William DeKova White (born January 28, 1934) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York / San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, and Philadelphia Phillies. He was an eight-time All-Star and seven-time Gold Glove winner who earned a championship as a top contributor in the World Series.
White became a full-time sportscaster after his playing career ended in 1969 and was the play-by-play man and color analyst for New York Yankees television and radio broadcasts for 18 years.
In 1989, White was elected President of the National League to replace Bart Giamatti, who succeeded Peter Ueberroth as Commissioner. White served as NL president until he retired in 1994.
Early life and education
White was born on January 28, 1934, in Lakewood, Florida. When White was 3, his mother and grandmother moved to Warren, Ohio, where they lived in a segregated housing project. White's mother worked to support the family, and he was raised by his grandmother.
White graduated from Warren G. Harding High School in Warren, Ohio in 1952, and was both president and salutatorian of his class. While he returned to college each year after playing minor league baseball, in 1955 his focus turned completely to baseball, and White did not finish college. White had an excellent year, with a .298 batting average, 20 home runs, 99 runs scored, 84 runs batted in (RBI), and 21 stolen bases. However, the league's fans subjected White to a level of racial abuse and invective than he had never experienced before, and he called it the worst year of his life. On one occasion, his teammates had to protect him "behind a shield of bats" from a rock-throwing crowd in Burlington, North Carolina. White played 138 games that year as the Giants first baseman, hitting .256 with 22 home runs. He did not play in 1957, due to military service. the 1958 Rookie of the Year, and up and coming future Hall of Fame first baseman Willie McCovey.
St. Louis Cardinals
White played for the Cardinals from 1959 through 1965, never hitting below .283, and surpassing .300 four times.
His best statistical year came in 1963 when he posted career highs with 200 hits, 106 runs scored, 27 home runs, and 109 RBIs.
A capable baserunner, White stole 12 or more bases four times. and once hit three home runs in a game, on July 5, 1961 against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Also in July 1961, White tied Ty Cobb's 49-year Major League record by collecting 14 hits in consecutive doubleheaders, both against the Chicago Cubs at Sportsman's Park, going 4-for-5 in both games on July 17 and 3-for-4 in both games the very next day. Ironically, the first doubleheader was played on the same day Cobb died and 49 years to the day after Cobb collected eight hits to begin his feat.
Philadelphia Phillies
On October 27, 1965, the Cardinals traded White, Dick Groat and Bob Uecker to Philadelphia Phillies for Pat Corrales, Art Mahaffey and Alex Johnson. White did the team's broadcasts on both radio and television during most of that stretch. White was the first regular black play-by-play announcer for a major-league sports team. He served as NL president through 1994.
For several years, beginning just after his retirement from the NL, White was a member of the Veterans Committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame. White was important in the selection of former Yankees' shortstop Phil Rizzuto to the Hall of Fame. White, along with fellow newcomers to the committee Yogi Berra (a longtime Rizzuto teammate), and Rizzuto's top rival and stand-out shortstop for the perennial pennant-winning NL Brooklyn Dodgers, Pee Wee Reese, were noted for having helped swing the vote in favor of the Yankee shortstop's candidacy during their first year on the committee.
Honors
On May 22, 2020, White was elected to the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame along with Tom Herr and John Tudor.
The Yankee organization showed their appreciation following his years in the broadcast booth when they selected him to receive their Pride of the Yankees Award in 1990.
Personal life
Before White was inducted into the US Army, he married his high school sweetheart, Mildred Hightower, on November 20, 1956. They would have five children before they divorced in the 1980s. White currently resides in Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania.
In 2011, White released his autobiography entitled Uppity: My Untold Story About the Games People Play.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball players with a home run in their first major league at bat
- List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle