Build your customFanSided Daily email newsletter with news and analysis onAll MLB and all your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and more. Alomar won 10 Gold Gloves, but compiled only 2.4 defensive Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Another contemporary of Whitaker is Ryne Sandberg. I did it, I played there. Wright was on a potential Hall of Fame trajectory before spinal stenosis limited him to only 77 games after his age-31 season. His 75.1 Wins Above Replacement, All of which is to say: a second baseman with pop, patience or outstanding but unsexy defensive ability was almost guaranteed to be discounted by the biases of the era, and Whitakers game hit all three of those things harder than just about anyone else. This content is only available to subscribers. Whitakers best season was likely 1983, when he hit .320 with 12 homers, 40 doubles and drove in 72 runs to finish eighth in AL MVP voting. All rights reserved. Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. If you just look at offensive numbers as BBWAA voters often did more than 20 years ago, its easy to see why Detroit Tigers legend Lou Whitaker did not receive much support for the Baseball Hall of Fame. All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference. About page. When Trammell made his big league debut on September 9, 1977, he became the first Kearny High School graduate positional player to reach the majors. The standard it does have the top 17-25 men at every defensive position are in then Whitaker absolutely belongs. This gives Whitaker 154.5 wWAR. Its criminal. If you doubt it, go read something in Hall of Fame columns about Derek Jeter making jump-throws which neglect to mention that truly good shortstops dont need to do that. Everytime I go to Detroit, the fans there say, Lou, you and Tram, you all deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. Among all players who have been on a Hall of Fame ballot who made their debut after 1901 (the Modern Era of baseball) without a character clause (suspected PED users, Curt Schilling, Pete Rose), Lou Whitakers rWAR is the highest among any player not in the Hall of Fame. Clemens was nothing short of a star, holding not only ninth place on the MLB record list for wins, but also third place for all-time strikeouts (354 and 4,672, respectively). Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images, Scott D. Weaver/Icon SMI/Icon Sport Media via Getty Images. No one should expect to make money from the picks and predictions discussed on this website. You all deserve it. Ive been hearing that since 20 years now, Whitaker said. Baseball Hall of Fame Whitaker is a career .276/.363/.426 hitter with an OPS+ of 117. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. ", The Best Baseball Players Not in The Hall of Fame. It is nearly impossible to narrow down players that deserve to be in the Hall of Fame but are not on the shortlist. 1 in a pregame ceremony, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. - Advertisement -. Buy from many sellers and get your cards all in one shipment! Whitaker was a member of the 1984 World Series team, a five-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger, three-time Gold Glove winner, and the 1978 Rookie of the Year. When the details of Roses gambling on MLB games were revealed, he received a lifetime ban from the Hall of Fame. Over the course of his career, The Hall of Fame case for Lou Whitaker. Lester starred when the lights shined brightest with a 1.77 ERA in 35.2 career World Series innings en route to a pair of rings with the Boston Red Sox and a third as the ace of the staff for the Chicago Cubs in 2016. Now thats unfair right there, he said. Lou Brock WebFind many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1978 Topps 3 CARD ROOKIE LOT .JACK MORRIS(2) LOU WHITAKER..HALL OF FAMERS TIGERS at the best online prices at eBay! by Dan Holmes on November 17, 2019. The Hall of Fame.". However, it was with the Diamondbacks when Schilling peaked. Also on the ballot were guys on this and previous years Modern Baseball Era ballots such as Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Tommy John, Steve Garvey, and Don Mattingly. Free shipping for many products! Fittingly, those meetings will take place in San Diego, where Lou Whitaker led off the 1984 World Series with a double in the gap and scored a moment later on a single by Alan Trammell. Free He received votes from six of the 16 committee members, just half of the 12-vote total needed for induction. But the universal respect that Molina had throughout his career should help him join that exclusive group. On FanGraphs, it is called TZ (or Total Zone) and on Baseball-Reference, it is called Rtot (or Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Average) but its the same thing. The list above represents the five best baseball players who are not in the Hall of Fame, from the best on down. His stellar postseason work should help elevate a Hall of Very Good career to serious Cooperstown consideration. Lou Whitaker - Baseball Fever All are on the IL, along with six pitchers. But Whitakerdrew just 2.9 percent of the vote for Cooperstown in 2001, his only year on the Baseball Writers Association of Americas ballot, disqualifying him from future consideration by the writers. As they keep crunching the numbers, that's their job. The six men in front of him Rogers Hornsby, Eddie Collins, Napoleon Lajoie, Joe Morgan, Rod Carew, and Charlie Gehringer are all Hall of Famers. Who he is: Hall of Fame committees seemingly exist for candidates like Lou Whitaker. Whitaker, its worth noting, doesnt appear to be losing sleep over his Hall of Fame chances. Hall of Fame Announces Changes to Era Committees, Vote: 25 Best Players Not in the Hall of Fame, Reaching the BBWAA Standard, not just the Hall of Fame Standard, New Visual: Graham Womacks Top 50 Players Not in the Hall of Fame, Anticipating the 2014 Expansion Era Hall of Fame Ballot. Build your customFanSided Daily email newsletter with news and analysis onDetroit Tigers and all your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and more. He came off, what, last few years or whatever. Sixteen years since his snubbing, Whitaker expounded about it in a recent phone interview from his North Carolinahome. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. Lou Whitaker weighed 160 lbs (72 kg) when playing. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Monday, May 1, 12:21AM. He won four Silver Slugger Awards and three Gold Glove Awards as well. Lou Whitaker is the only player on this list whose lack of Hall of Fame induction is not associated with any scandals. We'll make our best guess at who will be a first-ballot selection, who will eventually get to the necessary support after a few years on the ballot, and who could stick around for a few years but will ultimately wind up in the Hall of Very Good. Larry Byrd, Les Rogers and Roger Whitaker On Sunday, December 8, the Modern Baseball Era committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame, which includes candidates whose primary contributions to baseball came between 1970-87, will vote on candidates for the 2020 induction class. Theres a chance not a great one, but a chance that Whitaker, Trammell, and Morris could all be voted into the Hall of Fame in December. Lets not spoil everything but reveal a little more about the rest of this list. 8 spot among a sea of Hall of Famers. Why Do The Yankees Not Have Names On Their Jerseys? Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. That's not my job. He finished in the top five in Cy Young voting five different times, and he took home the AL hardware in 2007. Smiths TZ is a staggering 239, so he averaged nearly 13 TZ per season so Smith is far superior defensively. September 9, 1977 The Hall of Stats was built by In his upcoming "Cooperstown Casebook," which will be out in June,Jaffe writes, Like Grich, Whitaker faces an uphill battle, because as longtime Tigers beat writer Tom Gage reminded his supporters in 2015, reconsiderations dont start at the bottom.. All advice, including picks and predictions, is based on individual commentators opinions and not that of Minute Media or its related brands. Whitaker was a career-long Detroit Tiger, playing second base from 1977-1995. from the SABR BioProject, More Lou Whitaker Pages at Baseball Reference. Mandatory Credit: Harry How /Allsport. Whitaker is someone that the sabermetric community has long campaigned for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, as he was, inexplicably, dropped off the BBWAA ballot on his first ballot in 2001 after receiving just 2.9 percent of the vote, or 2.1 percent below the requisite five percent needed to stay on the ballot. MORE: 17 predictions for the 2017 MLB season. to do something fancy as opposed to making it look effortless. He finished his career with a line of .276/.363/.426, which translates to a 117 OPS+, which was outstanding for a second baseman of his era. How Many Baseballs Can You Hold In One Hand? His 64.5 WAR ranks 14th all-time among second basemen, right in between Craig Biggio (65.5) and Jackie Robinson (63.8). The heavily loaded plane crashed just off the Puerto Rican coast, and Clementes body was never recovered. However, if the Cooperstown voters continue their typical trend of denying PED users induction, this 14-time All-Star will never make the cut, as Rodriguezs biggest scandal (aside from his demeanor) was his being found guilty of using PEDs in 2013. Palmeiro played some of his best years with the Texas Rangers on his way to hitting over 500 home runs and surpassing 3,000 career hits. For comparison, Whitakers infield contemporary, Ozzie Smith, played 19 years (just like Whitaker) and is in the Hall of Fame for his defense (his career OPS+ is 87). Whitaker had a long, steady career, but did not have an identifiable peak during which anyone argued that he was the best or among the best players in the game. Whitaker, who played from 1977 to 1995 with the Detroit Tigers, ranks among the best second basemen in baseball history by various sabermetrics sixth by Wins Above Replacement, seventh by Wins Above Average, and 12th by JAWS according to Baseball-Reference.com. Roger Clemens was a Major League Baseball pitcher for 24 years (1984-2007), spending most of his career with the Boston Red Sox. Athletes make it into Cooperstown by gaining the votes of an extremely selective committee. Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. Barry Lewis. on Baseball Reference. . Why havent the 1984 Detroit Tigers, who won 104 games and the World Series, had a single Hall of Famer? WebShop COMC's extensive selection of lou whitaker rookie related hall of fame baseball cards from 1988. photo credit. Clemente, Roberto | Baseball Hall of Fame made 9,967 plate appearances. Sell now Seller information mastric_58 (151) Web5. Whitaker hit 20+ homers four times back when hitting 20 homers was an actual accomplishment. Baseball "And you know what's next? You would have had to watch us play the game game, not just defense, but the whole game, the full game (and) you would see that Tram and I were definitely worthy of being in the Hall of Fame.. Here's what we found, Trammell renewed his call for Whitakers induction in August, when the Tigers retired the infielders No. Defensive metrics in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s are not great but there is the predecessor to DRS. WebOn Dec. 31, 1972, Clemente boarded a small plane en route from Puerto Rico to Nicaragua to assist with earthquake relief. Nearly two decades after Whitaker was one-and-done on the Hall of Fame ballot, the Tigers second baseman fell short on Sunday in his first turn on the Modern Era Committee ballot. Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. That should vault him to a first-ballot induction. 75.0 Wins Above Replacement Pedroia was on his way before injuries derailed his career in his 30s. Hall of Fame Don't miss a beat with our sports coverage, featuring the Lions, Tigers, Red Wings, Pistons, Michigan and Michigan State, as well as exclusive access to USA TODAY Sports+. Lou Whitaker Alan Trammell Hall of Fame - MLB Dick Groat Passes Away - MLB Trade Rumors Why Don't Baseball Players Slide Into First Base? In fact, he never got higher than 41.6% of the vote which happened on the first try. Rookie cards, The sentimental take was that, while neither was in the Hall of Fame, history should be made right and they should be put in the Hall of Fame together, with the two of them riding across the stage at Cooperstown on a tandem bicycle to collect their plaques (I think Jay Jaffe said that bit about the tandem bike first, but if Im wrong someone let me know). the top 17-25 men at every defensive position are in. Like I said, none of that constitutes an argument against Whitakers induction as much as it explains why he was not inducted. Whitaker told the Free Press in August. Lou Whitaker - Wikipedia Lou Whitaker on the Hall of Fame: 'I didnt even get daylight' He said he spurned an offer from the New York Yankees shortly after walking away from the game in 1995. Lou Whitaker Stats, Fantasy & News | MLB.com A day earlier, he landed awkwardly on his right side when trying to steal third base at Minnesota on his 31st birthday. It can happen, though, as Whitakers contemporary, the Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, can attest. Lou Whitaker - Baseball-Reference.com He was going to take you to the eighth or ninth inning.. He had a pair of 30/30 seasons at his peak, which included 2011 NL MVP honors, but his positive PED test likely will keep him out. He should come close to 100 percent of the vote. I might be 99 and walking with a cane saying, Finally, what took you so long?'

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