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William DeKova White
St. Louis Cardinals
First Base
Born: January 28, 1934, Lakewood, FL
Signed: Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent before 1953 season
Major League Teams: New York Giants 1956; San Francisco Giants 1958; St. Louis Cardinals 1959-1965; Philadelphia Phillies 1966-1968; St. Louis Cardinals 1969
Bill White found his greatest success as a player with the Cardinals in the early 1960s, earning a spot on eight National League All-Star teams. He drove in over 100 runs in four different seasons, and was one of the top first baseman in the league between 1961 and 1966, batting .297 and averaging 22 home runs and 96 RBIs over that period. White reached career highs in home runs (27) and RBIs (109) in 1963, and he helped the Cardinals win their World Championship in 1964. A fine fielder as well, White won seven Gold Gloves. For his career, White batted .286 with 202 home runs and 870 RBIs.
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| 1967 Phillies Yearbook |
Building the Set
December 25, 2020 from Belvedere, IL - Card #201
This is one of 32 cards (mostly commons) I received from Jenna and our sons on Christmas morning, as I was asked to do some surrogate shopping on their behalf and I gladly obliged. I generally went hunting for first series cards, but this is one of several later series cards that snuck into my eBay cart. This White card was $1.50 and was one of 11 cards I added from eBay seller mavmil from Belvedere, Illinois.
This is one of 32 cards (mostly commons) I received from Jenna and our sons on Christmas morning, as I was asked to do some surrogate shopping on their behalf and I gladly obliged. I generally went hunting for first series cards, but this is one of several later series cards that snuck into my eBay cart. This White card was $1.50 and was one of 11 cards I added from eBay seller mavmil from Belvedere, Illinois.
The Card / Cardinals Team Set
White was honored with a lower-tier hero number (a vintage Topps card ending in "0") as he was one of the stars of the National League at the time. The home run referenced on the back of the card came on May 7, 1956 against White's future team, the Cardinals. Batting sixth for the Giants and playing first base in his big league debut, White led off the top of the 2nd with a home run to deep right field off St. Louis pitcher Ben Flowers. White, at card #43, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of four Cardinals in the set. He's also in the harder to find 1965 Topps Transfers insert set.
1965 Season
White's production fell off a little after the World Series Championship season of 1964, although he was arguably the team's offensive MVP. Still the Cardinals' regular first baseman, White appeared in 148 games and batted .289 with 24 home runs and 73 RBIs. His home run total led the team, with Ken Boyer (#100) and Curt Flood (#415) driving in more runs with 75 and 83 respectively. The Cardinals entered a youth movement following the season and White, along with Dick Groat (#275) and Bob Uecker (#519), was traded to the Phillies on October 27th for Pat Corrales (#107), Alex Johnson (#352) and Art Mahaffey (#446).
White was the Phillies' opening day first baseman in 1966 and he enjoyed his last big season. In 159 games, he batted .276 with 22 home runs and 103 RBIs. Only Dick Allen (#460), with 40 home runs and 110 RBIs was ahead of him in both power categories. White suffered a torn Achilles tendon while playing paddle ball and was limited to 110 games in 1967 with his average dropping to .250. He slumped further in 1968, batting .239 with 9 home runs and 40 RBIs over 127 games and losing playing time at first base to either John Briggs (#163) or Rick Joseph. In three seasons with the Phillies, White appeared in 396 games, batting .258 with 39 home runs and 176 RBIs. On April 3, 1969, he was traded back to the Cardinals for Jerry Buchek (#397) and Jim Hutto.
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First Mainstream Card: 1959 Topps #359
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1959-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Upper deck All-Time Heroes #65
106 - White non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/14/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #189 3rd Series Checklist 177-264
Next Card: #191 Phil Regan - Detroit Tigers
The day before the 1967 season, the Phils signed Tito Francona to back up Tony Taylor, who was the regular first baseman for the first month or so in White's absence. When White returned, Francona was let go.
ReplyDeleteWhen Dick Allen missed the final 6 weeks of the '67 season, Taylor became the 3rd baseman, with Rick Joseph called up for depth.