Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell began playing together with the Montgomery Rebels in 1977; next spring, they were both rookies with the Detroit Tigers. They
played the rest of their careers together in Detroit, Whitaker at second and Trammell at short. They played almost the
same number of games, and had some remarkably similar numbers.
GM AB HT DB TP HR RUN RBI BB AVG OBA SLU SB
Trammell 2293 8288 2365 412 55 185 1231 1003 850 285 354 415 236
Whitaker 2390 8570 2369 420 65 244 1386 1084 1197 276 366 426 143
They were born only nine months apart. Whitaker was Rookie of the Year in 1978, and had his best season in 1983; Trammell was the World Series MVP this season, and almost won the league MVP in 1987. Whitaker hit left-handed, Trammell right; Whitaker was black,
Trammell white. Whitaker was quiet and moody, Trammell a visible team leader. Otherwise, it would be hard to find two players who were more similar. And they were double-play partners their whole careers, a record 19 seasons.
At the end of the 1986 season, Whitaker had a career batting average of .2806, while Trammell's career average was .2807. Their skills began to diverge as they aged, as Whitaker started hitting home runs and drawing walks while hitting for lower batting averages. Though he hit only 12 home runs in his first four years in the league, Whitaker finished his career as one of the top slugging second basemen of all time.
"Sweet Lou" was very quiet and introverted, and had a habit of rubbing people the wrong way. For religious reasons, he did not stand on the field when the national anthems were played. In 1984, he mused that he would prefer to rest his minor injuries rather than play in the All-Star Game — a common attitude among today's players, but one that shocked traditionalists at the time. He often skipped batting practice and took minimal fielding practice.
Also, some strange things happened to Whitaker during his career. In 1985, he forgot to take his jersey with him to the All-Star Game; he bought one at a concession stand before the game, and drew his number on the back. In 1988, he hurt his knee while doing the splits on the dance floor, and missed the final week of the season. The Tigers finished in second place, one game behind the Red Sox.
During the 1994 strike, he showed up at a union meeting in a limo; when taken to task for his appearance, he replied: "I'm rich. What am I supposed to do, hide it?". Whitaker finished his career among the leaders in almost every category among second basemen, and also won three Gold Gloves. But when he became eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2000, he failed to get the minimum 5% of the vote, and permanently dropped off of the eligibility list.
It is true that Whitaker only one year (1983) in which he was a serious MVP candidate. He was a complex personality; he never knew his father, and was raised by his mother and her family. He had deep religious convictions, and was often seen reading inspirational books in the clubhouse, yet something prevented him from taking his game to the next level. He also could not or would not hide who he was - a ridiculously overpaid professional athlete who took care of himself first.
But he had many seasons that were very, very good, and was a better player than several second basemen who are in the Hall of Fame. At the very least, the scope of his career demands serious discussion for the Hall; he was a remarkably productive and healthy player at a position at which very few players are productive or stay healthy. His Hall of Fame credentials may be borderline, but they deserve more serious consideration than they have received.
Kent Hrbek was a big man with a wide girth, but he was also a pretty good hitter. The Twins' popular first baseman was a lifetime .282 hitter who smashed 292 home runs. Hrbek played for 14 years, all of them with Minnesota, and helped them win two World Series. Unfortunately, Hrbek was often missing from the Twins' lineup; only once did he play more than 150 games in a season. A variety of injuries kept him out of the lineup as he got older, some probably related to his increased weight, though he once sprained an ankle while wrestling in the clubhouse.
This season was probably Hrbek's best, and he was runner-up in the MVP vote, followed by two other first basemen, Eddie Murray and Don Mattingly. All three are closely matched, but I can't think of any
reason to place Hrbek ahead of Murray and Mattingly. Both were in the lineup more often, produced more runs, had a higher OPS and were better fielders.
Dwight Evans also had
a great season, but as usual was overshadowed by a teammate; this time
it was Tony Armas, a one-dimensional home run hitter who had his last
good season. Armas was seventh in the MVP vote; how would you justify putting him or anyone else on the ballot ahead of Cal Ripken?
Harold Baines had the best year of his career,
a long career that ended in 2001 after 22 seasons. Baines debuted
with the White Sox in 1980, at age 21. Within a couple of years he had
his first 100-RBI season, and this year was in his prime. He had a few more solid
seasons until his knees started to bother him, and he was forced to become
an everyday DH. In 1989 he was dealt to the Rangers (in exchange for Sammy
Sosa). Baines continued to quietly put up consistent numbers,
and finished his career with 2866 career hits, 384 home runs, and over
1600 RBI.
The previous year, Cal Ripken won the MVP with 322 points.
This year, he had the exact same season — and received one point. I
wonder what he did to put off so many voters? Hell, even Steve Balboni
got five points. Of course, Ripken probably didn't do anything to anybody;
it was just one of the quirks of the system, when every voter thinks
about putting Ripken on the list, but for some reason votes for Dave
Kingman or Juan Beniquez instead.
I think that Ripken was the best infielder in
the league this season. He was a great hitter, and his defence was at least as good as
Trammell's. He was durable, playing in every game (of course). He is
an excellent choice to repeat as MVP.
