Lou Whitaker

Louis Rodman Whitaker, Jr. nicknamed Sweet Lou, is a former Major League Baseball player. Whitaker was a second baseman for the Detroit Tigers from 1977 to 1995. Along with teammate Alan Trammell, Whitaker is perhaps best known as half of the longest running "double play" combination in major league history. Whitaker first played with shortstop Alan Trammell while with the old Double-A Montgomery Rebels. The two first played together in the major leagues when they were both called up to Detroit at the end of the 1977 season. Both players became starters by the end of April, 1978. They would... remain teammates until Whitaker retired in 1995. Trammell and Whitaker also made a cameo appearance together on the television show Magnum, P.I. starring Tom Selleck, as themselves, during the 1983 season. In 1978, Whitaker won the American League Rookie of the Year Award, hitting .285 with 71 runs, and a .361 on base percentage. Whitaker enjoyed what was perhaps his best season in 1983, hitting for a .320 average with 12 home runs, 72 runs batted in, and 94 runs. That year he made the first of five consecutive All-Star appearances.
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