1981 Topps Lou Whitaker

The front: Simple, classic baseball pose at spring training.

The back: This is an error card. The home run, a walk-off hit off of the Mariners’ Enrique Romo, came on 7-28-78.

The player: Lou Whitaker was one of the better second baseman in the American League in the 1980s. The 1978 AL Rookie of the year and a five-time All-Star, Whitaker played in 2,390 games and hit .276 with 244 HR and 1,084 RBI. He was an excellent fielder and walked more than he struck out. Some people want him in the Hall of Fame because of his high WAR and OPS numbers. Craig Calcaterra of NBC, one of the most vocal of his proponents, does so in part, in all seriousness, by comparing his OPS to Matt Stairs, Charlie Blackmon and Jesse Barfield. He also writes, “If your Hall of Fame standard is ‘I only want the best of the best — the guys who we can call immortals — in the Hall of Fame,’ then sure, Lou Whitaker is probably not your man.” Maybe I am old-fashioned but yes, that is my standard. The way I see it – if you are not a fan of his team (so in this case, excluding Tigers fans), would you be excited to get a card of him? In my opinion, guys like Whitaker, Harold Baines, Lee Smith, Ted Simmons et al whose cards would be considered commons don’t really belong in the Hall of Fame, even if they were above-average players for many years.

The man: Whitaker was an instructor for the Tigers for many years but is now retired.

My collection: I have 142 of his cards, from 1978 to 1996. I would be interested in trading for 1983 Fleer Star Stickers #249.