1981 Donruss Didn't Give a Whit(t) if Ernie Could Hit

Though Babushka couldn't bare to watch

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1981 Donruss Ernie Whitt (#390) - Card of the Day

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It’s only about a two-hour drive from Detroit to St. Marys, Ontario, but sometimes the trip takes more than 30 years.

And the path between the two can have some gaps in it. Especially when you’re following the cardboard brick road.

Just ask Ernie Whitt.

Born in Detroit, Whitt went to high school in nearby Roseville, Michigan, and then attended Macomb Community College down the road in Warren.

He made enough noise on the diamond along the way to attract the interest of big league scouts, and the Red Sox drafted him in the 15th round in June 1972. Whitt then spent the next five summers honing his craft — catching and hitting, that is — in Boston’s minor league system.

Finally, in September of 1976, with the Sox all but eliminated in their bid to repeat as American League East champs, Whitt got the call to Fenway Park. In eight games with Boston down the stretch, he hit .222 with a homer and three RBI.

That was pretty much in line with Whitt’s minor league resume, which featured batting averages in the mid-.200s and sub-ten-homer power. He was developing a reputation as a capable backstop, though.

But any thoughts Whitt had of backing up Carlton Fisk in Beantown came to a screeching halt in November 1976. That’s when the sparkling new Toronto Blue Jays used the 34th overall pick in the expansion draft to pluck the young left-handed-hitting catcher away from the Red Sox.

That was good news for Whitt, since expansion teams tend to have a lot of playing time up for grabs. The bad news was that the Jays used a couple of their other picks to trade for fellow catchers Rick Cerone and Alan Ashby, which meant Whitt again had a tough road to a major league job.

He did get a few chances in 1977, though, appearing in 23 games for Toronto. His .171 average and nonexistent power didn’t cause much excitement, though, and he spent almost all of 1978 in the minors.

While Whitt was trying to forge a trail back to Toronto, he was already finding a way into collections across North America. That’s because Topps included him on their 1978 “Rookie Catchers” card (#708) that would become better known as the second Dale Murphy rookie card…or the Lance Parrish rookie card…or even the Bo Diaz rookie card.

For a lot of years, all Whitt brought to the popular pasteboard was a winning smile:

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And if collectors didn’t care a whit about the fourth-stringer on this card, they were probably even less inspired by his 1979 encore.

But after appearing in just two games for the Jays in 1978, and in the midst of a full season at Triple-A Syracuse the next summer, Whitt was once again in Topps wax packs. No smile this time, though, as the second catcher and anchor man on the black-and-white mugshot lineup of “1979 Blue Jays Prospects” (#714):

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With no big league at bats in 1979 and entering his age-28 season, Whitt came up empty in his quest for a third straight cardboard appearance in 1980. But things were looking up on the diamond, as he started to show a bit of pop at Syracuse, and even more so because the Blue Jays traded both Ashby and Cerone.

That sort of left an opening at catcher, and Whitt waltzed right through it.

He broke Spring Training with the big club, started behind the plate on Opening Day, and stayed in Toronto all summer long. When all was said and done, his rookie season included a .237 batting average, six home runs, and 34 RBI in 106 games played, but also favorable reviews for his defensive work.

And the next spring, collectors were flush with Whitt cardboard. He had arrived just in time to take advantage of the tripling of available card choices, and Topps and Fleer both issued solo cards of the soon-to-be 29-year-old.

He was a happy cavedweller on Topps #407:

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And a happy sun reflector on Fleer #411:

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But, really, the 1981 Donruss rookie card — or more accurately, First Donruss Card (FDC) — you see at the top of this post captures the 1981 versions of the Jays, baseball, the hobby, and Whitt himself better than any of the others.

Collectors were trying to figure out what kinds of cards they liked best (all of them!).

Card companies were trying to figure out how many cards to make and what they should look like.

Baseball was trying to avoid a strike (nice job!).

The Blue Jays were trying to figure out how to win games.

Whitt was trying to figure out how to hit.

And it all sort of came together right there on 1981 Donruss, card #390, where Whitt looks like he’s desperately trying to figure out what to do with a baseball bat. Or to keep it from impaling him.

And where Donruss demonstrates how to capture a player at his worst, in the darkest shadows in the stadium, with an unidentified lady in the background trying not to witness the debacle. Maybe it’s Babushka, hair finally loosed, attempting to avoid another infamous moment.

But hey, things were looking up.

Those 1980 Jays lost 95 games, but that was the first time they avoided dropping at least 102. And in all the seasons since, they’ve lost 95 only one other time (2019).

By 1983, Toronto was a winning team, and in 1985, they won their first division title. Whitt turned out to be a big part of their rise, appearing in 120 or more games every year from 1983 through 1989. He helped the pitching staff develop into one of the best in the game and even turned himself into an above-average force at the plate.

During his peak years, Whitt was good for a .250 batting average and 15-20 homers, along with 50-70 RBI. He also drew enough walks to get on base nearly a third of the time.

Alas, all good things come to an end (except the extended version of “Sunshine of Your Love” — there’s one rendition that’s been playing continuously in a bar outside of West Lafayette since 1998 with no end in sight…or earshot).

To wit (yes, I said it), the Jays traded Whitt and Kevin Batiste to the Braves in December of 1989 for Ricky Trlicek. Pat Borders was the man of the future behind Toronto’s dish, so Whitt was expendable.

After lost seasons with Atlanta and Baltimore, Whitt hung up his spikes in 1991. By 1994, though, he was part owner in a minor league team, and he soon embarked on a coaching and managerial career that would see him helm Team Canada for several years, spanning the 2004 Olympics, the 2011 and 2015 Pan Am Games, the 2011 World Cup, and multiple World Baseball Classic tournaments.

Whitt has also served as a catching instructor for the Blue Jays and Phillies, and as bench and first-base coach for the Jays.

And, in the middle of all that, Whitt found his way down the road to St. Marys. In 2009, he was elected into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame alongside Larry Walker.

All in all, not a bad baseball journey for a guy who took a while to get his shin pads under him…and to figure out how to hold a bat.

Today, Leo Ernest Whitt turns 73 years old.

1987 Donruss ‘The Rookies’ Billy Ripken Won’t Call You Names

Whitt’s very last big league appearance came as a pinch hitter for the Orioles in the bottom of the ninth inning in a game against the Tigers at Memorial Stadium on July 3, 1991.

With two outs and nobody on base, and with the O’s training 8-2, Baltimore manager Johnny Oates lifted second baseman Billy Ripken and brought in Whitt to face Detroit reliever Mark Leiter.

Leiter flied out to centerfielder Mike Devereaux to end the game.

No word on whether there was a 1989 Fleer Ripken card waiting for Whitt in the locker room to inform him of his fate. What we do know, though, is that infamous pasteboard was not Billy Rip’s first big league card.

That honor goes to his much more subdued 1987 Donruss The Rookies issue. Read all about that one right here.

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