Whitby was born in Crewe, Virginia; he stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 190 pounds (86 kg).

Whitby's MLB audition occurred in the middle of his fourth season in pro baseball.

He made four appearances as a relief pitcher, three against the Cleveland Indians and one against the Detroit Tigers.

During his minor league career, which lasted for ten seasons, nine of them in the Minnesota farm system, he reached double digits in wins three times.

This biographical article relating to an American baseball pitcher born in the 1940s is a stub.