Lou Whitaker is frequently cited as a 1980s second baseman who isn’t in the Hall of Fame but should be. I have no reason to disagree. Here’s why Lou Whitaker isn’t in the Hall of Fame but should be.
No clear best at second base in the 1980s
I agree that Lou Whitaker should be in the Hall of Fame, although I also think his contemporary, Bobby Grich, has a somewhat stronger case. And that’s probably the problem for both of them. During Lou Whitaker’s career, there wasn’t a clear consensus who the best second baseman in the American League was. Both Grich and Whitaker made All Star teams, but so did Frank White. White was a better fielder than either of them, so he won more gold gloves. But he wasn’t the hitter that either Whitaker or Grich were.
Whitaker made five All Star teams and also had three gold gloves and four silver slugger awards to his credit. But he didn’t collect 3000 lifetime hits and didn’t have a career batting average over .300, and he wasn’t the type of hitter to lead the league in any offensive categories. So his Hall of Fame case by traditional statistics wasn’t terribly strong.
He has a stronger case with advanced metrics. His 7-year peak is a touch below that of the average Hall of Fame second baseman, but the rest of his statistics are in line with those of a Hall of Fame second baseman. And his OPS+ for his career was 117, which is in line with Jim Rice and Andre Dawson, who are Hall of Famers, as well as Dale Murphy and Dave Parker, who are not.
Sometimes advanced metrics tell us a player was overrated at the time. Not in Whitaker’s case. His OPS+ and WAR tell us he was every bit as good as he looked at the time and deserved the awards and accolades he won during his career.
Playing in Detroit
The problem for Lou Whitaker was that he spent his entire career playing for the Detroit Tigers. He was the leadoff hitter for the unstoppable 1984 championship team, and he had a good year that year, but he didn’t get the kind of publicity he would have received playing in New York, Los Angeles, or even Chicago. And that 1984 team didn’t turn into the dynasty it could have, so Whitaker didn’t get as much postseason exposure as he might otherwise have.
He played most of his career for Sparky Anderson, the manager of the 1970s Cincinnati Reds dynasty, and Whitaker probably reminded Anderson of Joe Morgan, his second baseman in Cincinnati. Joe Morgan also hit leadoff, the key difference between Joe Morgan and his contemporaries seems to be having played in more postseasons, making a few more All Star teams in his prime, and also having a longer career. Whitaker retired at age 38, where Joe Morgan played a bit longer, to age 40. Morgan also had two monster seasons in 1975 and 1976. Morgan at his peak was better than Whitaker, but Whitaker was more consistent for a longer period of time.
Traditional statistics
If Whitaker had played a few more seasons into his early 40s, he probably would have reached 3,000 hits. It probably would have meant leaving Detroit and playing for non contending teams where his pursuit of 3000 hits would have been the major highlight of the season. That may not have been appealing to him, especially since the chase was largely symbolic. He didn’t quite hit .300 for his career, and while his 244 career home runs was a good number for a second baseman, it wasn’t enough to be considered a big power hitter.
But those traditional statistics and milestones mattered to Hall of Fame voters in those years after he retired.
The steroid era
Arguably, the steroid era mattered less in Whitaker’s case than it does to some players. Whitaker had above-average power, but home runs weren’t his calling card. He was a speed guy. Unfortunately for him, he was a speed guy playing at the same time as Rickey Henderson, the unquestioned greatest speed guy of all time. He had a similar problem to Ted Simmons, the second best catcher in the National League during Johnny Bench’s prime seasons.
And the counter argument is that playing his later years in the steroid era raised the bar for what Lou Whitaker had to do to be well above average. Had Whitaker played in a cleaner era, his advanced statistics may have looked more like Joe Morgan’s.
Whitaker’s teammate and double play partner, Alan Trammell, had a similar problem. He was a great shortstop who had the historical misfortune of playing during Cal Ripken Jr.’s career. Trammell eventually did gain induction into the Hall of Fame, but if anything, that strengthens the argument for inducting Whitaker. Whitaker had very similar career statistics and accomplishments, he just played second base instead of shortstop.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.