Frank White is a former baseball player who spent 18 years with the Kansas City Royals.
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.
White 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.
Frank White's career highlights and awards:
5× All-Star (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1986)
World Series champion (1985)
ALCS MVP (1980)
8× Gold Glove Award (1977–1982, 1986, 1987)
Silver Slugger Award (1986)
Kansas City Royals No. 20 retired
Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame
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