Frank White---1975
Of the four teams that joined the
major leagues during the 1969
expansion phase, no club had more
success during the first two decades
than the Kansas City Royals. The
reason for this success centered on
the club’s dedication to signing and
developing young talent in the farm
system. No greater example of this
devotion was the formation of the
Royals Baseball Academy shortly
after the fledgling team was founded.
Located at the team’s spring training
home in Florida, the Royals Baseball
Academy signed superior free agent
athletes, most of whom had limited
experience on the diamond. Under
the director of long-time baseball
executive and scout Syd Thrift, the
Royals established a laboratory of
sorts. They measured virtually every
aspect of the game, ranging from the
reaction time of players in various
situations to the ideal speed of
leadoff hitters from home to first, first
to third, and other situations. The
participants not only delved into the
game through endless hours of
practice on a daily basis, they also
endured classroom settings in order
to increase their overall knowledge of
the sport.
The Kauffman family, owners of the
franchise, poured in a significant
amount of money into the academy
prior to pulling the plug after a few
years. Thrift, naturally, believed the
program was just hitting its stride. He
may have had a point since a handful
of players emerged from the
academy, with no one having more
success than second baseman Frank
White.
White took over the second base
duties from veteran Cookie Rojas
and helped the Royals become
perennial pennant contenders
through the mid-1980s. Along with
George Brett, the quiet and
understated White became one of
the faces of the Kansas City
franchise. An outstanding defensive
player, White won eight Gold Gloves
and led AL second sackers in fielding
percentage three times. He also hit
20 or more home runs on two
occasions and reached double
figures in roundtrippers 13 times.
White spent his entire playing career
with the Royals, toiling in the major
leagues from 1973 to 1990. The
highlight of his career took place in
1980 when he was named Most
Valuable Player of the American
League Championship Series in a
three-game sweep of the Yankees.
He was a catalyst for the Royals
1985 world championship, a year
before he was tabbed the team’s
MVP after hitting .272 with 22 home
runs and 84 RBIs. By the time he
hung up his cleats for the final time,
White had become the poster child
for the innovate Royals Baseball
Academy, playing in 1,881 major
league contests and producing 1,803
hits for one of the game’s better
teams of the 1970s and 1980s.
(5/29/08)
major leagues during the 1969
expansion phase, no club had more
success during the first two decades
than the Kansas City Royals. The
reason for this success centered on
the club’s dedication to signing and
developing young talent in the farm
system. No greater example of this
devotion was the formation of the
Royals Baseball Academy shortly
after the fledgling team was founded.
Located at the team’s spring training
home in Florida, the Royals Baseball
Academy signed superior free agent
athletes, most of whom had limited
experience on the diamond. Under
the director of long-time baseball
executive and scout Syd Thrift, the
Royals established a laboratory of
sorts. They measured virtually every
aspect of the game, ranging from the
reaction time of players in various
situations to the ideal speed of
leadoff hitters from home to first, first
to third, and other situations. The
participants not only delved into the
game through endless hours of
practice on a daily basis, they also
endured classroom settings in order
to increase their overall knowledge of
the sport.
The Kauffman family, owners of the
franchise, poured in a significant
amount of money into the academy
prior to pulling the plug after a few
years. Thrift, naturally, believed the
program was just hitting its stride. He
may have had a point since a handful
of players emerged from the
academy, with no one having more
success than second baseman Frank
White.
White took over the second base
duties from veteran Cookie Rojas
and helped the Royals become
perennial pennant contenders
through the mid-1980s. Along with
George Brett, the quiet and
understated White became one of
the faces of the Kansas City
franchise. An outstanding defensive
player, White won eight Gold Gloves
and led AL second sackers in fielding
percentage three times. He also hit
20 or more home runs on two
occasions and reached double
figures in roundtrippers 13 times.
White spent his entire playing career
with the Royals, toiling in the major
leagues from 1973 to 1990. The
highlight of his career took place in
1980 when he was named Most
Valuable Player of the American
League Championship Series in a
three-game sweep of the Yankees.
He was a catalyst for the Royals
1985 world championship, a year
before he was tabbed the team’s
MVP after hitting .272 with 22 home
runs and 84 RBIs. By the time he
hung up his cleats for the final time,
White had become the poster child
for the innovate Royals Baseball
Academy, playing in 1,881 major
league contests and producing 1,803
hits for one of the game’s better
teams of the 1970s and 1980s.
(5/29/08)
