LAKELAND, Fla. - The purple suit is gone. And so is the silence. Lou Whitaker used to sashay into the Detroit Tigers clubhouse in flamboyant clothes that screamed, but he rarely had much to say.
That contradiction is behind him. Now, more than eight years removed from his brilliant playing career, Whitaker is back with the Tigers, wearing the olde English “D” and yacking up a storm.
Detroit manager Alan Trammell, Whitaker s middle infield partner with the Tigers for almost two decades, invited him back this year for spring training. Former shortstop Trammell felt Whitaker could add something to the environment as Detroit prepares for the coming season.
“He brings a lot - his experience and expertise is obvious,” Trammell said. “He can certainly instruct in all of the areas of play, and teach the position, and then there is that sense of pride he has as a professional. Lou is a very positive presence here on many levels.”
Two months from his 47th birthday, this is not the svelte and smooth “Sweet Lou” that Detroit fans watched for 19 seasons. He has a pronounced paunch, wears glasses, and admits he can no longer do the things that allowed him to start 1,918 games with Trammell, an American League record.
“I m here to help and to teach some baseball, not play baseball,” Whitaker joked. “I can t do those things I used to do in this game, but I still feel like I have something to offer. The knowledge is still there.”
Whitaker joins a cluster of former Detroit greats who are part of the team braintrust or the coaching staff. Al Kaline, Willie Horton, Bill Freehan, Kirk Gibson, Lance Parrish and Trammell are constant reminders of the glory days of the franchise.
Whitaker, a native of Brooklyn who now makes his home in Lakeland, said the experience has been very rewarding for him.
“This is fun for me, and I hope I m performing a service for the club,” Whitaker said. “The chance to interact with the players, to watch them at work and then make suggestions to improve their defense - I really enjoy being a part of all of this. I ll do whatever I can to help out, and help improve the ballclub.”
In his 19 seasons in Detroit as a player, Whitaker had 2,369 hits and a lifetime .276 batting average. He was the AL rookie of the year in 1978, and hit a career best .320 in 1983. Whitaker won three gold gloves, was an AL All-Star five times, and had a career .984 fielding percentage.
“Like the Kalines and the Freehans and the guys like Lance Parrish, a Lou Whitaker comes here with a ton of credibility with the players,” St. Louis spring training instructor and former major league manager Jim Leyland said when his team visited the Tigers earlier this week. “Whitaker will make a difference, just like those other guys will make a difference. They command a high level of respect just being here.”
Whitaker, a fifth-round draft pick by the Tigers in the 1975 amateur draft, is here because Trammell wants him to be a part of the rebirth of the proud franchise that Trammell hopes to direct.
“Lou Whitaker was a skilled and confident baseball player when I first met him, and we went through a lot and learned a lot as teammates for so many years,” Trammell said. “He has a great deal to offer these guys, and his confidence is part of that. Some of our players don t have that confidence you need to play this game, and Lou brings that every day - he always has.”
Trammell said there has been informal talk about making Whitaker a more permanent part of the Detroit operation, possibly as a roving minor league instructor. For now, Whitaker plans to just enjoy his first spring training in almost a decade.
“I don t have to do any of this stuff any more - I can just tell people what to do,” Whitaker said. “That s a pretty good deal.”
First Published March 18, 2004, 10:28 a.m.
