#168 Sammy White - Boston Red Sox

Sammy Charles White
Boston Red Sox
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  195
Born:  July 7, 1927, Wenatchee, WA

Acquired:  Traded by Seattle (PCL) to the Boston Red Sox for 3 players to be named later and optional assignment of Windy McCall and John Hoffman, May 16, 1949
Major League Teams:  Boston Red Sox 1951-1959; Milwaukee Braves 1961; Philadelphia Phillies 1962

Died:  August 4, 1991, Princeville, HI (age 64)

An all-around athlete, Sammy White could have signed to play professional basketball with the Minneapolis Lakers, but was forbidden to do so by the team holding his baseball contract - the Red Sox.  With the Red Sox, White was the club's regular catcher and a fan favorite between 1952 and 1959, enjoying an All-Star season in 1953.  His best season came in 1954 when he batted .282 with career highs in both home runs (14) and RBIs (75).  White was known as a good fielding catcher with a strong arm.  He led all American League catchers with baserunners caught stealing in 1955 and 1956.  After nine seasons with the Red Sox, White was traded to the Indians on March 16, 1960, but he refused to report, opting to retire instead, and the three-player trade was voided.  White sat out the 1960 season, returning after a year off to play parts of the next two seasons as a back-up with the Braves and Phillies.

In 1,043 major league games, White batted .262 with 916 hits, 66 home runs and 421 RBIs.  His caught stealing percentage of 47.2% is currently 57th all-time.  White would go on to become a professional bowler and then a professional golfer, spending the last years of his life living in Hawaii close to his friend and former teammate Frank Sullivan (#71).

Building the Set

Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #18
This was one of the Original 44, and I recently re-told the story of how my Dad and I started collecting this set with the Ed Mathews (#107) post.  There were a lot of these Original 44 cards bunched together, meaning the original owner must have opened a few Series Two packs.  Seven of the Original 44 came from Series One, with 11 coming from Series Two.  This is the last of those 11, and first ten covered were Mathews, Yogi Berra (#110), Jim Brady (#126), Eddie Yost (#128), Willie Mays (#130), the Cardinals team card (#134), Johnny Logan (#136), Johnny Antonelli (#138), Harvey Kuenn (#155) and Red Schoendienst (#165).

The Card / Red Sox Team Set
At first, I assumed the catcher in the action shot was White but it appears to be yet another cameo by Yankees catcher Berra and White is the runner doing the face plant at home plate.  This card marks White's return to Topps sets after a two-year absence and exclusive appearances with Bowman in 1954 and 1955.  The cartoon panels on the back highlight his collegiate basketball career and his strong throwing arm.  The middle panel shows White scoring three times in one inning - a feat he accomplished on June 18, 1953, when the Red Sox scored 17 runs in the seventh inning at Fenway Park against the Tigers, and they'd go on to a 23-3 win.

If you're keeping score at home, this is the fifth card in the set with the red-orange color bar combination on the front.  Preceding White were Hal Smith (#62), Babe Birrer (#84), Jim Davis (#102) and Jake Martin (#129).

1956 Season

White was the Red Sox' opening day catcher, and he'd make 112 starts behind the plate during the season.  He batted .245 with five home runs and 44 RBIs, and he caught the no-hitter thrown by Mel Parnell on July 14th.

I first wrote about White's appearance in the Norman Rockwell painting The Rookie, back when I posted Sullivan's card.  On an off-day during the 1956 season, White, Sullivan and Jackie Jensen (#115) were told to take a drive to meet with who they were told was a photographer.  The photographer, who was actually famous painter Norman Rockwell, used the photographs he took that day as the basis of his painting, The Rookie, which appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post in March 1957.  Sullivan, who actually wore #18 at the time, is the player with the #8 peaking through on his back and White is shown to the far left holding a catcher's mitt.  In 2014, the original Rockwell painting sold for $22.5 million.

Phillies Career
White and Sullivan reunited briefly with the Phillies during the 1962 season.  White was signed prior to the season to serve as a veteran back-up to Clay Dalrymple.  White made 31 starts at catcher, and would ultimately lose additional playing time to Bob Oldis who served as Dalrymple's back-up during the final months of the season.  In 41 games, White batted .216 and appeared in his final big league game on August 23, 1962.  He was released by the Phillies following the season.

1952 Topps #345

1953 Topps #139

1954 Bowman #34

1957 Topps #163

1962 Topps #494

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Topps #345
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1952-1953, 1956-1960, 1962
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1991 Topps Archives 1953 #139

34 - White non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/19/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia