"Roy White has been through it all. He came up through the Yankees' minor league system and became part of a team on its way down from the top. But White remains from those forgettable years, and 1976 and '77 made all the suffering worthwhile.
1976 saw the Yankees' elder statesman (this is his 13th full season) play on his first American League pennant winner, and 1977 saw him as part of the first Yankee World Championship club in 15 years.
Roy is among the top ten all-time Yankees in games (7th), at-bats (8th), hits (9th), doubles (10th) and stolen bases (2nd). Through the years consistency has marked his play, whether it be with the bat, in the field, or on the base paths.
More than that is Roy's reputation as a true gentleman. He was voted the 1976 Good Guy by the New York Baseball Writers and Press Photographers Association and is also held in very high regard by his teammates and the fans alike. Bright and personable, Roy resides in the metropolitan area and is a favorite on the banquet circuit.
Roy White is truly an asset to New York and the Yankees."
-The New York Yankees Official 1978 Yearbook
"The senior Yankee, joining the club in 1965, Roy is one of baseball's most highly respected players. He has moved into the top 10 of the all-time Yankee lists in games (7th), at-bats (8th), hits (9th), doubles (10th) and is second in stolen bases with 221, joining some immortal Yankee names in each category. After spending 11 non-winning years with the Yanks, Roy has now been on championship clubs the last two years.
One of the best left fielders in Yankee history, noted for his fence climbing heroics and great range, Roy is the only Yankee outfielder ever to field 1.000 for a season. With the exception of 1974, when he was primarily a designated hitter, left field has been his spot since reaching the majors. Roy was originally signed as an infielder, but Bobby Richardson's presence brought about the switch. Roy experimented at first base in spring training of 1975 but returned to left field once the season opened.
Roy came alive as a hitter while on option to Spokane in 1967, where he hit .343. He has switch-hit home runs in a game four times, though he's had only five multi-homer games in his career. He also once switch-hit triples in a game. Roy also set an American League record for sacrifice flies with 17 in 1971.
His longest hitting streak in the majors has been 11 games (1968 and 1974). He's never hit .300 but has been at .290 or better four times. Roy spent several seasons as the Yankee cleanup hitter. He has had five hits in a game twice and four in a game 11 times, including once last year against Oakland.
Roy stole home for the sixth time last season and led the American League in runs scored in 1976. He played 388 consecutive games from August 31, 1971 to May 21, 1974, and is twice an All-Star.
Roy hit in 10 straight games last year and hit safely in 18 of 19 games from April 18 to May 12, never going more than three games without a hit last year. He was the American League Player of the Week, May 2-8. Roy hit what might have been the most important Yankee home run of the year on June 24, a two-run shot off Bill Campbell tying the Red Sox at five, the Yankees winning 6-5 in the 11th. The win kept the Yanks from falling six games behind the Sox. The next day, Roy's fourth-inning single proved to be the game-winner as the Yanks topped the Sox again 5-1.
Roy was raised in Compton, California with such future big leaguers as Reggie Smith, Dock Ellis, Dave Nelson, Don Wilson and Bobby Tolan. A year-round resident of New Jersey, and a polished speaker who attends many functions in the winter, Roy had a bit part in a 1975 motion picture, The Premonition, playing a doctor."
-New York Yankees 1978 Media Guide
No comments:
Post a Comment