{"id":2133821,"date":"2025-11-04T03:28:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T03:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2133821"},"modified":"2025-11-04T03:28:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T03:28:00","slug":"former-royals-pitcher-speaks-out-after-lou-whitaker-hall-of-fame-snub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/former-royals-pitcher-speaks-out-after-lou-whitaker-hall-of-fame-snub\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Royals Pitcher Speaks Out After Lou Whitaker Hall of Fame Snub"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Longtime Kansas City Royals pitcher Mark Gubicza made it clear that he disagrees with legendary Detroit Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker\u2019s omission from the Hall of Fame\u2019s 2026 Contemporary Baseball Era player ballot.<\/p>\n<p>Whitaker, the 1978 AL Rookie of the Year and a five-time All-Star, did not finish among the eight finalists for this year\u2019s Era Committee ballot. A group of 11 undisclosed baseball historians picked players who played all or the bulk of their career after 1980. The panelists decided on Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valenzuela.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>MLB Network\u2019s Jon Morosi <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jonmorosi\/status\/1985380455210746330\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:questioned Whitaker\u2019s absence;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">questioned Whitaker\u2019s absence<\/a> in an X\/Twitter post, and Gubicza \u2014 a two-time All-Star and a Los Angeles Angels broadcaster \u2014 quickly agreed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLou is a HOF\u2019r, Jon,\u201d <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Markgubicza\/status\/1985384583567982740\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Gubicza wrote;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Gubicza wrote<\/a>. \u201cAsk anyone who played against him.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"content-figure\">\n<div class=\"content-image\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"lightbox-btn\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"lightbox-expand\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Image Lightbox\" class=\"lightbox-overlay\" aria-modal=\"true\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"fig-caption\">\n<p>Longtime Detroit Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Gubicza and Whitaker both spent their entire playing careers in the American League, with the latter finishing 17-for-59 (.286) with a home run, two RBIs, and an 11-7 K-BB ratio in 71 plate appearances.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Will Lou Whitaker Ever Make the Hall of Fame?<\/h2>\n<p>Whitaker spent the 1980s as one of baseball\u2019s premier second basemen, hitting .275 with 143 home runs, 619 RBIs, and a .773 OPS across over 1,400 games during the decade. However, his defense and plate discipline helped him provide the Tigers with 43.6 bWAR in that span, and he averaged 4.4 bWAR per season.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>A four-time Silver Slugger, Whitaker retired with 75.1 bWAR, considerably above Kent\u2019s 55.4 bWAR. Both almost exclusively played second base, though Kent also occasionally saw time at first base.<\/p>\n<p>Whitaker only appeared on 2.9% of ballots in 2001, well below the 5% needed to receive another year of eligibility. Dave Winfield (84.5%) and Kirby Puckett (82.1%) earned induction that year, and another eight \u2014 Gary Carter, Jim Rice, Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage, Jim Kaat, Bert Blyleven, Jack Morris, and Dave Parker \u2014 reached the Hall of Fame later, either via the traditional writer\u2019s ballot or via committee.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>As of November 2025, Whitaker\u2019s 75.1 bWAR is tied with legendary Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench and Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts for 51st among position players. Bench appeared on 96.4% of ballots in 1989, his first year of eligibility, and Betts is likely to enter the Hall of Fame when his time comes.<\/p>\n<p>Almost every eligible position player above Whitaker on the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/leaders\/WAR_bat_career.shtml\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:all-time bWAR list;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">all-time bWAR list<\/a> is already in the Hall of Fame. Bonds (No. 1) and Alex Rodriguez (No. 12) are associated with performance-enhancing drugs, and Pete Rose (No. 41) was on the permanently ineligible list until earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>Bill Dahlen, a shortstop who played from 1891 through 1911, has never received considerable Hall of Fame support despite his 75.2 bWAR.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Barring a rule change, the earliest that Whitaker can be considered for the Hall of Fame is in 2028 for the Class of 2029.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/yankees-legend-don-mattingly-addresses-134241129.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Related: Yankees Legend Don Mattingly Addresses Retirement Questions After Blue Jays\u2019 World Series Loss;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\">Related: Yankees Legend Don Mattingly Addresses Retirement Questions After Blue Jays\u2019 World Series Loss<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>This story was originally reported by <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/detroit-tigers\/former-royals-pitcher-speaks-out-lou-whitaker-hof-snub\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Athlon Sports;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Athlon Sports<\/a> on Nov 3, 2025, where it first appeared in the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:MLB;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">MLB<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=athlonsports.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Preferred Source by clicking here.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sports.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Longtime Kansas City Royals pitcher Mark Gubicza made it clear that he disagrees with legendary Detroit Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker\u2019s omission from the Hall of Fame\u2019s 2026 Contemporary Baseball Era player ballot. Whitaker, the 1978 AL Rookie of the Year and a five-time All-Star, did not finish among the eight finalists for this year\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2133822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[349973,350136,406193,313131,345193,406194,406192,346274,406190,406191,43627,354105,357718,406188,406189,369052,368512],"class_list":["post-2133821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-alex-rodriguez","tag-barry-bonds","tag-carlos-delgado","tag-cincinnati-reds","tag-detroit-tigers","tag-fernando-valenzuela","tag-gary-sheffield","tag-hall-of-fame","tag-jeff-kent","tag-jon-morosi","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-lou-whitaker","tag-mark-gubicza","tag-mookie-betts","tag-roger-clemens"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Former-Royals-Pitcher-Speaks-Out-After-Lou-Whitaker-Hall-of.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2133821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2133823,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133821\/revisions\/2133823"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2133822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2133821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2133821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2133821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}