1976 Topps #225 - Roy White

• Roy White played his entire major league with the New York Yankees from 1965-1979. Roy was known throughout his career as a consistent and steady ballplayer.

• He played in the Yankees system from 1962-1965 and earned a late season call-up after batting .300 with double figures in 2B, 3B, and HR for AA Columbus. Roy batted .333 in 42 at bats at the end of the 1965 season for the Yankees.

• White struggled in 1966 -- he batted .225 in 115 games for the Yankees. In 1967 Roy started the season playing for AAA Spokane, which was an affiliate of the LA Dodgers. Apparently Roy was on loan from the Yankees. He came back to the Yankees in mid-July and batted .224 in 70 games.

• Roy was given the starting LF job in 1968 and had his first good season. In the pitching-dominated season White batted .267 with 17 homers and 62 RBI. He walked 73 times and stole 20 bases. Roy was 12th in AL MVP balloting.

• In 1969 White made his first of two AL All Star teams. He batted .290 and walked 81 times. Roy played in all 162 games in 1970 and made his second All Star team. He batted .296 and had career-highs in home runs (22) and RBI (94).

• White had another solid season in 1971 (.292, 19 HR, 84 RBI). In 1972 Roy led the AL with 99 walks. White had what was probably his worst season as a full-time player in 1973. He played in all 162 games and led the AL in at bats, but he batted only .246 and had an on base percentage of .329. In 1974 Roy bounced back with a .275 average as he split time between left field and DH.

• Roy had a good year in 1975 (.290 batting average, .372 on base percentage). In 1976 White helped the Yankees to their first AL pennant since 1964 by leading the AL in runs (104) and batting .286 with 31 stolen bases. Here is a June 1976 Baseball Digest about White. The 1977 season was White's last one as a full-time player. He dropped to a .268 batting average and batted only twice in the World Series. The DH wasn't used that year and Lou Piniella played in Roy's usual LF spot.

• White batted .269 in 103 games in 1978 but batted well in the American League Championship Series. He batted .316 in the ALCS lifetime. He also had a good World Series, batting .333 in 24 at bats. Here is a "Game I'll Never Forget" Baseball Digest article from 1987 in which Roy talks about the '78 World Series.

• The 1979 season, Roy's last as a major leaguer, was a rough one. He played in only 81 games and batted .215. Except for a two week period in May there aren't any significant gaps in his playing time. It just looks like he was slowing down. Here is an April 1979 Baseball Digest article about Roy. After the season he was granted free agency and decided to sign with the Tokyo Giants in the Japanese league. He played for the Giants from 1980-1982.

• After returning from Japan, Roy coached with the Yankees for a few years in the mid-1980s. He also had a stint as the hitting coach for the Oakland A's. He recently established the Roy White Foundation, designed to help children and young adults in the New York area attend college.

• Here is a May 2009 WGBB audio interview with Roy.
• Liked to face: Mickey Lolich (.314, 7 HR in 118 AB) and Sonny Siebert (.354 in 65 AB)
• Hated to face: Mike Cuellar (.218 in 87 AB) and Jim Kaat (.141 in 85 AB)