February 2, 1989 - Bill White

Human Rights a Day

Bill White becomes the first black president of baseball’s National League. William DeKova White had an extraordinary baseball career both on and off the field. He spent 13 years as a major-league first baseman with the New York Giants, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1966, White tore his Achilles tendon during a paddle-ball game. It curtailed his baseball career, prompting him to retire from the game entirely in 1969. But he didn’t stray far; he landed a job at a television station that led to work as an on-air sports announcer. When he became the New York Yankees’ play-by-play announcer, he was hailed as America’s first black announcer for a major league team. He held that position for 18 years, until February 2, 1989. That’s when he took a salary cut to become the National League’s first black baseball president, and incidentally the highest-ranking black official in American professional sports. He held the job for five years before retiring.

---

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.