1969 Profile: Roy White

1969 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR
"Handed an unexpected starting job last season, Roy White made capital of it. Up and down with the Yankees over the past few years, Roy started 1968 on the bench. But when Joe Pepitone cracked a bone in his elbow, he got a chance to play. Immediately, he became the club's pacesetter and he wound up the campaign leading the Yankees in several key departments. He batted .267, collected 154 hits, 61 RBI's, 20 stolen bases and scored 89 runs.
A slightly built athlete, he's not known for hitting tape-measure homers, but Roy had enough sock to produce 17 circuits, one less than Mickey Mantle. He originally broke in as a second baseman but was found wanting defensively. That is why the Yankees have had difficulty finding a position for him."

-Jack Zanger, Major League Baseball 1969

"Ralph Houk's faith in Roy White was rewarded when the versatile switch-hitter finished Number One in almost all departments except bases on balls and home runs (led by Mickey Mantle).
Last year the Yankee Yearbook said of White: 'Roy has had his problems on defense, but as a switch-hitter and a fast man on the bases, he has assets that can add depth to the Yankee outfield.'
Roy answered that with a .997 fielding mark. During the whole season he made only one error - on a ball that most left fielders would not have been able to reach. On offense he finished with a .267 batting average. Without question White was the most improved player on the club. In fact, Manager Ralph Houk now considers him the best left fielder ever to play in Yankee Stadium.
Roy came to the Yankees in 1966 as a second baseman, was moved to the outfield, ran into problems with the bat and was optioned to the Dodgers' Spokane club. He hit his way back and was given injured Dick Howser's job at third. He never felt comfortable at the position. When Ralph Houk told him last spring to concentrate on the outfield, Roy became a new man. He started making plays he had never made before; he played the outfield as if he owned it. With his fielding worries behind him, he soon was the team's top hitter.
'I knew I wasn't a good third baseman,' says White, 'and it worried me, which affected my hitting.'
At one point in his first year he attempted to be a power hitter. He led the club for a while with six homers.
'I know now I'm not a home run hitter,' he said last year. 'I'll help the club by getting my share of hits doing what comes naturally.'
Roy has his identity problem all straightened out: He isn't a third baseman; he's a .997 outfielder. He isn't a power hitter; he's the Yankees' Number One man to do what comes naturally. (How did those 17 homers get in there?) Prediction: teamed with speedsters coming up, Roy can make the Yankees the fastest club in the league."

-The New York Yankees Official 1969 Yearbook

"After knocking on the door for two years, Roy White firmly established himself as a qualified big leaguer during the 1968 season.
He opened the 1966 season with the Yankees after receiving the Dawson Award during spring training. He started off well, hitting .300 for the first month of the season. Going for homers, however, seemed to affect his hitting as his average went down steadily. In 1967 he failed to make the trip north with the club. Roy was recalled on July 17 after hitting .343 at Spokane, but still did not hit with authority in the major leagues.
When Roy came to camp last year, manager Houk put him strictly in the outfield; heretofore he had been shifted between second base, the outfield and third base. This seemed to help his hitting as he led the Yankees in the following offensive categories: batting average (.267), runs (89), hits (154), doubles (20), triples (7), RBIs (62) and stolen bases (20), and he was second only to Mantle in homers with 17. Roy's fielding also improved immensely, as he committed only one error in 298 chances while playing left field, and had 14 assists.
Roy spent the off-season on Army duty and was due to be released in March."

-1969 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide

AABC GRADUATE OF THE YEAR
"Roy White, who completed his Army reserve duty on March 21, has been named Graduate of the Year 1968 by the American Amateur Baseball Congress, it was announced early this spring by Lincoln Hackim, AABC President. White, leading Yankee hitter last season, is a product of the California sandlots and played in the AABC's Connie Mack division before being signed by the Yankees."

-1969 New York Yankees Scorecard and Official Program