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Lou Whitaker played 19 major-league seasons (1977-1995) as a 2B (2,308). Career totals and every year-by-year line below come from the SABR/Lahman database (CC BY-SA), covering 1871-2025.
Showing 19 season lines
| Year | Age | Team | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 20 | DET | 11 | 32 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | .250 | .615 | 70 |
| 1978 | 21 | DET | 139 | 484 | 71 | 138 | 3 | 58 | 7 | 61 | 65 | .285 | .718 | 104 |
| 1979 | 22 | DET | 127 | 423 | 75 | 121 | 3 | 42 | 20 | 78 | 66 | .286 | .774 | 111 |
| 1980 | 23 | DET | 145 | 477 | 68 | 111 | 1 | 45 | 8 | 73 | 79 | .233 | .614 | 71 |
| 1981 | 24 | DET | 109 | 335 | 48 | 88 | 5 | 36 | 5 | 40 | 42 | .263 | .714 | 106 |
| 1982 | 25 | DET | 152 | 560 | 76 | 160 | 15 | 65 | 11 | 48 | 58 | .286 | .775 | 112 |
| 1983 | 26 | DET | 161 | 643 | 94 | 206 | 12 | 72 | 17 | 67 | 70 | .320 | .837 | 130 |
| 1984 | 27 | DET | 143 | 558 | 90 | 161 | 13 | 56 | 6 | 62 | 63 | .289 | .764 | 112 |
| 1985 | 28 | DET | 152 | 609 | 102 | 170 | 21 | 73 | 6 | 80 | 56 | .279 | .819 | 123 |
| 1986 | 29 | DET | 144 | 584 | 95 | 157 | 20 | 73 | 13 | 63 | 70 | .269 | .775 | 110 |
| 1987 | 30 | DET | 149 | 604 | 110 | 160 | 16 | 59 | 13 | 71 | 108 | .265 | .768 | 103 |
| 1988 | 31 | DET | 115 | 403 | 54 | 111 | 12 | 55 | 2 | 66 | 61 | .275 | .795 | 123 |
| 1989 | 32 | DET | 148 | 509 | 77 | 128 | 28 | 85 | 6 | 89 | 59 | .251 | .822 | 131 |
| 1990 | 33 | DET | 132 | 472 | 75 | 112 | 18 | 60 | 8 | 74 | 71 | .237 | .744 | 108 |
| 1991 | 34 | DET | 138 | 470 | 94 | 131 | 23 | 78 | 4 | 90 | 45 | .279 | .881 | 143 |
| 1992 | 35 | DET | 130 | 453 | 77 | 126 | 19 | 71 | 6 | 81 | 46 | .278 | .847 | 137 |
| 1993 | 36 | DET | 119 | 383 | 72 | 111 | 9 | 67 | 3 | 78 | 46 | .290 | .861 | 132 |
| 1994 | 37 | DET | 92 | 322 | 67 | 97 | 12 | 43 | 2 | 41 | 47 | .301 | .867 | 122 |
| 1995 | 38 | DET | 84 | 249 | 36 | 73 | 14 | 44 | 4 | 31 | 41 | .293 | .890 | 129 |
| Year | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 2B | 9 | 9 | 17 | 18 | 0 | 2 |
| 1978 | 2B | 136 | 124 | 301 | 458 | 17 | 95 |
| 1979 | 2B | 126 | 114 | 280 | 369 | 9 | 103 |
| 1980 | 2B | 143 | 130 | 340 | 428 | 12 | 93 |
| 1981 | 2B | 108 | 104 | 227 | 354 | 9 | 77 |
| 1982 | 2B | 149 | 144 | 331 | 470 | 10 | 120 |
| 1983 | 2B | 160 | 151 | 299 | 447 | 13 | 92 |
| 1984 | 2B | 142 | 131 | 290 | 405 | 15 | 83 |
| 1985 | 2B | 150 | 146 | 314 | 414 | 11 | 101 |
| 1986 | 2B | 141 | 136 | 276 | 421 | 11 | 98 |
| 1987 | 2B | 148 | 146 | 275 | 416 | 17 | 99 |
| 1988 | 2B | 110 | 103 | 218 | 284 | 8 | 53 |
| 1989 | 2B | 146 | 137 | 327 | 393 | 11 | 99 |
| 1990 | 2B | 130 | 117 | 286 | 372 | 6 | 98 |
| 1991 | 2B | 135 | 119 | 255 | 361 | 4 | 91 |
| 1992 | 2B | 119 | 112 | 256 | 312 | 9 | 72 |
| 1993 | 2B | 110 | 97 | 236 | 322 | 11 | 75 |
| 1994 | 2B | 83 | 73 | 136 | 246 | 12 | 44 |
| 1995 | 2B | 63 | 53 | 107 | 163 | 4 | 32 |
Team codes are the source codes (e.g. NYN for the New York Mets, BS1 for the 1875 Boston club). OPS+ is league-season normalized, not park-adjusted; unrecorded source values (such as RBI in the earliest recorded seasons) are absent, never zero-filled.
Lou Whitaker won: Rookie of the Year 1978 (AL), Gold Glove 1983 (AL), Silver Slugger 1983 (AL), TSN All-Star 1983 (AL), Gold Glove 1984 (AL), Silver Slugger 1984 (AL), TSN All-Star 1984 (AL), Gold Glove 1985 (AL), Silver Slugger 1985 (AL), Silver Slugger 1987 (AL).
MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year voting history (2 ballot finishes, 1 win). Full year pages: 1983, 1978.
| Year | Award | Lg | Rank | Points | First-place votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Rookie of the Year (winner) | AL | 1 | 21 / 28 | 21 |
| 1983 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 8 | 84 / 392 | 0 |
Lou Whitaker ranks on 2 all-time single-season position leaderboards (1871-2025, league-season-normalized OPS+ / ERA+).
| Rank | Board | Year | Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| #123 | second basemen | 1991 | 143 OPS+ |
| #147 | second basemen | 1992 | 137 OPS+ |
Every career total and season line is computed from the SABR / Sean Lahman baseball database (2025 edition, CC BY-SA 3.0), the same source behind our historical position leaderboards. Rate stats use league-season normalization only (OPS+ and ERA+ as marked, never park-adjusted); unrecorded early-era values stay absent rather than being invented. Career totals sum only what the source records.
Award winners and MVP / Cy Young / Rookie of the Year voting history come from the same database; the year pages live under MLB award voting history. Official transactions (2011 to the current season) come from the MLB StatsAPI feed on our transactions archive.