A multiple World Series winner feels Cayman baseball overshadows what’s seen in his homeland.
Devon White, 49, is a minor league base-running instructor with Major League Baseball’s Chicago White Sox. Originally from Kingston, he feels Jamaican baseball pales in comparison to what is seen here.
“This is my first time in Cayman but it’s the first of many more,” White said. “I’m definitely coming back, it’s just great. I’m really impressed. In spite of not being able to (consistently) play other countries at a high competitive level, the kids have progressed rapidly. What I see is pretty impressive.
“Jamaica is not as advanced as this. The organization there is not really there in baseball.”
White, who was born with his last name spelt ‘Whyte,’ was in the Cayman Islands last month for the Spring 2012 Cayman Islands Little League White Sox camp. He was here with three coaches from the BullSox Training Academy, the youth development side of Major League Baseball’s Chicago White Sox. They were hitting/defence instructor James Nash (who played professionally in Europe), pitching instructor/scout Larry Owens and hitting/fielding instructor Sam Zagorac (who came last November with pitching guru Marty Kobernus). Together they taught hundreds of youngsters, aged 5-18, at the Field of Dreams facility in George Town.
For the record, White won the World Series three times with the Toronto Blue Jays (1992 and 1993) and Florida Marlins (1997). He played for four other teams starting from 1985 in the California Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers, retiring in 2002. He also won seven Gold Glove awards (1988, 1989, 1991-1995) as an elite fielder and was named an all-star three times (1989, 1993 and 1998).
Looking back on his journey from a small Caribbean island to the pinnacle of professional baseball and back to the Caribbean, White feels he has come full circle. He states his goal now is to improve young players, like those he has seen in Cayman.
“I’m blessed. I’m fortunate to get to the place I am today. By no means do I take it for granted. Now I work to train kids that have the ability to go to the next level. A lot of kids here need professionalism to get to that next level. They can take that first step by playing competitively at a competitive level. To play in say, Miami or the Dominican Republic, that should be the goal.”
The recent White Sox camp marks the sixth year of the partnership between the training academy and local Little League. To White’s point, Cayman has made steps to compete with its Caribbean neighbours, sending teams the last two years to take part in the Little League World Series regional qualifiers.
Before leaving, White passed on pointers to local players such as 16-year-old teenagers Alex Pascal and Mark Chisholm. His message was to never stop believing in one’s own ability.
“The funniest guy I played with was Rickey Henderson [a Hall of Famer], who was traded to Toronto [in July 1993]. Rickey was always talking to the fans. What I learned from him was you have to be your own good cheerleader. You need that sometimes because you will face great pitchers like Randy Johnson and strike out. But you got to have short-term memory and forget about the last play.”
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