After the 1976 season, the Tigers assigned Whitaker to the Arizona Instructional League, where they converted him into a second baseman and paired him with shortstop Alan Trammell. In 1977, they both played for the Montgomery Rebels of the Double-A Southern League, Whitaker batting .280 during the season. The two were both promoted to the Major Leagues late in the 1977 season and had become starters for the Tigers by the end of April 1978. They would remain teammates until Whitaker retired in 1995. Trammell and Whitaker also made a cameo appearance together on the television show "Magnum, P.I." starring Tom Selleck, as themselves, during the 1983 season.