White is one of only three MLB players, along with
Ron Washington and
U L Washington, who were products of the
Royals Academy. Though initially disliked by Kansas City fans because he displaced the popular
Cookie Rojas at
second base, he went on to set a major-league
record jointly with teammate
George Brett, by appearing in 1,914 games together. The record stood until 1995, when it was broken by the
Detroit Tigers'
Alan Trammell and
Lou Whitaker. in 1980 A smooth
fielder, White was a five-time
All-Star. He won the
Gold Glove Award eight times, including six consecutive seasons from 1977 to 1982. In 1977, he played 62 consecutive
errorless games. In 1980, White was awarded the inaugural
American League Championship Series MVP award in the
1980 ALCS against the
New York Yankees, leading the Royals to their first
World Series appearance. Although in his early years he was a singles hitter who contributed little to the Royals'
run column, White improved markedly as an
offensive player during his career, hitting 22
home runs two years in a row, in 1985 and 1986. Since the
1985 World Series was played without the
designated hitter, White hit
cleanup during that series, in place of
Hal McRae. Until White, the only other second baseman to hit cleanup in a World Series was
Jackie Robinson. In the
1986 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, his solo home run in the seventh off
Mike Scott was the deciding run in a 3–2 American League victory. White retired as a player in 1990, after 18 seasons with Kansas City, having played 2324 regular season games with a .255 average, 160 home runs and 886
RBIs. Defensively, White posted a .984
fielding percentage at second base and .983 fielding percentage overall. He also
hit for the cycle twice in his major league career, on September 26, 1979, in a 4–0 victory over the
California Angels and on August 3, 1982, in a 6–5 win over the
Detroit Tigers. ==Post-playing career==