Tigers History: Hall of Fame day picks at an old wound regarding Lou Whitaker

Every January, the Hall of Fame turns baseball’s past into a spectacle. Gold plaques. Tearful speeches. Arguments about who belongs and who doesn’t.

It all comes to a head Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET, when the Hall of Fame voting results from the Baseball Writers' Association of America are announced. For most fans, it’s a celebration. For Detroit Tigers fans, it’s a reopening. Because Hall of Fame ballot reveal day doesn’t just ask who gets in. It reminds Detroit of who didn’t — and still hasn’t. It presses on an old wound named Lou Whitaker.

This year, that ache feels sharper than usual. Jeff Kent is now a Hall of Famer, elected in December by the Contemporary Era Committee. A fine player. A powerful bat. A key part of winning teams. He deserves respect.

Kent also had 55.4 career WAR. Whitaker finished with 75.1. That gap isn’t trivia; it’s an indictment.

Whitaker was better by nearly every modern measure. More complete. More valuable. More consistent. More durable. He played 19 seasons in Detroit, made five All-Star teams, won three Gold Gloves, four Silver Sluggers, and was a central pillar of a franchise for two decades. He helped define an era of Tigers baseball alongside Alan Trammell, forming the greatest double-play combination of their generation.

And yet, Whitaker was dumped off the BBWAA ballot after one year. One.

He received just 2.9 percent of the vote in 2001 — a procedural embarrassment that still reverberates. Writers didn’t know what to do with second basemen yet. WAR wasn’t part of the public vocabulary. Defense wasn’t valued properly. Longevity without gaudy milestones was misunderstood. The system failed him, and then moved on.

Kent, meanwhile, hung around the ballot for a decade, peaking at 46.5 percent before falling short. He eventually found his way in through a committee process designed to correct the blind spots of the past.

That should help Whitaker. But it also underscores how long the game has let this linger.

Baseball Hall of Fame reveal is a painful reminder for Tigers fans of Lou Whitaker's absence

Every Hall of Fame reveal comes with a familiar Detroit refrain: “How is Lou still not in?” Every year, Tigers fans watch players with thinner resumes cross the threshold while Whitaker remains on the outside. It’s not jealousy. It’s not pettiness. It’s a demand for coherence. A plea for the Hall to make sense.

If Kent is a Hall of Famer — and he is — then Whitaker’s absence becomes indefensible.

Whitaker wasn’t flashy. He didn’t chase headlines. He just showed up, year after year, producing elite value at a premium defensive position. He retired quietly. He never lobbied. He just trusted the game to remember him. But it hasn't.

So when the BBWAA reveals its results Tuesday night, Tigers fans will watch with a familiar mix of hope and resentment. They’ll celebrate the deserving. They’ll argue about the borderline. And in the back of every conversation will be the same unresolved truth:

The Hall of Fame still hasn’t made things right with Whitaker.

Jeff Kent’s plaque is a reminder that time can heal mistakes, that committees can fix what ballots missed, and that history can be corrected. Detroit is still waiting.