Robert V. Whitlow

Whitlow was born in Calwa, California on November 7, 1918, to Victor and Elizabeth (née Drenth) Whitlow.[1] He attended Fairfax High School and the University of California, Los Angeles.[2] Whitlow then went on to the United States Military Academy, where he earned letters in football as a tackle, baseball as a pitcher, and basketball.[1][2] On October 13, 1942, he pitched five innings as the starter against the New York Giants, and when he was removed from the game, the score was a 2–2 stalemate.[1] He started again on May 27 against Navy, and helped Army to a 10–3 win, its first of the series since 1914.[1] Whitlow earned his pilot wings as a first class cadet (senior), and was assigned to heavy bombers because of his large stature after graduating in January 1943.[1]

Whitlow in front of his P-51D, "Hi Nell".

Whitlow served in the Second World War and saw aerial combat, initially as a B-24 Liberator pilot with the 458th Bombardment Group.[1] He later piloted P-51 Mustangs on reconnaissance missions with the Eighth Air Force Scouting Group.[1] In 1944, The Los Angeles Times reported on one of his aerial engagements in which he shot down a German Focke-Wulf 190 fighter.[3] All told, he logged 550 combat hours over the course of one bomber and three fighter tours, and destroyed eight enemy aircraft.[1] Whitlow received the Silver Star, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, and eight Air Medals.[1]

In the late 1940s, Major Whitlow served as an assistant coach for the Army football team at the United States Military Academy.[4] In 1947, while assigned to the Air Staff at the Pentagon, Whitlow was selected for an officer exchange with the Mexican military academy, El Colegio Militar de Mexico. His duties there included coaching the Mexican cadets in football.[1] Whitlow guided a Mexican team to victory against an American team from Randolph Air Force Base, which included Doc Blanchard and Arnold Tucker, in a December game he organized in Mexico City called the "Silver Bowl".[1][4] He was awarded the Mérito Militar de Mexico.[1]

Whitlow retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1963 at the rank of colonel,[8] and was appointed as "athletic director" of the Chicago Cubs baseball club.[9] The position was created as part of the College of Coaches experiment, and outranked general manager John Holland. The unique arrangement was widely ridiculed by people associated with the franchise.[10] One of his contributions was the installation of weight training equipment in the team's clubhouse, an uncommon practice at the time.[11] Less well-received was his construction of a batter's background screen which doubled the height of the barrier and was derided as "Whitlow's wall". Whitlow remained with the organization for two years.[12]

In the 1980s, Whitlow was the president of the "Arizona Firebirds", a group of investors that sought to bring a National Football League expansion franchise to Phoenix.[13] In 1984, commenting on widespread speculation that the Philadelphia Eagles would relocate to Arizona, Whitlow said, "Until they're actually here, I won't accept it ... I'm really very surprised that anything is this close, especially because they don't have their own place to play. This doesn't seem very wise from the Eagles' point of view."[14] Whitlow also owned the Phoenix Roadrunners minor league hockey team.[15]

Whitlow died on July 11, 1997, at his summer home in Harbor Point, Michigan.[1]