You Are Here > Baseball-Reference.com > Encyclopedia of Players > W Listing > Lou Whitaker Statistics and History

Lou Whitaker
Louis Rodman Whitaker Jr. (Sweet Lou)
All-Star Player
Bats: Left , Throws: Right
Height: 5' 11" , Weight: 160 lb.

Born: May 12, 1957 in Brooklyn, NY
High School: Martinsville (Martinsville, VA)
Drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 5th round of the 1975 amateur draft. (All Transactions)
Debut: September 9, 1977
Final Game: October 1, 1995
    About biographical information

Standard Batting

More Stats

Glossary · Click headers to sort · SHARE  · CSV · PRE · LINK · Click rows to sum (Clear)
Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
1977 20 DET AL 11 37 32 5 8 1 0 0 2 2 2 4 6 .250 .333 .281 .615 67 9 0 0 1 0 0 /4
1978 21 DET AL 139 567 484 71 138 12 7 3 58 7 7 61 65 .285 .361 .357 .718 101 173 9 1 13 8 0 *4/D RoY-1
1979 22 DET AL 127 520 423 75 121 14 8 3 42 20 10 78 66 .286 .395 .378 .774 108 160 10 1 14 4 2 *4
1980 23 DET AL 145 568 477 68 111 19 1 1 45 8 4 73 79 .233 .331 .283 .614 69 135 9 0 12 6 0 *4
1981 24 DET AL 109 382 335 48 88 14 4 5 36 5 3 40 42 .263 .340 .373 .714 103 125 5 1 3 3 3 *4
1982 25 DET AL 152 619 560 76 160 22 8 15 65 11 3 48 58 .286 .341 .434 .775 112 243 8 1 6 4 4 *4/D
1983 26 DET AL 161 720 643 94 206 40 6 12 72 17 10 67 70 .320 .380 .457 .837 133 294 9 0 2 8 8 *4 AS,MVP-8,GG,SS
1984 27 DET AL 143 629 558 90 161 25 1 13 56 6 5 62 63 .289 .357 .407 .764 112 227 9 0 4 5 5 *4 AS,GG,SS
1985 28 DET AL 152 701 609 102 170 29 8 21 73 6 4 80 56 .279 .362 .456 .819 123 278 3 2 5 5 9 *4 AS,GG,SS
1986 29 DET AL 144 651 584 95 157 26 6 20 73 13 8 63 70 .269 .338 .437 .775 110 255 20 0 0 4 5 *4 AS
1987 30 DET AL 149 684 604 110 160 38 6 16 59 13 5 71 108 .265 .341 .427 .768 106 258 5 1 4 4 2 *4 AS,SS
1988 31 DET AL 115 477 403 54 111 18 2 12 55 2 0 66 61 .275 .376 .419 .795 126 169 8 0 6 2 5 *4
1989 32 DET AL 148 611 509 77 128 21 1 28 85 6 3 89 59 .251 .361 .462 .822 133 235 7 3 1 9 6 *4/D
1990 33 DET AL 132 552 472 75 112 22 2 18 60 8 2 74 71 .237 .338 .407 .744 107 192 10 0 1 5 7 *4/D
1991 34 DET AL 138 572 470 94 131 26 2 23 78 4 2 90 45 .279 .391 .489 .881 141 230 3 2 2 8 6 *4/D
1992 35 DET AL 130 544 453 77 126 26 0 19 71 6 4 81 46 .278 .386 .461 .847 136 209 9 1 5 4 5 *4D
1993 36 DET AL 119 476 383 72 111 32 1 9 67 3 3 78 46 .290 .412 .449 .861 133 172 5 4 7 4 4 *4
1994 37 DET AL 92 372 322 67 97 21 2 12 43 2 0 41 47 .301 .377 .491 .867 121 158 8 1 3 5 4 *4/D
1995 38 DET AL 84 285 249 36 73 14 0 14 44 4 0 31 41 .293 .372 .518 .890 129 129 6 2 0 3 4 4/D
19 Seasons 2390 9967 8570 1386 2369 420 65 244 1084 143 75 1197 1099 .276 .363 .426 .789 116 3651 143 20 89 91 79
162 Game Avg. 162 676 581 94 161 28 4 17 73 10 5 81 74 .276 .363 .426 .789 116 247 10 1 6 6 5
G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards

Postseason Batting

Glossary · Click headers to sort · SHARE  · CSV · PRE · LINK
Year Age Tm Lg Series Opp Rslt G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
1984 27 DET AL ALCS KCR W 3 14 14 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .143 .143 .143 .286 2 0 0 0 0 0
1984 27 DET AL WS SDP W 5 23 18 6 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 .278 .409 .389 .798 7 1 0 1 0 0
1987 30 DET AL ALCS MIN L 5 24 17 4 3 0 0 1 1 1 0 7 3 .176 .417 .353 .770 6 0 0 0 0 0
2 Seasons (3 Series) 13 61 49 13 10 2 0 1 1 1 0 11 10 .204 .350 .306 .656 15 1 0 1 0 0
2 ALCS 8 38 31 7 5 0 0 1 1 1 0 7 6 .161 .316 .258 .574 8 0 0 0 0 0
1 WS 5 23 18 6 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 .278 .409 .389 .798 7 1 0 1 0 0

Standard Fielding

More Stats

Glossary · Click headers to sort · SHARE  · CSV · PRE · LINK
Year Tm Lg Age Pos G GS Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rtot/yr Rtz Rtzrd Rtzhm Rdp RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG Awards
1977 DET AL 20 2B 9 9 74.0 35 17 18 0 2 1.000 -2.6 -42.2 -1.6 -1.8 0.2 -1 4.26 3.89 .977 5.42 4.76
1978 DET AL 21 2B 136 124 1122.1 776 301 458 17 95 .978 10.2 10.9 8.2 1.1 7.1 2 6.09 5.58 .980 5.47 4.74 RoY-1
1978 DET AL 21 DH 2 RoY-1
1979 DET AL 22 2B 126 114 1017.1 658 280 369 9 103 .986 8.7 10.3 5.7 -1.6 7.3 3 5.74 5.15 .978 5.50 4.80
1980 DET AL 23 2B 143 130 1200.0 780 340 428 12 93 .985 6.5 6.5 4.5 4.9 -0.4 2 5.76 5.37 .981 5.60 4.91
1981 DET AL 24 2B 108 104 918.1 590 227 354 9 77 .985 14.5 18.9 13.5 3.8 9.7 1 5.69 5.38 .982 5.54 4.93
1982 DET AL 25 2B 149 144 1283.0 811 331 470 10 120 .988 13.3 12.4 12.3 2.4 9.9 1 5.62 5.38 .981 5.35 4.70
1982 DET AL 25 DH 1
1983 DET AL 26 2B 160 151 1358.0 759 299 447 13 92 .983 3.7 3.3 2.7 -1.4 4.1 1 4.94 4.66 .981 5.36 4.77 AS,MVP-8,GG,SS
1984 DET AL 27 2B 142 131 1195.0 710 290 405 15 83 .979 2.2 2.2 1.2 -0.6 1.8 1 5.23 4.89 .980 5.24 4.45 AS,GG,SS
1985 DET AL 28 2B 150 146 1307.2 739 314 414 11 101 .985 -3.2 -2.9 -3.2 -4.9 1.7 0 5.01 4.85 .982 5.29 4.48 AS,GG,SS
1986 DET AL 29 2B 141 136 1207.1 708 276 421 11 98 .984 10.0 9.9 10.0 5.4 4.6 0 5.20 4.94 .981 5.10 4.34 AS
1987 DET AL 30 2B 148 146 1266.2 708 275 416 17 99 .976 -1.4 -1.3 -0.4 -3.1 2.7 -1 4.91 4.67 .980 5.12 4.48 AS,SS
1988 DET AL 31 2B 110 103 903.2 510 218 284 8 53 .984 -0.8 -1.1 1.2 -0.5 1.6 -2 5.00 4.56 .982 5.12 4.40
1989 DET AL 32 2B 146 137 1178.0 731 327 393 11 99 .985 1.7 1.7 1.7 -0.4 2.1 0 5.50 4.93 .981 5.24 4.51
1989 DET AL 32 DH 2
1990 DET AL 33 2B 130 117 1037.1 664 286 372 6 98 .991 10.3 11.9 8.3 0.5 7.8 2 5.71 5.06 .984 5.23 4.53
1990 DET AL 33 DH 1
1991 DET AL 34 2B 135 119 1063.2 620 255 361 4 91 .994 10.8 12.2 6.8 1.2 5.6 4 5.21 4.56 .981 5.19 4.44
1991 DET AL 34 DH 3
1992 DET AL 35 2B 119 112 978.1 577 256 312 9 72 .984 1.3 1.6 2.3 1.2 1.1 -1 5.23 4.77 .983 5.25 4.60
1992 DET AL 35 DH 10
1993 DET AL 36 2B 110 97 864.0 569 236 322 11 75 .981 -1.1 -1.5 0.9 4.5 -3.6 -2 5.81 5.07 .981 5.15 4.54
1994 DET AL 37 2B 83 73 641.2 394 136 246 12 44 .970 -1.6 -3.0 0.4 0.6 -0.2 -2 5.36 4.60 .981 5.10 4.48
1994 DET AL 37 DH 5
1995 DET AL 38 2B 63 53 452.2 274 107 163 4 32 .985 -5.7 -15.1 -4.7 -6.6 1.9 -1 5.37 4.29 .981 5.11 4.34
1995 DET AL 38 DH 8
19 Seasons 2B 2308 2146 19069.0 11613 4771 6653 189 1527 .984 76.8 4.8 69.8 4.7 65.0 7 5.39 4.95 .981 5.29 4.59
8 Seasons DH 32
19 Seasons TOT 2308 2146 19069.0 11613 4771 6653 189 1527 .984 76.8 4.8 69.8 4.7 65.0 7 5.39 4.95 .965 5.29 4.59
Pos G GS Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rtot/yr Rtz Rtzrd Rtzhm Rdp RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG Awards

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank, Glossary

All-Star Games
1983 *
1984 (2B)
1985 (2B)
1986 (2B)
1987

Awards (yr-lg-award)
1978-AL-Rookie of the Year

Gold Gloves
1983-AL-2B
1984-AL-2B
1985-AL-2B
All multiple winners

Silver Sluggers
1983-AL-2B
1984-AL-2B
1985-AL-2B
1987-AL-2B
All multiple winners

MVP (yr-lg-rk-shr)
1983-AL-8-21%
0.21 Career Shares (709th)

Batting Average s c a p y
1983 AL--.320--3rd

On-Base% s c a p y
1979 AL--.395--8th
1991 AL--.391--10th
1992 AL--.386--9th

Games Played s c a p y
1981 AL--109--1st
1983 AL--161--4th
Career--2390--78th

At Bats s c a p y
1983 AL--643--3rd
Career--8570--91st

Plate Appearances s c a p y
1983 AL--720--2nd
1985 AL--701--9th
1987 AL--684--10th
Career--9967--75th

Runs Scored s c a p y
1985 AL--102--10th
1987 AL--110--3rd
Career--1386--90th

Hits s c a p y
1983 AL--206--3rd
Career--2369--119th

Total Bases s c a p y
1983 AL--294--7th
Career--3651--121st

Doubles s c a p y
1983 AL--40--7th
1987 AL--38--3rd
Career--420--130th

Triples s c a p y
1979 AL--8--10th
1982 AL--8--8th
1985 AL--8--7th

Home Runs s c a p y
1989 AL--28--7th
Career--244--204th

Runs Batted In s c a p y
Career--1084--199th

Bases on Balls s c a p y
1989 AL--89--7th
1991 AL--90--7th
Career--1197--55th

Strikeouts s c a p y
Career--1099--177th

Singles s c a p y
1983 AL--148--2nd
Career--1640--129th

Adjusted OPS+ s c a p y
1989 AL--133--9th
1991 AL--141--10th
1992 AL--136--10th

Runs Created s c a p y
1983 AL--114--5th
1985 AL--107--9th
Career--1395--102nd

Adj. Batting Runs s c a p y
1983 AL--31--9th
Career--227--207th

Adj. Batting Wins s c a p y
1983 AL--3.1--9th
Career--22.1--219th

Extra Base Hits s c a p y
Career--729--140th

Times On Base s c a p y
1983 AL--273--2nd
1985 AL--252--9th
Career--3586--82nd

Offensive Win % s c a p y
1991 AL--.716--8th

Sacrifice Hits s c a p y
1979 AL--14--6th
1980 AL--12--8th

Sacrifice Flies s c a p y
1978 AL--8--9th
1983 AL--8--7th
1989 AL--9--9th
Career--91--49th

Intentional Bases on Balls s c a p y
Career--79--174th

Double Plays Grounded Into s c a p y
1986 AL--20--3rd

Caught Stealing s c a p y
1983 AL--10--9th
Career--75--237th

Power-Speed # s c a p y
Career--180.3--108th

AB per HR s c a p y
1989 AL--18.179--7th

Outs Made s c a p y
1987 AL--462--9th
Career--6599--79th

Youngest s c a p y
1977 AL--born 1957-05-12--6th

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Black InkBatting - 1 (697), Average HOFer ≈ 27
Gray InkBatting - 27 (709), Average HOFer ≈ 144
Hall of Fame MonitorBatting - 92 (166), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame StandardsBatting - 42 (129), Average HOFer ≈ 50

Similarity Scores

Explanation of Similarity Scores
Similar Batters 
 View Player Links in Pop-up
 Compare Stats to Similars
  1. Ryne Sandberg (901) *
  2. Alan Trammell (899)
  3. Barry Larkin (879)
  4. Ted Simmons (871)
  5. Buddy Bell (861)
  6. Roberto Alomar (858)
  7. Brian Downing (853)
  8. Joe Torre (853)
  9. Joe Morgan (850) *
  10. Ray Durham (846)
* - Signifies Hall of Famer
Most Similar by Ages 
 View Player Links in Pop-up
 Hold mouse over #'s to see names
  1. Johnny Evers (988) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  2. Al Lopez (974) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  3. Ozzie Guillen (973)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  4. Luis Aparicio (968) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  5. Delino DeShields (972)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  6. Rennie Stennett (956)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  7. Rennie Stennett (951)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  8. Rafael Furcal (943)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  9. Rafael Furcal (941)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  10. Jim Fregosi (946)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  11. Jim Fregosi (941)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  12. Jim Fregosi (922)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  13. Jay Bell (933)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  14. Alan Trammell (938)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  15. Alan Trammell (930)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  16. Alan Trammell (925)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  17. Alan Trammell (914)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  18. Joe Morgan (913) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
* - Signifies Hall of Famer

Transactions

June 3, 1975: Drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 5th round of the 1975 amateur draft.

November 2, 1992: Granted Free Agency.

December 7, 1992: Signed as a Free Agent with the Detroit Tigers.

November 7, 1995: Granted Free Agency.

The transaction information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. Last transaction is September 30, 2009.

Salaries

Salaries may not be complete and may not include some earned bonuses
1985Detroit Tigers$670,000
1986Detroit Tigers$670,000
1987Detroit Tigers$420,000
1988Detroit Tigers$975,000
1989Detroit Tigers$1,025,000
1990Detroit Tigers$1,800,000
1991Detroit Tigers$2,000,000
1992Detroit Tigers$2,200,000
1993Detroit Tigers$3,433,333
1994Detroit Tigers$2,783,333
1995Detroit Tigers$3,783,334
Career (may be incomplete)$19,760,000
Salary Data (about) courtesy Doug Pappas, member of SABR.
Salaries for mid-season call-ups or traded players may not be shown.

Other Resources & Links

Error?     Compare     Search SABR's Baseball Index     Other Links@google.com     Baseball Library     Baseball-Almanac.com     Retrosheet     The Baseball Cube     The Baseball Page     WhatIfSports: Lou Whitaker    

Viewed 182,142 times through November 11, 2009.
Name and misspellings: Louis Sweet Rodman (Jr.) lue lu Lou loe lew Whitaker whittaker

Player Page Tricks and Tips

Sum any set of rows by clicking anywhere (not red or blue) on the first and last rows of your selection. We will then compute the totals for the player between and including those two seasons.
Default Setting for this feature: Turn On / Turn Off
Summation of season totals only works for the initial case when the table is in year order. On a sorted table the results may get a bit goofy.

HIGHLIGHTING: Adding a range or series of player's career seasons (like '#1972', '#1970-1980-sum', or '#1998,1999,2001,2002,sum') onto the end of a player page url causes the seasons to the highlighted and summed. After changing address bar, reload the page to see highlighting. This will work even in links e-mailed to others. Note that for tables with multiple pages the first table is the default. If you want to create a sum for a table other than the first one, select the rows and after the summation window appears click on "permanent link" link.

The play-by-play information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet.