Sammy White

Sammy Charles White

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 195 lb.
• School University of Washington
• High School Lincoln High School (Seattle)
• Debut September 26, 1951
• Final Game August 19, 1962
• Born July 7, 1928 in Wenatchee, WA USA
• Died September 4, 1991 in Princeville, HI USA

BR page

Biographical Information

6' 3" Sammy White was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before the 1949 season. The 21-year-old catcher spent three years in the minors (1949-1951) never returning, and then the balance of his baseball career was in the major leagues. Sammy is the only player in big league history since 1900 to score three runs in one inning when he crossed the plate three times in the Red Sox's record 17-run inning in a 23-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on June 18, 1953.

Sammy was the Red Sox catcher in over 100 games for eight straight seasons from 1952 to 1959. He hit .281 as a rookie in 1952 and a career-high .284 in his final year with the Red Sox in 1959, but had his most productive year at the plate in 1954 when he hit .282 with career highs in home runs with 14 and RBIs with 75.

Sammy was an outstanding defensive receiver who led the American League in assists from behind the plate for four straight years from 1953 to 1956. His 967 games as a Red Sox catcher stood as the franchise record until broken by Carlton Fisk during the 1980 season.

Sammy could be a character on the field. On June 11, 1952, he hit a grand slam home run off Satchel Paige of the St. Louis Browns and completed his trip around the bases by crawling from third base to home, then kissing the plate. White went on the voluntarily retired list after the 1959 season, but returned for two more years in a backup role for the Milwaukee Braves in 1961 and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1962, before concluding his eleven-year run with a lifetime .262 average.

After baseball, White returned to the Boston area and owned a bowling alley in Brighton, MA, before later joining his Red Sox batterymate, Frank Sullivan, in Hawaii. He was a golf pro at the Hanalei golf course in Princeville, HI, where he died September 4, 1991, at age 64.

Notable Achievements

• AL All-Star (1953)

Records Held

• Runs, inning, 3, 6/18/53, 7th inning (tied)

Sources

Baseball Players of the 1950s

Further Reading

• Herb Crehan and Frank Sullivan: "Sammy White", in Mark Armour and Bill Nowlin, eds.: Red Sox Baseball in the Days of Ike and Elvis: The Red Sox of the 1950s, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2012, pp. 132-140. ISBN 978-1933599243

Related Sites

• Sammy White at the SABR Bio Project
• BR Minors page