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Ernie Whitt

Ernie Whitt Marquee

b. June 13, 1952 · Boston Red Sox 1976, Toronto Blue Jays 1977–1978, 1980–1989, Atlanta Braves 1990, Baltimore Orioles 1991

He was left unprotected by Boston in the 1976 expansion draft and Toronto took him. He caught there for twelve seasons, through the first winning club in franchise history and the division winners of 1985 and 1989, hitting 19 home runs in 1987 and 16 in 1988, when he was chosen for the All-Star team at thirty-six.

Fifteen seasons gave him 938 hits, 134 home runs, 534 runs batted in and a .249 average. On September 14, 1987, he hit three home runs in a game against Baltimore, part of the ten the Blue Jays hit that day.

He finished with Atlanta and Baltimore and then coached and managed. He ran Canada's national team for more than a decade, taking it to the Pan American Games and the World Baseball Classic. No Hall of Fame ballot has listed him.

Honors

AwardTimesYears
All-Star selection 1 1985
The Sporting News All-Star 1 1988

Batting, season by season

YearTeam GABR H2B3B HRRBIBB SOSBAVG
1976 BOS 81844 201 3220 .222
1977 TOR 234147 300 62120 .171
1978 TOR 2400 000 0110 .000
1980 TOR 1062952370 1226 3422301 .237
1981 TOR 741951646 901 1620305 .236
1982 TOR 1052842874 14211 4226343 .261
1983 TOR 1233445388 15217 5650551 .256
1984 TOR 1243153575 12115 4643490 .238
1985 TOR 13941255101 21219 6447593 .245
1986 TOR 13139548106 19216 5635390 .268
1987 TOR 13544657120 24119 7544500 .269
1988 TOR 12739863100 11216 7061384 .251
1989 TOR 12938542101 24111 5352535 .262
1990 ATL 671801431 802 1023270 .172
1991 BAL 3562515 200 38120 .242
Career 13283774447938 17615134 53443649122 .249

On this day & linked events

1952

Born June 13, 1952

Detroit, MI, USA

1976

Major-league debut: Ernie Whitt

Ernie Whitt made a major-league debut on September 12, 1976.

1987

Ernie Whitt's Three-Home-Run Game, 1987

Ernie Whitt hit three home runs for the Toronto Blue Jays against the Baltimore Orioles on September 14, 1987.

1991

Final major-league game: Ernie Whitt

Ernie Whitt played a final major-league game on July 3, 1991.

Image: Mathew Ingram on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0