“Shoeless†Joe Jackson
Second & Third Inductees
Rich “Goose†Gossage & Andre Dawson
Fourth & Fifth Inductees
Rickey Henderson & Jim Rice
Introduction
A group of men who have made covering Major League Baseball their life are charged with immortalizing baseball’s elite by inducting them into the Hall of Fame, where both young and old can revel in the history of the game, long after those history-makers have hung up their spikes. Of course, not all of baseball’s most memorable players reside in Cooperstown. With such high standards to live up to, some players find themselves on the outside looking in, for one reason or another. Because of this, we here at Tailgate Crashers want to honor their contributions to the game we love by giving them a shrine of their own until Cooperstown beckons. Thus, we have created the Tailgate Crashers Baseball Hall of Fame.
Our Hall of Fame operates not unlike the real deal in Cooperstown, with a few exceptions. Only players who have not been inducted into the Hall of Fame are eligible for inclusion here. If a player inducted into our Hall of Fame is inducted into Cooperstown, he will be removed in favor of another baseball great that has not yet gotten “the callâ€. Each year, staff writers, contributors to the site, and baseball fans alike will vote for players that they feel are deserving of induction. The criteria: each candidate must have been apart of at least one Pro Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, or else have set a Major League record. This year, our voters could not narrow the field down to six inductees – there are ten, with an eleventh “manager†induction alongside. These eleven baseball figures make up the Class of 2007 in the Baseball Hall of Fame here at Tailgate Crashers.
Today marks a very interesting edition to the Tailgate Crashers Baseball Hall of Fame, as we induct not only one of the game’s most underappreciated players, but one of its most famous managers as well. We begin though, with the induction of a player who probably received the fiercest support for entry of any player that was on the ballot. He played for nineteen seasons, all with the Detroit Tigers, and teamed up with former Tigers skipper / shortstop Alan Trammel to form one of the best double play combinations in the last twenty five years. A player who helped set the standard for offensive and defensive production at second base during the 1980s, today’s inductee has been overshadowed by other baseball greats of the era, most unfairly. It is with great distinction that we honor second baseman Lou Whitaker with induction into the Tailgate Crashers Baseball Hall of Fame!
Second Baseman
Brooklyn, New York
Born 05.12.1957 / Debut 09.09.1977 / Last Game 10.01.1995
Career Statistics and Achievements
2,390 Games; 2,369 Hits; 420 Doubles; 1,197 BB; 1,084 RBI
– Elected to five consecutive American League All-Star Teams (1983-1987).
– Won three AL Gold Gloves as a Second Baseman between 1983-1985.
– Won four AL Silver Slugger Awards as a Second Baseman (1983-1985, 1987).
– Hit .320 in 1983 (3rd Best, AL) in 643 at-bats (3rd) with 206 hits (3rd), 294 total bases (7th), 40 doubles (7th), and 113 runs created (6th).
– Appeared in two ALCS with Detroit (1984, 1987) and in the 1984 World Series, hitting .278 for Detroit.
– Holds a career .984 fielding percentage over nineteen seasons. Posted a .994 fielding percentage in 1991, his best career mark (1978 not withstanding).
Nicknamed “Sweet Louâ€, Lou Whitaker is one of the most criminally underrated second basemen in baseball history, much less recent memory. Baseball-Reference.com notes that Lou Whitaker is best compared with the great Ryne Sandberg. Of course, Sandberg, the site mentions, is also best compared with Lou Whitaker. Breaking into the big leagues in 1977 with the Detroit Tigers, Whitaker went 3 for 5 in his debut against the Boston Red Sox, adding a stolen base and an RBI to go along with it. He would play in eleven games the rest of the way, earning himself a starting job for the 1978 campaign. In a year that would also see his double play partner, Alan Trammel break into the big leagues (with Detroit), Whitaker made out big with a .285 average, seven triples, and 58 RBIs en route to the ‘78 Rookie of the Year Award. He would follow this up in the coming years with multiple All Star Team selections, Gold Gloves, and Silver Slugger Awards. Whitaker, though, is probably best remembered as one half of the longest reigning “double play tandem†in baseball history. Along with shortstop Alan Trammel, Whitaker and Trammel consistently produced more put-outs and double plays together than any other combination in baseball, leading most experts to agree that the Trammel/Whitaker duo was the best double play team in baseball history. Both players made their pro debuts in the exact same game, and would play in over 1,918 games together (an American League record) before Whitaker retired following the 1995 season.
Of course, one would be hard pressed to identify the greater tragedy here: that Lou Whitaker is forgotten by today’s fans, or that Lou Whitaker will probably not make it to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. A lot has been made over Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg’s induction into the Hall of Fame. Looking at their comparative statistics, one would be hard pressed to argue for “Rynoâ€, but against “Sweet Louâ€. The only statistical categories that Sandberg dominates Whitaker in are total bases (Sandberg’s 3,787 to Whitaker’s 3,651) and steals (Sandberg’s 344 to Whitaker’s 143). On the other hand, Sandberg was caught stealing far more than Whitaker was, and Sandberg himself drew less walks (761 to Whitaker’s 1,197) and struck out more (1,260 to Whitaker’s 1099) that Lou Whitaker. Sandberg has more Gold Gloves than Whitaker, though his overall fielding percentage is only nine thousandths higher than Whitaker’s. It also bares mentioning that Lou Whitaker played in an era that also saw the likes of Frank White, Harold Reynolds, Roberto Alomar, and Willie Randolph playing second base in the American League. Sandberg’s only main competition at second base came from the likes of Jeff Kent and Craig Biggio, although by the time Biggio and Kent became stars, Sandberg had already passed his peak. Whitaker holds slight edges over Sandberg in games played, at bats, runs, doubles, RBIs and on-base percentage. Sandberg holds slight edges over Whitaker in triples, home runs, batting average, and slugging percentage. Sandberg holds a paper-thin margin in total hits over Whitaker. The major point that seems to vault Ryne Sandberg over Lou Whitaker lies in Sandberg’s MVP Award in 1984, along with a few more Silver Slugger awards. Again, Sandberg’s competition was far less stringent than Whitaker’s, which helped enable him to win the extra awards.
Of course, Ryno is just as worthy of induction into Cooperstown as anyone. But if you want to argue that Sandberg belongs in the Hall of Fame, you have to make the same case for “Sweet Louâ€. Although he probably will not gain entry into the Hall, one thing is for certain: Lou Whitaker is a member of a fraternity of players that have helped their clubs win World Championships, and if that doesn’t warrant his induction into the Tailgate Crashers Baseball Hall of Fame, I do not know what will.
Lou Whitaker is fondly remembered by baseball purists, Tigers fans, and stat gurus alike. If only he were remembered as much as our next baseball hall of fame inductee were… making his mark on the game as both a fierce player and a fierce manager, this man was also apart of another famous baseball tandem, this one more unique than Whitaker/Trammel. Finding his way into the Tailgate Crashers Baseball Hall of Fame as our 2007 managerial inductee, we welcome the late, great Billy Martin into “Tailgate Crashers Immortalityâ€!
Berkeley, California
Born 05.16.1928 / Death 12.25.1989 / Managerial Career 1969-1988
Managerial Career Highlights
– Managed the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees (five times), and Oakland Athletics from 1969 thru 1988.
– Won two American League pennants with the New York Yankees (1976-1977), and won the 1977 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
– Led the Twins, Tigers, Yankees, and Athletics to division championships during his stays there, and improved the Rangers from last place to second place in the course of just one season.
– Notoriously hard to get along with, which led to his being fired from ball clubs on multiple occasions. Was hired, fired, and re-hired a total of five separate times by George Steinbrenner.
– Was a key component in the famous “Pine Tar Game†between George Brett’s Royals and the New York Yankees.
The game has probably not seen such a polarizing personality as Billy Martin in the last fifty years. Some fans respected Martin’s killer instinct and passion for the game; some players took great pride in killing “Billy Martin†rats that took residence in their kitchens over the years (cf. Bill Lee). Regardless of whether you love him or hate him, Billy Martin remains one of baseball’s better managers over the course of the 1970s and into the 1980s. Martin would break into the manager role in 1969 with the Minnesota Twins, and would establish a popular trend with him by winning the Division Championship that same year. In another common trend during his career, Martin was fired after the season for his role in a fight between himself and pitcher Dave Boswell. After a year out of the sport, Martin made his return to managing with the Detroit Tigers in 1971. It took him just two seasons to help Detroit win a Division Championship, though he was fired the very next year from the club. Martin made his next stop in Texas, where he improved the club from last place to second place in his very first year there. However, Martin would again be fired after the 1975 season.
In 1976, Billy Martin joined up with the New York Yankees, and immediately helped the Yankees return to October glory, winning the American League pennant in his first year there and coming up short in the ’76 World Series against Cincinnati. In 1977, Martin would again take the Yankees to the World Series, this time against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In a Fall Classic that would boast three home runs in a single game by Reggie Jackson, Billy Martin would win his first (and last) World Series as a manager, and earned George Steinbrenner his first World Championship as the owner of the Yankees. Of course, Paradise quickly spoiled for Martin, and he resigned during the 1978 season after some very personal, public, and bitter feuds between owner George Steinbrenner and free agent superstar Reggie Jackson. He would return to the Yankees in 1979, 1983, 1985, and 1988, but would never complete a full season with the club again. He moved on to the Oakland Athletics next, creating “Billyball†in the process. The 1981 Campaign was unusual, in that it was effected by a league-wide strike. The A’s won the 1981 Western Division championship, then defeated the Kansas City Royals in a special playoff series. In the American League Championship Series, the Yankees swept Martin’s A’s in four straight. It was the last time Martin would manage a team in the playoffs – in 1982, Martin was fired after allowing his pitchers to be overworked, injuring themselves (a common trend amongst pitchers that played for Martin).
After several off-and-on stints with the Yankees, Martin made a special guest appearance as the guest Ring Announcer at the World Wrestling Federation’s first WrestleMania. His last high-profile appearance on the national stage would be in 1988, when he briefly managed the Yankees one last time. He was only four months away from taking over the managerial role for the Yankees again when he was killed in a one-car accident on Christmas Day, 1989. Martin is buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, very close to Babe Ruth. On his tombstone is an epitaph that Martin himself produced: “I may not have been the greatest Yankee to put on the uniform, but I was the proudest.†Rod Carew once stated that Billy Martin showed him how to steal home plate. Martin showed the baseball world how much fun it could be to watch a manager and umpire go at it. Tailgate Crashers is pleased to induct manager Billy Martin into our Baseball Hall of Fame!
Upcoming Tailgate Crashers Hall of Fame Schedule
January 12th: “Shoeless†Joe Jackson
January 16th: Rich “Goose†Gossage, Andre Dawson
January 19th: Rickey Henderson, Jim Rice
January 25th: Lou Whitaker, Billy Martin
January 29th: Inductee #7, Inductee #8
February 2nd: Inductee #9
February 6th: Inductee #10, Preview of 2008
