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The baseball Hall of Fame has screwed up again, big time! Lou Whitaker has been snubbed yet again. Nine retired major league players, plus former player’s union leader Marvin Miller have been included on the Modern Era Hall of Fame ballot, but Whitaker is not among them.
Former Tigers Alan Trammell and Jack Morris will get a second shot at the Hall of Fame, but the omission of Whitaker makes bittersweet news for Tigers’ fans and for Whitaker, who clearly belongs in those hallowed halls.
Players on the ballot will have their cases presented to a 16-member committee, and 12 votes are required for induction. Committee members can vote for up to four candidates.
Here is the list of players on the Modern Era ballot, with their career WAR according to Baseball Reference.
Alan Trammell 70.4
Luis Tiant 66.7
Tommy John 62.3
Ted Simmons 50.1
Dale Murphy 46.2
Jack Morris 43.8
Don Mattingly 42.2
Dave Parker 39.9
Steve Garvey 37.7
By comparison, Lou Whitaker’s career WAR? 74.9. See the problem? The f***king nitwits left Whitaker off the ballot! Again!
Whitaker has clearly better numbers than any other player on the list. Only Trammell is really even close. In fact, he has better numbers across the board than fully half of all second basemen who have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Whitaker compiled a career batting line of .276/.363/.426/.789 with 244 home runs, over 1,000 RBI, 1,386 runs scored, and 2,369 hits. He made five All-Star teams, won four Silver Slugger awards, and three Gold Gloves.
Both Trammell and Whitaker deserve to be in the Hall of Fame based on the numbers. Both have better numbers than half of the others at their position who are in the Hall of Fame. Sabermetrics, ancient metrics, take your pick. They belong, period.
For Whitaker to be snubbed once again — especially after being dropped from the original Hall of Fame ballot after his first year on it, for receiving too few votes — is a gross oversight.