Highlighted Year: Bill White, 1962

First Baseman, St. Louis Cardinals

Age: 28

4^th season with Cardinals

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 6’0”    Weight: 185 

Prior to 1962:

Born in Florida near the Alabama border, White moved with his mother to Warren, Ohio, at age three. He lettered in football and basketball, as well as baseball, at Warren G. Harding High School. Having graduated second in his class, he was offered an academic scholarship to attend Hiram College where he drew the attention of major league scouts although he later insisted he was only an average player. He turned down a bonus offer from the Pittsburgh Pirates to continue his college studies, but when the New York Giants offered to pay his college costs , he signed with them. Assigned to Danville of the Class B Carolina League in 1956, the 19-year-old first baseman and occasional outfielder faced substantial racism but batted .298 with 25 doubles, 20 home runs, 84 RBIs, 21 stolen bases, a .369 on-base percentage, and a .465 slugging percentage. A line-drive hitter with power and speed, White advanced to Sioux City of the Class A Western League in 1954 where he hit .319 with 30 doubles, 9 triples, 20 home runs, 92 RBIs, 40 stolen bases, a .407 OBP, and a .560 slugging percentage. White’s next minor league stop was with the Dallas Eagles of the Class AA Texas League where he batted .295 with 18 doubles, 22 home runs, 93 RBIs, 18 stolen bases, a .384 OBP, and a .478 slugging percentage. Due to his playing winter ball in the offseason, he didn’t return to Hiram College and never completed his degree, much to his family’s disappointment. White started the 1956 season with Minneapolis of the Class AAA American Association but was called up to the Giants in May. Making 138 starts at first base for the Giants the rest of the way, he batted .256 with 23 doubles, 7 triples, 22 home runs, 59 RBIs, 15 stolen bases, a .321 OBP, and a .459 slugging percentage. Following his promising rookie season, White found himself drafted into the Army. Missing all of 1957 and the first half of the 1958 season, he returned to a club that had relocated to San Francisco and had a new star at first base in Orlando Cepeda. Relegated to backup duty he appeared in 36 games and hit .241 with one home run and 4 RBIs. With another promising young first baseman in Willie McCovey in the pipeline, White became a prime candidate to be traded. In the spring of 1959 he was dealt to the Cardinals. With two other lefthanded-hitting first basemen in veterans Stan Musial and Joe Cunningham to compete against, White played much of the season out of position in left field, where his bat produced a .302 average with 33 doubles, 9 triples, 12 home runs, 72 RBIs, a .344 OBP, and a .470 slugging percentage. He was an All-Star for the first time. Moved back to first base during the 1960 season, he was awarded his first Gold Glove for his defensive excellence while hitting .283 with 27 doubles, 10 triples, 16 home runs, 79 RBIs, a .334 OBP, and a .455 slugging percentage. White continued his rise in 1961, batting .286 with 28 doubles, 11 triples, 20 home runs, 90 RBIs, a .354 OBP, and a .472 slugging percentage. He was an All-Star for the third straight year and received another Gold Glove for his defense.

1962 Season Summary

Appeared in 159 games

1B – 146, RF – 19, LF – 8, PH – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 682 [13]

At Bats – 614 [12]

Runs – 93 [17]

Hits – 199 [4, tied with Dick Groat]

Doubles – 31 [4, tied with Vada Pinson & Leo Cardenas]

Triples – 3

Home Runs – 20

RBI – 102 [9]

Bases on Balls – 58

Int. BB – 6 [19, tied with six others]

Strikeouts – 69

Stolen Bases – 9

Caught Stealing – 7 [11, tied with eleven others]

Average - .324 [4]

OBP - .386 [7]

Slugging Pct. - .482 [17]

Total Bases – 296 [7, tied with Johnny Callison]

GDP – 11

Hit by Pitches – 6 [13, tied with six others]

Sac Hits – 1

Sac Flies – 3 

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 12, HR – 15, RBI – 61, AVG - .275, OBP – .350, SLG – .472

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 4 AB) vs. Pittsburgh 5/23, (in 5 AB) vs. Chi. Cubs 7/17, (in 5 AB) vs. Houston 8/3, (in 5 AB) at NY Mets 8/18

Longest hitting streak – 15 games

HR at home – 12

HR on road – 8

Most home runs, game – 1 on twenty occasions

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 3 on twelve occasions

Pinch-hitting – 0 for 1 (.000)

Fielding

Chances – 1324

Put Outs – 1221

Assists – 94

Errors – 9

DP – 114

Pct. - .993

Awards & Honors:

Gold Glove

13^th in NL MVP voting, tied with Felipe Alou SF (10 points – 4% share)

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The Cardinals went 84-78 to finish sixth in the NL, 17.5 games behind the pennant-winning San Francisco Giants, while leading the league in fewest triples (31). The Cardinals got off to a solid 11-4 start in April and contended into May when a 3-9 stretch dropped them into fourth. A brief hot streak gave way to another poor stretch and they were at .500 (24-24) by June 3. A strong June lifted the club to fourth, where they stayed until July 22, but the inconsistent team entered September in fifth place, when an eight-game losing streak mired them in sixth place to stay, although they finished the season with a four-game West Coast winning streak that affected the pennant race.

Aftermath of 1962

The Cardinals contended in 1963 and White was part of an infield that started for the NL in the All-Star game along with 2B Julian Javier, SS Dick Groat, and 3B Ken Boyer. He went on to bat .304 with 200 hits, 26 doubles, 8 triples, 27 home runs, 109 RBIs, a .360 OBP, and a .491 slugging percentage. He solidified his reputation as the National League’s best fielding first baseman by winning a fourth straight Gold Glove. The Cardinals got off to a slow start in 1964, and White, who typically started strong but was prone to slowing down in the second half, was part of the disappointing first half. He came on strong as the club surged down the stretch to win the pennant and finished at .303 with 37 doubles, 21 home runs, 102 RBIs, a .355 OBP, and a .474 slugging percentage (.545 after the All-Star break). His batting was negligible during the World Series against the New York Yankees until the decisive seventh game when he contributed two hits and scored a run to help St. Louis win a championship. Finishing third in league MVP voting, White was once again a Gold Glove recipient. By this point he was also recognized as a forthright voice on the state of black players in baseball. The Cardinals dipped in the standings in 1965 although White batted .289 with 26 doubles, 24 home runs, 73 RBIs, a .364 OBP, and a .481 slugging percentage. The club sought to retool in the offseason and White was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies along with shortstop Dick Groat and catcher Bob Uecker for outfielder Alex Johnson, RHP Art Mahaffey, and catcher Pat Corrales. He started the 1966 season slowly at bat but was typically stellar in the field. His offense picked up and he ended up hitting .276 with 23 doubles, 6 triples, 22 home runs, 103 RBIs, a .352 OBP, and a .451 slugging percentage. In the offseason he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in a gym mishap and missed the first part of the 1967 season. Limited to 110 games, his performance was below par as he batted .250 with 8 home runs, 33 RBIs, and a .359 OBP. Following a decent first month in 1968, White went on to hit only .239 with 16 doubles, 9 home runs, 40 RBIs, and a .309 OBP. Dealt back to the Cardinals in 1969, he was primarily a backup first baseman and pinch-hitter who appeared in 49 games and batted .211 with a .338 OBP in his last season. For his major league career, White batted .286 with 1706 hits that included 278 doubles, 65 triples, and 202 home runs. He scored 843 runs and compiled 870 RBIs, a .351 OBP, and a .455 slugging percentage. With the Cardinals he batted .298 with 627 runs scored, 1241 hits, 209 doubles, 48 triples, 140 home runs, 631 RBIs, a .357 OBP, and a ..472 slugging percentage. The 1964 World Series marked his only postseason action. An eight-time All-Star, he received seven Gold Gloves for defensive excellence at first base. He twice finished in the top 10 in NL MVP voting and was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2020. Following his playing career, White went into broadcasting and became play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees in 1971, which made him the first African-American to hold such a position for a major league team. After leaving the Yankees he continued in broadcasting until he was named president of the National League in 1989, also a first for an African-American, a position he held until 1994. In 2026 he was awarded the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award “for extraordinary efforts to enhance baseball’s positive impact on society.”   

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.