Guy Harris "Doc" White (April 9, 1879 – February 19, 1969) was an American left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. He played for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

and the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

during his career, which lasted from 1901 to 1913.

Early life

Born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, White was a graduate of the

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

School of Dentistry, hence his nickname "Doc".Doc White
- Baseballbiography.com

Baseball career

White started his professional baseball career in 1901 with the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

's Philadelphia Phillies. In 1903, he jumped to the Chicago White Sox of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

. From 1903 to 1906, White won at least 16 games each year; his

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

was in the league's top four each year, as well. In 1906, he went 18–6 and led the AL with a 1.52 ERA and a 167

ERA+ Adjusted ERA+, often simply abbreviated to ERA+ or ERA plus, is a pitching statistic in baseball. It adjusts a pitcher's earned run average (ERA) according to the pitcher's ballpark (in case the ballpark favors batters or pitchers) and the ERA o ...

. The White Sox won the pennant and their first

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

. In the series, White made two starts and one relief appearance. He went 1–1 with a 1.80 ERA, and in game 5, he recorded the first save in series history. In 1907, White led the league with 27 wins, which was also his career-high. He pitched effectively for Chicago until 1912, had an off-year in 1913, and then played in the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

from 1914 to 1915."Doc White Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-23. White finished his MLB career with a 189–156

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

, a 2.39 ERA, a 113 ERA+, and 1,384

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s in 3,041 innings pitched. He was a good-hitting pitcher, posting a .217

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 2

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, 147

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

, and 75

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

. White also played 85 games in the outfield and several games at first base and second base.

Music

White gained some recognition as a composer, publishing at least four songs (such as bestseller "Little Puff of Smoke, Good Night" in 1910) with his co-writer

Ring Lardner Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (March 6, 1885 – September 25, 1933) was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical writings on sports, marriage, and the theatre. His contemporaries—Ernest Hemingway, Virginia W ...

, who was a sportswriter in Chicago during that time.

Death

White died at age 89 in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

, just eight months after witnessing

Don Drysdale Donald Scott Drysdale (July 23, 1936 – July 3, 1993), nicknamed "Big D", was an American professional baseball pitcher and broadcaster who played in Major League Baseball. He spent his entire 14-year career with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Do ...

surpass his record of 45 consecutive scoreless innings on June 4, 1968. He was the last surviving member of the 1906 World Series champion White Sox.

References

External links

Five Consecutive Shutouts Record Still Held by White
by

Harry Grayson Harry Markey Grayson (May 10, 1894 – September 30, 1968) was an American sportswriter. He was the sports editor of the Newspaper Enterprise Association from 1934 to 1963. Selected works by Grayson BaseballWagner and Mathewson Top National Loop ...