Bill White (first baseman) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bill White |
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| First baseman | |||
| Born: January 28, 1934 Lakewood, Florida, U.S. |
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| debut | |||
| May 7, 1956, for the New York Giants | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| September 24, 1969, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .286 | ||
| Home runs | 202 | ||
| Runs batted in | 870 | ||
| Teams | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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William "Bill" DeKova White (born January 28, 1934) is a former American professional baseball player. He was a first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bill White played for the New York / San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, and Philadelphia Phillies.
He was chosen for the All-Star team eight times. He also won the Gold Glove seven times for being a great defensive player. Bill White helped his team win the World Series in 1964.
After his playing career ended in 1969, Bill White became a sportscaster. He worked for the New York Yankees on TV and radio for 18 years. He was a play-by-play announcer and color analyst.
In 1989, Bill White was chosen to be the President of the National League. This was a very important job in baseball. He served as NL president until he retired in 1994.
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Bill White's Early Life and School
Bill White was born on January 28, 1934, in Lakewood, Florida. When he was three years old, his mother and grandmother moved to Warren, Ohio. They lived in a special housing area for Black families.
Bill's mother worked hard to support the family. His grandmother mostly raised him.
He graduated from Warren G. Harding High School in Warren, Ohio, in 1952. He was the president of his class and also the salutatorian. This means he was the second-highest-ranking student.
Because Bill was African American, the school principal changed a tradition. The class president usually danced with the prom queen. But that year, the prom queen was white, so the principal stopped the dance.
After high school, Bill went to Hiram College in Ohio from 1953 to 1955. He chose this school because it had a program for students who wanted to become doctors. In both high school and college, Bill played baseball, basketball, and football.
Bill White's Baseball Career
Bill White was noticed by the New York Giants baseball team. This happened while he was playing in a college tournament for Hiram College. He tried out for the Giants' manager, Leo Durocher.
The Giants first offered Bill $1,000 to sign with them. He wanted more money to help pay for college. The Giants then offered him $2,500, and he signed. He agreed to play baseball if he could still finish college.
He put his dream of becoming a doctor on hold. He wanted to see if he could make it to Major League Baseball in three or four years. He went back to college each year after playing minor league baseball. But by 1955, he focused only on baseball and did not finish college.
Playing in the Minor Leagues
In 1953, when Bill White was 19, he played for the Danville Leafs in Virginia. This was a Class-B team in the Carolina League. Bill White was the second Black American player in that league. He was the only Black player on his team.
Bill had a great year, hitting for a .298 batting average. He also hit 20 home runs, scored 99 runs, and had 84 runs batted in (RBI). He also stole 21 stolen bases.
However, fans in the league were very mean to Bill because of his race. He said it was the worst year of his life. One time, his teammates had to protect him with bats from a crowd throwing rocks.
In 1954, Bill played Single-A ball. He hit .319 with 30 home runs. He scored 120 runs and had 92 RBI. He also stole 40 bases. In 1955, he played Double-A ball. He hit .295 with 22 home runs, 88 runs scored, and 93 RBI. In 1956, he played 20 games in Triple-A before being called up to the Giants.
Playing in Major League Baseball
Bill White played in Major League Baseball for 13 seasons. He had a career batting average of .286. He hit 202 home runs and had 870 RBIs in 1,673 games.
Playing for the San Francisco Giants
In Bill White's first game with the Giants on May 7, 1956, he hit a home run. This happened in his very first major league at bat in the second inning. That year, White played 138 games as the Giants' first baseman. He hit .256 with 22 home runs.
He did not play in 1957 because he was serving in the military. Bill White rejoined the team in July 1958. By then, the Giants had moved to San Francisco. He only played in 26 games that year.
If he stayed with the Giants, Bill White would have to compete for his position. Two future Hall of Fame players, Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey, also played first base. On March 25, 1959, Bill White was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Playing for the St. Louis Cardinals
Bill White played for the Cardinals from 1959 to 1965. His batting average was never below .283 during these years. He hit over .300 four times.
He was chosen for the National League (NL) All-Star team every year except 1962. However, in 1962, he had his highest career batting average, which was .324. He also scored 93 runs and had 102 RBI. He won a Gold Glove at first base that year too.
His best year for hitting was in 1963. He had career highs with 200 hits, 106 runs scored, 27 home runs, and 109 RBIs. Bill White was a very steady player, especially from 1962 to 1964. During these three seasons, he had great and consistent numbers for hits, runs, home runs, and RBIs.
In the 1964 Cardinals championship season, Bill White was third in the league's MVP voting. This was for his great performance all season. However, he did not play as well in the World Series, hitting only .111.
Bill White was also a good baserunner. He stole 12 or more bases four times. He was one of the best defensive first basemen of his time. He won seven Gold Glove Awards in a row from 1960 to 1966.
He hit for the cycle on August 14, 1960. This means he hit a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game. He also hit three home runs in one game on July 5, 1961. In July 1961, Bill White tied a Major League record. He got 14 hits in two doubleheaders in a row.
Playing for the Philadelphia Phillies
On October 27, 1965, the Cardinals traded Bill White to the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1966, Bill White hit .276 with 22 home runs. He scored 85 runs and had 103 RBI in 159 games.
His numbers slowly went down in the next two seasons. This happened after he tore his Achilles Tendon in the off-season of 1966. The Phillies traded Bill White back to the Cardinals in April 1969. This was his final season playing baseball. He played in only 49 games that year.
Bill White's Broadcasting Career
While still playing for the Cardinals, Bill White got a sports show on KMOX radio in St. Louis. The Cardinals' sportscaster, Harry Caray, encouraged him to try it.
After he was traded to the Phillies in 1966, Bill White started working in TV. He pre-recorded a pre-game show for Phillies baseball games. During the off-season, he became a sportscaster for WFIL-TV. He was the first sports director for WFIL's "Action News" in 1970.
While in Philadelphia, Bill White became the first African-American to broadcast NHL games. He called several games for the Philadelphia Flyers.
In 1971, Bill White joined the New York Yankees' broadcast team. He called Yankee games from 1971 to 1988. He often worked with Phil Rizzuto and Frank Messer. Bill White did the team's broadcasts on both radio and television. He was the first regular Black play-by-play announcer for a major-league sports team.
On New York City radio, Bill White was heard on WMCA from 1971 to 1977. Then the Yankees moved their broadcasts to WINS. In 1981, the Yankee broadcast team moved to WABC. On television, Bill White worked with Rizzuto and Messer on WPIX.
Nationally, Bill White helped call several World Series for CBS Radio. He also did sports reports for the network. Bill White worked as a Monday Night Baseball announcer for ABC television in the late 1970s. He also did pre-game reports for ABC's World Series coverage in 1977.
WPIX, with its Rizzuto-Messer-White team, broadcast the ALCS in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, and 1981. This gave New York viewers a local option to watch the games. A famous moment with Bill White on play-by-play was Bucky Dent's three-run home run in 1978. This happened during a special playoff game between the Yankees and Red Sox.
Outside of baseball, Bill White also helped cover the Winter Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. The Yankee organization honored him in 1990. They gave him their "Pride of the Yankees Award" for his many years in broadcasting.
National League President and Retirement
Bill White was chosen to replace Bart Giamatti as National League president in 1989. He was chosen by a unanimous vote. This made him the first Black executive to hold such a high position in sports. He was NL president until 1994.
In his autobiography, he later shared that he worried about being just a figurehead. But he also said he achieved some of his goals for the job.
For several years after he retired from the NL, Bill White was part of the Veterans Committee. This committee helps choose who gets into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2011, Bill White released his autobiography called Uppity: My Untold Story About the Games People Play.
On May 22, 2020, Bill White was chosen for the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame. He was inducted along with Tom Herr and John Tudor.
Bill White's Personal Life
Before Bill White joined the US Army, he married his high school sweetheart, Mildred Hightower. They got married on November 20, 1956. They had five children together before they divorced in the 1980s. Bill White now lives in Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania.
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
