Devon White

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Devon Markes White, aka "Devo", (born December 29, 1962 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a former Major League Baseball center fielder, best known for his defensive ability at that position.

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. On December 2, 1990, he was traded with Willie Fraser and Marcus Moore to the Toronto Blue Jays for Junior Felix 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 Blue Jays 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 John Olerud at first and 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 didn't see the tag, and called Sanders safe, which cost the Jays the second triple play in World Series history. 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.

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.

[edit] External link

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis