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Detroit Tigers: Top 10 sluggers in franchise history

By Adam McIntosh

DETROIT- SEPTEMBER 27: A general view of Tiger Stadium prior to the final baseball game played at the 87 year old Tiger Stadium as the Detroit Tigets host the Kansas City Royals on September 27, 1999 in Detroit, Michigan. There was 6,873 games played at the corner of Michigan and Trumbul streets. The Tigers won the game 8-2. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Gettyimages)
DETROIT- SEPTEMBER 27: A general view of Tiger Stadium prior to the final baseball game played at the 87 year old Tiger Stadium as the Detroit Tigets host the Kansas City Royals on September 27, 1999 in Detroit, Michigan. There was 6,873 games played at the corner of Michigan and Trumbul streets. The Tigers won the game 8-2. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Gettyimages) /
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DETROIT, MI – JUNE 30: Former Detroit Tigers player Lou Whitaker speaks to the fans during the celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the 1984 World Series Championship team prior to the game against the Oakland Athletics at Comerica Park on June 30, 2014 in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers defeated the Athletics 5-4. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI – JUNE 30: Former Detroit Tigers player Lou Whitaker speaks to the fans during the celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the 1984 World Series Championship team prior to the game against the Oakland Athletics at Comerica Park on June 30, 2014 in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers defeated the Athletics 5-4. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /

Sweet Lou was a member of the 1984 Bless You Boys that brought home a World Series title to Detroit.

Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell were part of the longest running double play combination in MLB history. The duo were fan favorites during their time in the Motor City. The Tigers selected Whitaker in the fifth round of the 1975 MLB draft. Along with Trammell, Whitaker was called up by Detroit at the end of the 1977 season.

The 1978 season saw Whitaker win the AL Rookie of the Year Award, where he posted a .285 batting average. 1983 saw Sweet Lou make his first of five consecutive all-star appearances. The following season the Bless You Boys won the ’84 Fall Classic.  1985 saw him hit 21 home runs, which was a Tigers franchise record for second basemen. He followed that with a 20 home-run season in ’86. Every infielder of the ’86 team hit at least twenty home-runs that season.

In 1989 he hit a career-best twenty-eight home runs, besting his franchise record of home runs by a second baseman. In 1992 he hit his 200th home run. He would finish his career with 244 home runs in all.

Over the course of his 19-year career, Whitaker posted a .276 batting average, 244 home runs, 1,084 RBIs, 420 doubles, 65 triples and 143 stolen bases. Whitaker is just one home run behind Cecil Fielder. Fielder comes in at number six on the top ten greatest Tigers sluggers of all-time.

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