July 28, 1978: Lou Whitaker’s first career homer gives Detroit stunning walk-off win over Seattle

Detroit Tigers rookie Lou Whitaker could not have picked a better time to hit his first career home run. The 21-year-old second baseman came to the plate with two out in the bottom of the ninth, a runner on first base, and the Tigers trailing the Seattle Mariners by a run on July 28, 1978. Whitaker pulled ace reliever Enrique Romo’s pitch into Tiger Stadium’s upper deck, giving Detroit a thrilling 4-3 victory.

Whitaker had made his major-league debut in September 1977 after helping the Montgomery (Alabama) Rebels win the Double-A Southern League’s playoff championship. Whitaker hit .280 for Montgomery and, despite missing three weeks with a sprained ankle,1 stole 38 bases and led the league with 81 runs scored. He was named the league’s All-Star second baseman in his first season playing the keystone position.2

Whitaker made the Tigers’ Opening Day roster in 1978, skipping Triple A entirely. There were no concerns about his defense, but some wondered if the 5-foot-11, 160-pounder would struggle against major-league pitching in the early going.3 Those fears were quickly put to rest, as Whitaker hit over .300 in April. Coming into the July 28 game against the Mariners, he was batting .298 with limited power – only 11 of his 88 hits had been for extra bases.

The Tigers had begun a youth movement after four consecutive losing seasons. Aside from Whitaker, Detroit rookies included 20-year-old shortstop Alan Trammell and a pair of promising 23-year-olds: catcher Lance Parrish and hurler Jack Morris. All four went on to play prominent roles in Detroit’s World Series Championship six years later.

The Tigers had sprinted out of the gate in 1978, winning 21 of their first 30 games. But a seven-game losing streak in May and another one in June had brought them back to earth. Detroit was in fifth place in the AL East Division with a 52-48 record, 11½ games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox.

The Mariners were in just their second year of existence. Although they had lost 98 games in their inaugural season, they were still 9½ games better than their expansion cousins, the Toronto Blue Jays. The Mariners took a step backward in 1978, and on the morning of July 28 they had a major-league-worst 36-66 mark, leaving them 22 games behind the first-place Kansas City Royals in the AL West Division.

Twenty-one-year-old righty Dave Rozema got the start for the Tigers. Fourth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting a season earlier, Rozema began experiencing shoulder discomfort early in 1978.4 He was given a cortisone injection at the end of May and missed three weeks.5 His record stood at 4-5 with a 3.13 ERA.

Seattle manager Darrell Johnson tapped Jim Colborn as his starter. The 32-year-old right-hander, an All-Star and 20-game winner with the 1973 Milwaukee Brewers, had been traded from the Royals to the Mariners on June 1.6 Colborn had scuffled since the trade, going 1-6 with a 7.08 ERA in nine starts.7

After Colborn tossed a one-two-three first inning, Detroit’s 24-year-old first baseman Jason Thompson led off the second. Thompson smacked a home run into the right-field upper deck for his 22nd round-tripper of the season, extending his hitting streak to 13 games.8 The blast gave the Tigers an early 1-0 lead.

Rozema had surrendered Seattle shortstop Craig Reynolds’ one-out single in the first inning, but Reynolds was erased when Ruppert Jones grounded into an inning-ending double play, Whitaker to Trammell to Thompson. Rozema settled into a groove and recorded one-two-three innings in the next five frames. After six innings, he had faced the minimum 18 batters.

Colborn scattered a pair of singles and a walk between Thompson’s leadoff homer in the second and the end of the fifth.

Detroit added to its lead in the sixth. Ron LeFlore opened the inning with a walk and a stolen base, his major-league-leading 43rd steal of the season and second of the game. After Whitaker sacrificed LeFlore to third, designated hitter Rusty Staub hit a looper into right field and LeFlore trotted home with Detroit’s second run.9 Veteran lefty Tom House relieved Colborn and prevented any further damage.

Seattle came roaring back. Second baseman Julio Cruz led off the seventh with a double, and after Reynolds reached on a bunt single, Jones walked to load the bases with nobody out.10 Former Tiger Leon Roberts smashed a one-hopper off the wrist of third baseman Aurelio Rodríguez and down the left-field line,11 emptying the bases and giving the Mariners a sudden 3-2 lead.

Even though the hard-hit ball had taken a bad hop, Rodríguez, a former Gold Glover, was charged with an error.12 It was just his third error of the season. After the game, both Johnson and third-base coach Jim Busby insisted that the play should have been ruled a double.13

House struggled to hold the lead in the eighth. Whitaker singled to open the inning and one out later Thompson drew a walk. Romo, a righty with a 1.75 ERA in his previous 11 appearances,14 came on to pitch with the potential tying run in scoring position. Left fielder Steve Kemp tapped out weakly to Romo, advancing both baserunners 90 feet.15 After lefty-swinging Milt May was intentionally walked, Romo struck out veteran Mickey Stanley with the bases loaded to end the inning.16

Rozema kept the Mariners off the scoresheet in the eighth and ninth. As the game headed to the bottom of the ninth, he was in danger of being tagged with the loss despite having limited Seattle to one earned run on four singles, a double, and a walk. (He also struck out two batters.)

Romo returned to the mound, trying to record his 10th save of the season.17 After Romo retired Rodríguez on a groundout, Detroit manager Ralph Houk sent Parrish to the plate to pinch-hit for Trammell.18 Romo struck him out.

LeFlore worked the count to 3-and-2, and the Tigers were down to their last strike. But LeFlore slapped a single up the middle, bringing Whitaker to the plate. Romo, concerned that LeFlore would steal his third base of the game,19 threw over to first several times before his initial pitch to Whitaker.20 He also stepped off the rubber numerous times during Whitaker’s at-bat.

LeFlore, off and running on the 2-and-1 pitch, did not have to sprint for long. Whitaker lined a low fastball from Romo into the upper deck in right field for a two-run homer and a 4-3 Tigers victory.21 Whitaker “literally danced around the basepath” and was greeted by his teammates at home.22 After making his way into the dugout, he returned for a well-earned curtain call.23

It was Whitaker’s first home run in 369 major-league plate appearances.24 “He [Romo] figured I couldn’t drive Ron in from first base, so he was just thinking about keeping him from stealing second,” Whitaker said. “He threw me a good fastball and I swung with everything I had.”25

Detroit swept the three-game series from Seattle and took the season series, eight games to two. The Tigers finished the season in fifth place with an 86-76 record, 13½ games behind the eventual World Series champion New York Yankees.26 The Mariners posted a major-league-worst 56-104 mark. As of 2026, it remained their least successful season in franchise history.

Whitaker batted .285 with 3 homers, 58 RBIs, and 7 stolen bases. He became the youngest player to win the AL Rookie of the Year Award, finishing well ahead of runner-up Paul Molitor.27 Third baseman Carney Lansford of the California Angels was third.

Whitaker began to hit with more power as his body matured and he went on to swat 20 or more round-trippers in four seasons, including a 28-homer campaign in 1989. He spent all 19 seasons of his major-league career with the Tigers, earning five All-Star selections, four Silver Slugger Awards, and three Gold Gloves.

“Sweet Lou” retired after the 1995 season with a career .276 batting average. As of 2026, he remained in the top 10 in franchise history in many offensive categories, including second in walks (1,197), third in games played (2,390), fourth in runs (1,386), sixth in hits (2,369), doubles (420) and total bases (3,651), seventh in homers (244), ninth in RBIs (1,084), and 10th in stolen bases (143).

Only three Tigers in franchise history have compiled more Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement than Whitaker: Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, and Charlie Gehringer.28 Whitaker’s career mark of 16.3 defensive Wins Above Replacement ranked second behind only Trammell, his double-play partner for all 19 seasons.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Harrison Golden and copy-edited by Keith Thursby.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, Stathead.com, the Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, and the SABR biographies of Lou Whitaker and Dave Rozema. Unless otherwise noted, all play-by-play information for this game was taken from the article “Whitaker Tags Mariners, 4-3” on page B-1 of the July 29, 1978, edition of the Detroit News.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET197807280.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1978/B07280DET1978.htm   

Photo credit

Lou Whitaker, SABR-Rucker Archive.

Notes

1 Rick Young, “Surprised Whitaker Southern Stars Hero,” Montgomery Alabama Journal, July 8, 1977: 14.

2 Whitaker had been drafted by the Tigers as a third baseman, which remained his primary position in his first two professional seasons.

3 Jim Hawkins, “Good Gloves!” Detroit Free Press, April 4, 1978: D-1; Jerry Green, “Youthful Tigers a Year Away,” Detroit News, March 22, 1978: C-1.

4 Rozema went 15-7 with a 3.09 ERA in 1977. Eddie Murray won the AL Rookie of the Year with a 27-homer campaign. Injuries prevented Rozema from reaching his full potential, and he finished his major-league career in 1986 with a 60-53 record and a 3.47 ERA.

5 United Press International, “Rozema on Sidelines,” Ventura County (California) Star-Free Press, May 31, 1978: D-3.

6 Colborn was the first Brewer in franchise history to win 20 games. The Brewers traded him to Kansas City on December 6, 1976, and he threw a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers on May 14, 1977. The Royals traded Colborn to the Mariners on June 1, 1978, for utilityman Steve Braun.

7 Colborn finished the season with a 3-10 record and a 5.35 ERA for the Mariners. They released the veteran hurler near the end of spring training in 1979 because of a youth movement and his relatively high salary. Colborn retired after he was released by Seattle. He went 83-88 with a 3.80 ERA in 10 major-league seasons. Michael Kenyon, “M’s Stanton, Colburn, House, 2 Others Cut,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 29, 1979: F-1.

8 Thompson had a career year in 1978. He hit .287 with 26 homers and 96 RBIs and was Detroit’s lone All-Star representative. The Tigers traded Thompson to the California Angels on May 27, 1980, in return for right fielder Al Cowens.

9 It was Staub’s 84th RBI and LeFlore’s 77th run scored, both tops in the major leagues. Staub finished the season with 121 RBIs; Jim Rice was the only major-league slugger with more RBIs (139). LeFlore finished the season with a major-league-leading 126 runs scored and a league-leading 68 steals. Michael Kenyon, “HR Kills Mariners in Ninth,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 29, 1978: B-1.

10 Brian Bragg, “Sweet Lou! Tigers Win on Homer in 9th, 4-3,” Detroit Free Press, July 29, 1978: C-1.

11 Roberts began his major-league career with the Tigers in 1974-75. He was traded to Houston after the 1975 season and two years later was dealt to the Mariners. Rodríguez had replaced Phil Mankowski at the start of the sixth inning for defensive purposes. Bragg, “Sweet Lou! Tigers Win on Homer in 9th, 4-3.”

12 Rodríguez won the only Gold Glove of his 17-year career in 1976. Roberts was credited with one RBI on the play; Rozema was charged with one earned run.

13 Hy Zimmerman, “9th-Inning Homer Tops M’s, 4-3,” Seattle Times, July 29, 1978: E-1; Kenyon, “HR Kills Mariners in Ninth.”

14 Romo had thrown 25⅔ innings in those 11 appearances, compiling an outstanding 0.740 WHIP.

15 Bragg, “Sweet Lou! Tigers Win on Homer in 9th, 4-3.”

16 Stanley had entered the game in the bottom of the seventh as a pinch-hitter for rookie right fielder Tim Corcoran. Stanley was playing in his 15th and final major-league season. He spent all 15 seasons with the Tigers and was one of only two holdovers from Detroit’s 1968 World Series championship team. Reliever John Hiller was the other.

17 Romo blew four consecutive save opportunities and did not earn his 10th save until August 23. He finished the season with 10 saves and a 3.69 ERA. In December 1978 he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates along with Rick Jones and Tom McMillan in return for Odell Jones, Mario Mendoza, and Rafael Vásquez. Romo was a key member of the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen in 1979, appearing in 84 regular-season games and four more in the postseason. The Pirates defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

18 Both rookies were right-handed batters, but Parrish had significantly more power. Trammell hit two homers in 504 plate appearances in 1978, while Parrish hit 14 round-trippers in just 304 plate appearances.

19 LeFlore won the AL stolen base title in 1978. The Tigers traded him to the Montreal Expos after the 1979 season for pitcher Dan Schatzeder. LeFlore won the NL stolen-base crown in 1980 when he swiped a career-high 97 bases, making him the first player to win the title in both the AL and NL.

20 Bragg, “Sweet Lou! Tigers Win on Homer in 9th, 4-3.”

21 Bragg, “Sweet Lou! Tigers Win on Homer in 9th, 4-3.”

22 Kenyon, “HR Kills Mariners in Ninth.”

23 Bragg, “Sweet Lou! Tigers Win on Homer in 9th, 4-3.”

24 Whitaker had homered just five times in 1,101 minor-league plate appearances.

25 Larry Middlemas, “Whitaker Tags Mariners, 4-3” Detroit News, July 29, 1978: B-1.

26 The Red Sox had a 6½-game lead on the Yankees at the beginning of September, only to squander the lead. The two teams finished tied for first and the Yankees won the division in a tiebreaker. New York defeated the Royals in the ALCS and the Dodgers in the World Series.

27 Whitaker remained the youngest winner of the AL Rookie of the Year Award until Mike Trout won it in 2012. Whitaker had 21 voting points, while Molitor had only 3.

28 Whitaker compiled 75.1 bWAR in his career. As of 2026, Trammell was fifth in Tigers history with 70.6 bWAR.