1978 Topps - Lou Whitaker

I've been meaning to post about Lou and his rookie card for a while. He certainly deserves attention. He is the next in the series of star 1984 Tigers with 1978 rookie cards. Lou may be the best of them, even better than HOFers Jack Morris and Alan Trammel. Lou is not in the Hall, but he ought to be. Of his era (late 70s - mid-90s), Lou was the best second baseman around. He has one of the highest wins above replacement totals of those not in the Hall of Fame (and he is higher than many already enshrined (and higher than Trammell and Morris)). Not that WAR should be the HOF standard, but it is a quick stat to use for caparison.

Lou won the Rookie of the Year award in 1978, though he wasn't that great (must have been a weak year for rookies). In fact, it took a few years before Lou came into his own. From 1982 - 1991 he was very good and very consistent both at the plate and in the field. He paired with Alan Trammell to form one of the top five middle infield combos in MLB history.

Through no fault of his own, Lou was never a favorite player of mine. My excellent brother Rick claimed Whitaker as his favorite. Me being the older brother, you can see how it was then impossible to also claim him as a favorite. Lou was also a favorite of my great friend Nate. And it is getting close to a bandwagon at that point.

The 1978 card isn't particularly attractive (though the collection of these Tigers stars together is kinda fun to see in their McDonald red and yellow glory), but Lou had a lot of great cards. Some people look better on the field than others, and Lou was smooth. I think that is why his nickname is "Sweet Lou" (below is Sweet Lou's awesome 1985 Topps card again).