Devon White (baseball)

Devon Markes Whyte (formerly and commonly known as Devon White; born December 29, 1962), nicknamed "Devo", is a Jamaican former professional baseball center fielder, best known for his defensive ability at that position. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the California Angels, Toronto Blue Jays, Florida Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Milwaukee Brewers. Following his playing career, White served as the first base coach for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, and was briefly called up to the Blue Jays as first base coach in 2022.

Born as Devon Whyte in Kingston, Jamaica, his family immigrated to the United States when he was nine years old. However, the paperwork had their family name misspelled as "White". His last name was legally changed back to its original spelling in 2003 at the behest of his children, but throughout his baseball playing career, he was known as "Devon White" and continues to sign autographs with that spelling. His daughter, Davellyn Whyte, played two seasons of professional basketball in the WNBA.

White attended Park West High School in Manhattan, New York City. White was primarily a basketball player in high school and only began playing baseball after watching New York Yankees and Mets games on television with his father. White received a scholarship offer to play both college basketball and college baseball for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

White was drafted by the California Angels in the 6th round of the 1981 draft. He made his major league debut in the late stages of the 1985 season for California, but he did not establish himself as a major leaguer until 1987, when he played a full season and hit with power and ran the basepaths with speed. In fact, he hit 24 home runs and stole 32 bases that season; he managed to steal at least fifteen bases and hit fifteen home runs before the All-Star break, and no rookie would do so again until 2022. In 1988, only his second full season, he won his first of seven Gold Gloves.

On September 9, 1989, he became one of the few players in baseball history to get on first base then score by stealing second base, third base, and home.

On December 2, 1990, he was traded with Willie Fraser and Marcus Moore to the Toronto Blue Jays for Junior Félix and Luis Sojo.

White won two World Series and five Gold Glove awards with the Toronto Blue Jays. With a .336 batting average in his post-season career with the Blue Jays, compared to a .270 regular season average with Toronto, White consistently upped his game to help Toronto reach playoff success.

In 1992, White collected 3.9 Defensive Wins Above Replacement, which led the major leagues.