Ernie Whitt
| Ernie Whitt | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Catcher | |||
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Born: June 13, 1952 Detroit, Michigan |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 12, 1976, for the Boston Red Sox | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| July 3, 1991, for the Baltimore Orioles | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .249 | ||
| Home runs | 134 | ||
| Runs batted in | 534 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
Leo Ernest Whitt (born June 13, 1952) is a former Major League Baseball catcher and coach. He is noted for the twelve years he spent as a player with the Toronto Blue Jays. When he left the team following the 1989 season he was the last original Blue Jay left from when Toronto joined the major leagues in 1977. Ernie Whitt was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.
Whitt was selected in the 15th round of the 1972 amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox, and he made his major league debut on September 12, 1976, pinch hitting for Carlton Fisk in the seventh inning, grounding out. He finished the game as the Red Sox catcher, as Boston defeated the Cleveland Indians 11–3. Whitt recorded his first career hit on September 21, hitting a home run off of Jim Colborn of the Milwaukee Brewers in a 3–1 loss. He appeared in eight games with Boston, batting .222 with 1 HR and 3 RBI. With his path to the majors blocked by future Hall-of-Famer Carlton Fisk, he was left unprotected during the expansion draft held after the 1976 season and selected by the Blue Jays.
Whitt saw very little playing time with the Blue Jays in 1977, as in 23 games, he hit .171 with 0 HR and 6 RBI. In 1978, he saw even less time with Toronto, playing in just two games, going hitless in four at-bats. In 1979, Whitt spent the entire season with the Syracuse Chiefs, the Blue Jays AAA affiliate in the International League. Whitt speculated in his autobiography that Blue Jays manager Roy Hartsfield had a low opinion of his potential, as most of the catching duties went to Alan Ashby and Rick Cerone. With Hartsfield's departure prior to the 1980 season, new manager Bobby Mattick expanded Whitt's role as a player, and Whitt remained with the club for the next ten years.
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