Sammy White (baseball)

Samuel Charles White (July 7, 1928 - August 5, 1991) was a Major League Baseball catcher and right-handed batter who played with the Boston Red Sox (1951-59), Milwaukee Braves (1961) and Philadelphia Phillies (1962).

White was born in Wenatchee, Washington. He was a solid defensive catcher, with a good arm and the ability to get the most out of a Boston pitching staff teams that include Mel Parnell, Ellis Kinder, Bill Monbouquette, Mike Fornieles and Frank Sullivan.

An All-Star in 1953, White enjoyed his best season with the bat in 1954, hitting .282 with 14 home runs and 75 runs batted in.

After nine productive years in Boston, White was traded to the Cleveland Indians just before the outset of the by|1960 season. But White balked at the trade (even though Cleveland was a pennant contender and the Red Sox were an also-ran at the time) and retired, sitting out the season. Granted his release, he played for the Braves in 1961, and finished his career with Philadelphia one year later, playing for a former Bosox teammate, skipper Gene Mauch. In eleven seasons, he was a career .262 hitter with 66 homers and 421 RBI in 1043 games.

Sammy White had 4 Professional Sporting Careers in his life. An All American College Basketball player at the University of Washington, he also played AAA with the Seattle Rainiers. the Boston Red Sox signed him in 1949. After the season ended in 49, the Minneapolis Lakers asked Sammy to play basketball. The Boston Red Sox were furious and told Sammy he could not do that. During his career with the Red Sox, Sammy opened up a bowling alley "Sammy White's Brighton Bowl", and during that time became a Professional Bowler. After baseball White moved to Hanalei Kauai, where he became a Professional Golfer for the "Princeville" organization. He retired there.

White later owned the Sammy White's Brighton Bowl bowling alley. Sammy White died in Princeville, Hawaii at the age of 63.

Highlights
* "All-Star" (1953)
* Became the only 20th-century player to score three runs in one inning (against Detroit, June 18, 1953)
* Made an unassisted double play (September 13, 1953)

Facts

* In a game against Cleveland, White ruined Bob Feller's no-hitter with a single in the 7th inning. Feller posted a 2-0 shutout and set a Major League record with his 12th one-hitter game (May 1, 1955)

* On June 24, 1955, Chicago White Sox shortstop Chico Carrasquel embarrassed White by catching him off the bag in the ninth inning with the hidden ball trick. Chicago won the game 3-2 (June 24, 1955).

Quotation
* "White steals more strikes from umpires than anyone else. I'm not being critical. I'm just bowing to his skill." - Casey Stengel, Yankees manager).

External links

*Sammy White at:
** [http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/whitesa02.shtml Baseball Reference]
** [http://members.tripod.com/bb_catchers/catchers/whites.htm Encyclopedia of MLB catchers]