https://blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes-better-than-evers-lou-whitaker-belongs-in-the-hall-of-fame/
Sunday Notes: Better Than Evers, Lou Whitaker Belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Fangraphs
Along with Johnny Evers and Joe Tinker ? they of Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance fame ? Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker are the most-storied double-play combination in baseball history. As well they should be. The Detroit Tigers duo played more games together (1,918) than any middle-infield duo in history. Moreover, they combined for 11 All-Star appearances, seven Gold Gloves, seven Silver Sluggers, and they won a World Series together. Both are icons for a franchise that has played in the American League since 1901.
Tinker and Evans, who played together with the Chicago Cubs from 1902-1912, are both in the Hall of Fame. So is Trammell. Meanwhile ? this for reasons best explained as inexplicable ? Whitaker is not. His exclusion stands as one of Cooperstown?s most glaring omissions.
Whitaker has more WAR and a higher JAWS score than a number of Hall of Fame second basemen, but that can be a debate for another day. For now, let?s focus on how he compares to Evers.
Whitaker: 2,369 hits, 244 home runs, 118 wRC+, 68.1 WAR.
Evers: 1,659 hits, 12 home runs, 109 wRC+, 49.0 WAR.
While Evers?s numbers are anything but great, it should be noted that he won an MVP award and played for three World Series-winning teams (the Cubs twice and the Boston Braves once). That said, it?s highly unlikely that he would be in the Hall of Fame were he not part of a legendary double-play combination (he and Tinker were Old-Timers-Committee selections in the same year). How they became legendary is, of course, a big part of the story. The poem penned in 1910 by sportswriter Franklin Pierce Adams.
Should that eight-line poem have anything to do with Lou Whitaker?s Hall-of-Fame-worthiness? No, at least not by any reasonable standard. That said, the Trammell-Whitaker double-play combination is every bit as famous as Tinker-Evers, and they were markedly-better players. Whitaker has even better numbers than Trammell.
?Sweet Lou? Whitaker isn?t in the Hall of Fame are themselves the saddest of words.