 2.4 -12.4 0.5
1981 DET MLB AL 109 382 .257 .318 .372 .285 101 3.7 9.7 -0.4 105 13 7.1 3.9 1.4 2.4
1982 DET MLB AL 152 619 .265 .325 .403 .295 99 16.7 16.7 -0.8 109 11 0.5 1.9 7.7 2.8
1983 DET MLB AL 161 720 .265 .324 .397 .341 100 33.2 19.6 -0.9 128 11 -12.9 4.9 22.8 3.6
1984 DET MLB AL 143 629 .266 .327 .404 .304 96 19.3 16.9 -0.8 115 10 -10.9 -0.3 13.0 1.9
1985 DET MLB AL 152 701 .263 .325 .410 .277 95 29.6 19.1 -0.9 121 7 -16.6 1.1 19.5 2.3
1986 DET MLB AL 144 651 .262 .329 .409 .275 99 9.6 18.0 -0.8 115 8 2.6 4.9 12.3 3.9
1987 DET MLB AL 149 684 .268 .334 .430 .298 99 10 20.2 -0.9 101 9 -5.9 4.1 1.0 1.8
1988 DET MLB AL 115 477 .264 .323 .394 .298 98 13.1 12.5 -0.6 118 9 -4.5 -5.2 9.9 1.3
1989 DET MLB AL 148 611 .258 .319 .376 .232 101 27.3 16.0 -0.8 132 11 -9.0 -3.3 22.6 2.8
1990 DET MLB AL 132 552 .260 .324 .391 .242 102 6 14.8 -0.7 113 8 5.7 -2.2 8.2 2.8
1991 DET MLB AL 138 572 .261 .325 .394 .263 103 35.3 15.5 -0.9 141 7 4.6 2.2 28.3 5.3
1992 DET MLB AL 130 544 .260 .325 .386 .273 103 21.8 14.1 -1.1 137 8 -12.3 -0.2 24.4 2.7
1993 DET MLB AL 119 476 .265 .336 .408 .307 103 21.6 13.7 -0.6 124 11 10.7 1.3 15.7 4.1
1994 DET MLB AL 92 372 .263 .333 .416 .317 103 11.6 11.3 -0.9 116 8 8.4 4.1 9.2 3.1
1995 DET MLB AL 84 285 .265 .342 .420 .299 101 12.2 8.5 -0.9 126 13 -2.3 -0.6 10.4 1.5

Statistics For All Levels

Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.
Year Team lvl LG PA AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG ISO SF SH
1977 DET MLB AL 37 32 5 8 1 0 0 9 2 4 6 2 2 .250 .333 .281 .031 0 1
1978 DET MLB AL 567 484 71 138 12 7 3 173 58 61 65 7 7 .285 .361 .357 .072 8 13
1979 DET MLB AL 520 423 75 121 14 8 3 160 42 78 66 20 10 .286 .395 .378 .092 4 14
1980 DET MLB AL 568 477 68 111 19 1 1 135 45 73 79 8 4 .233 .331 .283 .050 6 12
1981 DET MLB AL 382 335 48 88 14 4 5 125 36 40 42 5 3 .263 .340 .373 .110 3 3
1982 DET MLB AL 619 560 76 160 22 8 15 243 65 48 58 11 3 .286 .341 .434 .148 4 6
1983 DET MLB AL 720 643 94 206 40 6 12 294 72 67 70 17 10 .320 .380 .457 .137 8 2
1984 DET MLB AL 629 558 90 161 25 1 13 227 56 62 63 6 5 .289 .357 .407 .118 5 4
1985 DET MLB AL 701 609 102 170 29 8 21 278 73 80 56 6 4 .279 .362 .456 .177 5 5
1986 DET MLB AL 651 584 95 157 26 6 20 255 73 63 70 13 8 .269 .338 .437 .168 4 0
1987 DET MLB AL 684 604 110 160 38 6 16 258 59 71 108 13 5 .265 .341 .427 .162 4 4
1988 DET MLB AL 477 403 54 111 18 2 12 169 55 66 61 2 0 .275 .376 .419 .144 2 6
1989 DET MLB AL 611 509 77 128 21 1 28 235 85 89 59 6 3 .251 .361 .462 .210 9 1
1990 DET MLB AL 552 472 75 112 22 2 18 192 60 74 71 8 2 .237 .338 .407 .169 5 1
1991 DET MLB AL 572 470 94 131 26 2 23 230 78 90 45 4 2 .279 .391 .489 .211 8 2
1992 DET MLB AL 544 453 77 126 26 0 19 209 71 81 46 6 4 .278 .386 .461 .183 4 5
1993 DET MLB AL 476 383 72 111 32 1 9 172 67 78 46 3 3 .290 .412 .449 .159 4 7
1994 DET MLB AL 372 322 67 97 21 2 12 158 43 41 47 2 0 .301 .377 .491 .189 5 3
1995 DET MLB AL 285 249 36 73 14 0 14 129 44 31 41 4 0 .293 .372 .518 .225 3 0

Plate Discipline

YEAR Pits Zone% Swing% Contact% Z-Swing% O-Swing% Z-Contact% O-Contact% SwStr% CSAA

Injury History  —  No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On Date Off Transaction Days Games Side Body Part Injury Severity Surgery Date Reaggravation

Compensation

Year Team Salary

 

Service TimeAgentContract Status

Details

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ VORP FRAA WARP
Weighted Mean???????00??.000.000.00000.0?0.0

BP Annual Player Comments

No BP Book Comments have been found for this player.

BP Articles

Click here to see articles tagged with Lou Whitaker

BP Chats

DateQuestionAnswer
2017-05-03 20:00:00 (link to chat)Do you have any favourite teams? Players?
(Ryan from Ottawa)		I grew up in Chicago, a White Sox fan, but I also happened to love the Expos. Tim Raines getting in the Hall of Fame was overdue. About as overdue as Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell getting in the Hall. Travesties, particularly Trammell. (David Brown)
2013-01-11 14:00:00 (link to chat)When the dust clears, do you see Lou Whitaker getting in to the Hall?
(Yefrem from Canada)		Eventually, I think there's a good chance Trammell, Whitaker and Morris are all enshrined via the Veterans Committee process. I have Whitaker a bit below the JAWS standard and below Bobby Grich (http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/jaws_2B.shtml), but he's above on career and we're talking numbers to the right of the decimal overall - a false precision, basically.

It's probably too late given the current crowd of candidates, but I'd like to have seen Whitaker get back onto the BBWAA ballot via a similar amnesty to what put Ron Santo on the ballot in 1985 after he went 1-and-done in 1980. (Jay Jaffe on the Hall of Fame)
2011-05-05 13:00:00 (link to chat)Nice start for A.J. - HBP on an 0-2 count and a wild pickoff throw to 1st to get Sizemore to 3rd. April is over ...
(goodwine10 from New York, NY)		These things happen. What's more interesting to me is that for all the supposed wonderfulness of Burnett's April, his ERA was only about league average... YES just flashed the names Kirk Gibson, Jack Morris, Alan Trammell, and Lou Whitaker. At least one of those guys should be in the Hall of Fame, and it's not Morris. (Steven Goldman)
2011-04-13 13:00:00 (link to chat)Greatest baseball player born in Brooklyn? Koufax, Rizzuto, Torre, or Lou Whitaker? Or Michael Jordan?
(mef from Brooklyn)		Jordan. (Jason Parks)
2011-01-05 13:00:00 (link to chat)I always thought Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker are given a poor shake. If they had played together in New York all those years, They'd be In! Your thoughts?
(Avenger Dad from Jenny Lind, Ca)		There's no doubt that east coast media exposure would have helped that duo - you could put them in Philadelphia or Boston and probably still see a significant bump.

What kills me is that there are voters who will eagerly check the box next to Jack Morris' name without recognizing that he had outstanding run support and defensive support, and that Trammell and Whitaker were a big part of that for his entire career as a Tiger. Yet those voters let Whitaker slip off the ballot after a single vote, and still won't give Trammell the time of day. (Jay Jaffe)
2010-10-20 13:00:00 (link to chat)Do you think Ian Desmond has the potential that the organization seems to think he has?
(Charlie from Bethesda, MD)		The errors trouble me, the lack of selectivity troubles me, but as Christina pointed out in her aforementioned GM for a Day piece, putting Desmond and Danny Espinosa together up the middle seems like a no-brainer, a chance to have some above-average pop at those positions. As she said, they're not going to be Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell (Trammell for the Hall of Fame NOW!) but they don't need to be. (Steven Goldman)
2010-01-06 13:00:00 (link to chat)As an older Mets fan who fondly remembers Ventura for his grand slam single, and a young baseball fan who fondly remembers Ventura for charging Nolan Ryan. He deserved better than being one and done, right?
(J.P. from Hartford)		Absolutely. I'm not convinced yet that he belongs, but as with Will Clark, Lou Whitaker, Dwight Evans, Bobby Grich and several others, I certainly feel the debate should have gone on a whole lot longer before anyone made up their minds. (Jay Jaffe)
2010-01-06 13:00:00 (link to chat)Seeing how there's very little chance the writers ever induct him, is it likely that Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker eventually make it in to the Hall on a veteran's committee twin killing?
(Mike from Chicago)		Given their resistance to electing ANYBODY, you're going to have to kill more than just the Twins who are on the Veterans Committee to get Trammell and Whitaker in. (Jay Jaffe)
2009-10-28 14:00:00 (link to chat)I know it's early, but how do Utley's HoF chances look so far?
(dtwhite from Toronto)		On the one hand, he's got five years towards a very solid peak score, he's got a ring and some All-Star appearances, and he's just finishing his Age 30 season.

On the other hand, the bar for second basemen in the Hall is unusually high - Bobby Grich and Lou Whitaker can't even get in - and there's a Nate Silver study that showed that second basemen tend to peak earlier and have shorter careers than other position players. Utley's had injury concerns over the past few years, and I worry if that will take its toll down the road.

Which would be a damn shame, because he's one of my favorite players to watch. (Jay Jaffe)
2008-09-10 13:00:00 (link to chat)Jay, Do you think of the players on the new Veteran's Committee ballot belong in the HOF? Thanks for chatting.
(collins from greenville nc)		I think Bill Dahlen does, and I'd be willing to consider Joe Gordon given the impact of World War II service on his career, but I'm far more interested in seeing cases like Bobby Grich, Lou Whitaker and Dwight Evans come up for a vote than some of these oldtimers. (Jay Jaffe)
2008-02-28 14:00:00 (link to chat)Do you think Roberto Alomar gets into the Hall of Fame? He's a few hundred hits shy of the 3000 plateau, and although he dominated the gold glove scene for his position throughout the 90's, it doesn't seem like his "greatness" is really remembered too well even though he just retired a couple of years ago.
(John from Boston)		He should be in the Hall of Fame, but keep in mind, I think Lou Whitaker should be in the Hall of Fame, and look how badly the voters screwed that up. (Christina Kahrl)


BP Roundtables

No BP Roundtables have mentioned this guy.