The Detroit Tigers announced on Tuesday that they are retiring Lou Whitaker’s No. 1 this coming season. Tigers chairman and CEO Christopher Ilitch said in a statement: “What a thrill it was to watch Lou Whitaker grace the diamond for nearly two decades — a gifted talent in this glorious game.”
Whitaker will become the ninth player with his number retired by the Tigers, not counting Jackie Robinson, whose No. 42 has been retired throughout baseball. Almost all of the numbers retired by Detroit were worn by Hall of Famers. The most recent players given this honor were Jack Morris and Alan Trammell, whose numbers were retired in 2018, the year they were also inducted into the Hall. Like Trammell and Morris, Whitaker was a key member of the 1984 Tigers, who won the city’s most recent World Series title.
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