Around these parts, there is little argument that former Detroit Tigers 2B Lou Whitaker deserves to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame, yet, he has fallen short of getting the nod.
According to Radio.com writer Jordan Cohn, Whitaker should be in (instead of Bill Mazeroski) but two other former Tigers who are currently in the Hall of Fame are not deserving.
Here is Cohn’s rationale for Whitaker being in over Mazerowski:
Instead of the face of NL second basemen in the 60s, let’s put in the face of AL second basemen in the 80s. Sweet Lou’s career WAR (75.1) is a top-80 figure of all time and literally doubles Mazeroski’s… and then some. After Alan Trammell was inducted in the Class of 2018, the conversation about Whitaker’s candidacy rose to new highs, and it’s only right that the other half of that famous double-play duo should be enshrined as well (why else are Tinker, Evers and Chance in the Hall?). But Lou provided pop, too, with four Silver Slugger awards and nearly 250 career round trippers to go along with solid speed, great run-scoring production and more career walks than strikeouts.
The two former Tigers Cohn believes should be replaced are George Kell and Jack Morris.
Here is Cohn’s reasoning for Kell, who he believes should be replaced by Steve Garvey.
Kell earned 10 All Star selections in his big league career which is undeniably impressive. He was a very difficult guy to strike out and was capable of providing extra-base pop, leading the league in doubles twice (in the same years that he also led in hits). But outright dominance? I don’t really see it, other than the short span from 1949-1951 when he was at his peak. He was never a power hitter, topping 10 home runs only once in a season. His fielding was rather unremarkable (dWAR of 1.6 in his career). His OPS never broke .900. And his career WAR of 37.6 is 584th among all Major Leaguers, which continues the chain of underwhelming stats.
Cohn did not give a reason for Morris being replaced but he believes Ron Guidry is more deserving.
Nation, do you agree with Cohn?
