Devon White (baseball)

Devon White
Center fielder
Born: December 29, 1962 (1962-12-29) (age 48) Kingston, Jamaica
Batted: Switch	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 2, 1985 for the California Angels
Last MLB appearance
October 5, 2001 for the Milwaukee Brewers
Career statistics
Batting average	.263
Home runs	208
Runs batted in	846
Teams
California Angels (1985–1990) Toronto Blue Jays (1991–1995) Florida Marlins (1996–1997) Arizona Diamondbacks (1998) Los Angeles Dodgers (1999–2000) Milwaukee Brewers (2001)
Career highlights and awards
3× All-Star selection (1989, 1993, 1998) 3× World Series champion (1992, 1993, 1997) 7× Gold Glove Award winner (1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995)

Devon Markes White (born Devon Markes Whyte^[1] on December 29, 1962), nicknamed "Devo", is a former Major League Baseball center fielder, best known for his defensive ability at that position. He is currently an outfield coordinator for the Chicago White Sox.

Early life

He was born as Devon Whyte in Kingston, Jamaica. When his family immigrated to the United States when he was nine years old, the paperwork had their family name misspelled as "White". His last name was legally changed back to its original spelling in 2003 at the behest of his children, but throughout his baseball playing career, he was known as "Devon White" and continues to sign autographs with that spelling.^[1] His daughter, Davellyn Whyte, plays basketball at the University of Arizona.

Baseball career

California Angels

White was drafted by the California Angels in the 6th round of the 1981 draft. He made his major league debut in the late stages of the 1985 season for California, but he did not establish himself as a major leaguer until 1987, when he played a full season and hit with power and ran the basepaths with speed. In fact, he hit 24 home runs and stole 32 bases that season. In 1988, only his second full season, he won his first of seven Gold Gloves.

Toronto Blue Jays

On December 2, 1990, he was traded with Willie Fraser and Marcus Moore to the Toronto Blue Jays for Junior Félix and Luis Sojo.

White won two World Series and five Gold Gloves with the Toronto Blue Jays. With a .336 batting average in his post-season career for the Blue Jays, compared to a .270 regular season average with Toronto, White consistently upped his game to help Toronto reach playoff success.

In Game 3 of the 1992 World Series against the Atlanta Braves, White was the central part of one of the most famous plays in World Series history. With David Justice batting and runners on first and second base, Justice hit a fly ball which White chased down and caught while jumping into the wall. White then threw the ball to second baseman Roberto Alomar who threw to John Olerud at first to try to double up Terry Pendleton, but Pendleton had already been called out for running past Deion Sanders. Olerud promptly threw it to Kelly Gruber who chased down Sanders, diving and clipping him on the heel with his glove. However the umpire did not see the tag, and called Sanders safe, which cost the Jays the second triple play in World Series history.^[2] After the game, the umpire watched the replay and admitted he missed the call. Many people who saw White's famous catch and throw have positively compared it to Willie Mays' famous catch in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, often claiming that White's effort was more impressive. In Game 6 of the Series, White was one of the two runs that scored on Dave Winfield's 11th-inning double to left field, which eventually won the World Championship for the Blue Jays. White scored the tying run on Joe Carter's series winning three run home run in game six of the 1993 World Series.

Later years: Florida Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks

After the 1995 season, White signed with the Florida Marlins and won another World Series in 1997, despite a poor performance - he only hit .215 in the playoffs that year. He later played with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Milwaukee Brewers before retiring in 2002.

See also

• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Bob Elliott. "White or Whyte, he's still Devo". Toronto Sun. http://www.torontosun.com/2011/05/09/white-or-whyte-hes-still-devo. Retrieved May 10, 2011. 
2. ^ "White's catch ranks among all–time best". Star-Banner (AP): p. 4C. 22 October 1992. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1awTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dQcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6661,662657&dq=baseball+devon-white+triple-play&hl=en. Retrieved 4 June 2010. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Video of White's 1992 World Series catch

Persondata
Name	White, Devon
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1962-12-29
Place of birth	Kingston, Jamaica
Date of death
Place of death