Deacon White

At 91 years old, Deacon White physical status not available right now. We will update Deacon White's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

White learned baseball from a Union soldier who returned to his hometown after the Civil War in 1865. His pro career began in 1868 with the Cleveland Forest Citys club, at a time when no team was entirely composed of professional players. He earned the first hit in baseball's first fully professional league – a double off Bobby Mathews of the Fort Wayne Kekiongas in the first inning of the first game in National Association history on May 4, 1871; he also made the first catch. His long career allowed him to play with many of the legendary figures of 19th-century professional baseball; White played on the great National Association Boston Red Stockings teams of the early 1870s, and also played with Cap Anson and Al Spalding in Chicago, King Kelly in Cincinnati, Dan Brouthers in Buffalo, and Ned Hanlon and Sam Thompson in Detroit, as well as Jake Beckley and Pud Galvin in Pittsburgh.

White led his league in batting average twice (including the NA in 1875), and in RBI three times (including the NA in 1873); not until 1953, when Roy Campanella topped the NL, would another catcher lead his league in RBI. White started out early enough to have played against the undefeated Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869, baseball's first all-professional team. He was considered the best barehanded catcher of his time, as well as one of the best third baseman during the second half of his career; his combined total of games caught in the NA and NL was eventually passed by Pop Snyder in 1881. On May 16, 1884 White recorded 11 assists at third base, which remains the major league record for a nine-inning game although eight other players have since tied the mark. In the rough-and-tumble 19th-century baseball era, White was a nonsmoking, Bible-toting, church-going deacon.

In 1889, the contracts of White and teammate Jack Rowe were sold to the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, but the pair refused to report unless they were paid additional money, leading to a protracted dispute. Eventually the two men were paid, with White telling a reporter, "We appreciate the money, but we ain't worth it. Rowe's arm is gone. I'm over 40 and my fielding ain't so good, though I can still hit some. But I will say this. No man is going to sell my carcass unless I get half." Complaints like this were part of the reason that the Players' League was formed in 1890.

According to historian Lee Allen in The National League Story (1961), White believed that the earth is flat. He tried and failed to convince his teammates that they were living on a flat plane and not a globe; they ridiculed him. Then one asked to be convinced, and the Deacon gave him an argument suited to the hypothesis that the earth is not really turning. He convinced the teammate but the argument would not prove that the earth is not a sphere.

White's playing career ended after the 1890 season. Over the 20-year period from 1871 to 1890, White batted .312 and had more RBI (988) than any player except Cap Anson, and also ranked fourth in career games (1,560), at bats (6,624), hits (2,067) and total bases (2,595). He also ended his career ranking fourth in major league history in games (826) and total chances (3,016) at third base, fifth in assists (1,618), and sixth in putouts (954) and double plays (118).

White managed the minor league club Elmira Gladiators of the New York–Pennsylvania League in 1891. He has been incorrectly credited with managing the McAlester Miners of the Oklahoma–Arkansas–Kansas League (1907) and the Tulsa Oilers of the Oklahoma–Kansas League (1908). Both teams were actually managed by Harry B. "Deacon" White.

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