What Ever Happened To Lou Whitaker???

‘Sweet Lou’ Whitaker is best known as part of one of the most successful double play combinations in baseball’s history.  With the Detroit Tigers, and alongside Alan Trammel, Whitaker excelled as a second baseman. 

In his rookie year of 1978, Whitaker walked away with the Rookie of the Year award.  In that 1978 season, “Sweet Lou’ managed to hit .285 while connecting for 138 hits and driving in 58 runs.  Although Whitaker’s offensive stats cannot compare to the power numbers put up by today’s 2nd basemen, Whitaker’s career totals are very impressive.  A career .276 hitter, Lou managed to belt out 244 home runs and drive in 1084 RBI.  In addition to this, Whitaker has also accumulated 143 stolen bases.

A 5-time All-star, and a 4-time Silver Slugger winner, Whitaker really cemented his greatness on defense.  For 19 season, he patrolled 2nd base for the Tigers and ended his career with a .984 fielding percentage.  Lou has also been part of 1,527 double plays.

Today, Whiatker offers help to the Detroit Tigers during their Spring Training.  He seems to be the perfect fit for a defensive infield coach as there is not much that got by this very talented player. 

Dave Winfield 1988 Topps

Dave Winfield 1988 Topps

Here is a nice 2-card set from the 1988 Topps issue.  These 2 cards look good next to each other.  The similar colors and fonts being used unite the cards and they display very nicely as a 2 piece set.

Ticket Stub #14 – Marlins vs. Reds – 04/04/1997

Ticket Stub #14 – Marlins vs. Reds – 04/04/1997

Pro Player Stadium – Miami, FL

Reds 9 – Marlins 7

This was game 4 for the Marlins’ 1997 season, and is the closest I have ever gotten to see a game on Opening Day.  Who would have thought that just a few months later the Marlins would be celebrating a World Series championship???

What stood out most in this game was the amazingly talented offensive line-ups each of these teams had.  The Reds were stacked with players like Deion Sanders, Ruben Sierra, Reggie Sanders, Barry Larkin, and Hal Morris.  The Marlins didn’t have a soft line-up either.  The roster contained Gary Sheffield, Moises Alou, Bobby Bonilla, Devon White, and Jeff Conine.  This was also the first game I ever saw Edgar Renteria play in live and he quickly became and still is one of my favorite Florida Marlins of all-time.

The biggest impression left on me after seeing this game was the obviuos talent of Reggie Sanders.  Sanders had a hell of a night going 3-for-4 with 1 home run and 6 RBI.  This is easily one of the best offensive performances I have witnessed during a live baseball game.

Cincinnati Reds	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA	NOTES
Sanders	4	1	2	1	1	0	0.529
Greene	2	1	1	1	2	0	0.286
Larkin	3	2	0	0	2	0	0.100
Sanders	4	1	3	6	1	1	0.471	HR
Morris	4	1	0	0	1	0	0.333
Sierra	4	1	1	0	1	0	0.313
Shaw	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
Boone	5	0	0	0	0	0	0.111
Tabuensee	3	1	1	0	2	0	0.400
Bones	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
Branson	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
Jarvis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
Timmons	1	0	1	0	0	0	0.500
Mercker	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
Harris	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.000
Service	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
Owens	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
Florida Marlins	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA	NOTES
Castillo	5	0	1	0	0	0	0.421
Renteria	5	1	2	2	0	0	0.235	SB
Sheffield	1	0	0	0	3	0	0.167
Bonilla	5	0	2	1	0	0	0.333
Eisenreich	3	0	0	0	1	0	0.000
Hutton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
Helling	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
Cangelosi	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
White	5	1	2	0	0	1	0.357
Conine	4	1	3	1	1	0	0.600
Johnson	5	3	2	1	0	1	0.286
Rapp	2	1	1	1	0	1	0.500
Heredia	1	0	0	0	0	1	0.000
Alou	1	0	1	1	0	0	0.462

 

Hall of Famers in this game – Barry Larkin(???) & Gary Sheffield(???)