MLB / Players

Lou Whitaker

HandednessBats Left · Throws Right

Listed at5 ft 11 in · 160 lb

BornMay 12, 1957 · Brooklyn, NY, USA

MLB debutSeptember 9, 1977

Final gameOctober 1, 1995

Seasons19 (1977–1995)

Detroit Tigers 1977–1995

Percentile snapshot

1994 season — qualified batters

5.8

372

11.5

322

7.1

67.3

27.6

51.3

37.8

48.7

RBI

28.8

51.3

76.9

21.2

85.3

.301

71.2

OBP

.377

71.8

SLG

.491

72.4

OPS

.867

73.1

wRC+

120.2

67.9

OPS+

121.2

69.2

wOBA

.379

71.8

sWAR

2.2

60.9

of 157 qualified 1994 batters (min 356 PA)

Career, era-adjusted

wRC+

119.0

77.7

OPS+

117.0

74.7

sWAR

60.5

99.4

wRC+ measured against qualified careers (3,000+ PA), 2,078 of them; OPS+ measured against qualified careers (3,000+ PA), 2,078 of them; sWAR measured against every career in history, 24,011 of them. Only era-adjusted career stats carry a percentile — a raw career total gets a rank instead, because pooling the 1890s with the 2020s is a choice, not a measurement.

Season by season

Batting

Season	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	wRC+	OPS+	wOBA	sWAR
1977	11	37	32	5	8	1	0	0	2	4	6	2	2	.250	.333	.281	.615	71.7	66.7	.295	0.0
1978	139	567	484	71	138	12	7	3	58	61	65	7	7	.285	.361	.357	.718	106.6	101.7	.338	2.6
1979	127	520	423	75	121	14	8	3	42	78	66	20	10	.286	.395	.378	.774	116.1	108.6	.362	3.0
1980	145	568	477	68	111	19	1	1	45	73	79	8	4	.233	.331	.283	.614	76.4	69.9	.298	0.6
1981	109	382	335	48	88	14	4	5	36	40	42	5	3	.263	.340	.373	.714	106.0	104.0	.332	1.8
1982	152	619	560	76	160	22	8	15	65	48	58	11	3	.286	.341	.434	.775	113.1	113.1	.345	3.3
1983	161	720	643	94	206	40	6	12	72	67	70	17	10	.320	.380	.457	.837	134.2	133.8	.373	5.7
1984	143	629	558	90	161	25	1	13	56	62	63	6	5	.289	.357	.407	.764	115.1	113.4	.346	3.5
1985	152	701	609	102	170	29	8	21	73	80	56	6	4	.279	.362	.456	.819	125.0	125.1	.362	4.8
1986	144	651	584	95	157	26	6	20	73	63	70	13	8	.269	.338	.437	.775	110.6	111.0	.343	3.3
1987	149	684	604	110	160	38	6	16	59	71	108	13	5	.265	.341	.427	.768	108.3	107.0	.340	3.3
1988	115	477	403	54	111	18	2	12	55	66	61	2	0	.275	.376	.419	.795	129.9	126.7	.364	3.5
1989	148	611	509	77	128	21	1	28	85	89	59	6	3	.251	.361	.462	.822	133.2	132.6	.372	4.8
1990	132	552	472	75	112	22	2	18	60	74	71	8	2	.237	.338	.407	.744	106.7	106.5	.339	2.6
1991	138	572	470	94	131	26	2	23	78	90	45	4	2	.279	.391	.489	.881	142.6	140.8	.394	5.1
1992	130	544	453	77	126	26	0	19	71	81	46	6	4	.278	.386	.461	.847	140.0	136.2	.388	4.5
1993	119	476	383	72	111	32	1	9	67	78	46	3	3	.290	.412	.449	.861	137.4	132.0	.395	3.9
1994	92	372	322	67	97	21	2	12	43	41	47	2	0	.301	.377	.491	.867	120.2	121.2	.379	2.2
1995	84	285	249	36	73	14	0	14	44	31	41	4	0	.293	.372	.518	.890	126.1	128.5	.386	1.9

Career totals

2,390

92nd-most career G

9,967

89th-most career PA

8,570

105th-most career AB

1,386

100th-most career R

2,369

136th-most career H

420

162nd-most career 2B

466th-most career 3B

244

270th-most career HR

RBI

1,084

233rd-most career RBI

1,197

64th-most career BB

1,099

309th-most career SO

143

.2764

OBP

.3630

415th-highest career on-base percentage

SLG

.4260

OPS

.7890

A total is called out only where it ranks in the all-time top 500; hover a figure for its rank and the size of the field it was ranked in. Ranks are absolute facts and carry no percentile — the population for "career home runs" would be an editorial choice, and the rank is not.

Best games

Batting

Date	Game	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB
1983-06-08	DET @ BOS Gameday	5	4	4	2	1	1	2	11
1982-08-13	KC @ DET Gameday	5	3	3	1	0	2	3	10
1987-05-15	CLE @ DET Gameday	5	2	3	1	0	2	3	10
1995-06-07	DET @ CLE Gameday	4	1	4	2	0	1	2	9
1982-08-10	NYY @ DET Gameday	5	2	3	0	0	2	5	9

Ranked from our own play-by-play game log, which begins in 1901 — not from the record book, so a career played outside it shows nothing here rather than a short list.

Honors

4× Silver Slugger3× Gold Glove1× Rookie of the Year5× All-Star

Major awards only — the awards table also records Player of the Week, and forty of those would bury seven MVPs. Hover for the years.