A slick-fielding centre fielder at the heart of the Toronto Blue Jays’ World Series-winning teams in 1992 and 1993 headlines the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2026.
Devon White is set for induction this summer in St. Marys, Ont. alongside St. Louis Cardinals first base coach Richard “Stubby” Clapp, women’s national team star Kate Psota, former All-Star Montreal Expos righty Bill Stoneman, late Baseball Canada executive Jim Baba and former National League umpire Paul Runge.
“We look forward to celebrating the outstanding careers of this year’s inductees in St. Marys this June,” Hall of Fame director of operations Scott Crawford said. “Each of them, in their own way, has made a tremendous impact on the game of baseball in our country.”
A 63-year-old native of Kingston, Jamaica, White spent five of his 17 big league seasons with the Blue Jays, acquired in a trade from the California Angels ahead of the 1991 season.
“Receiving the phone call last night informing me that I was being inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame was a dream come true!” White said in a statement. “Toronto has always felt like home to me and to now be etched into history is a legacy I could have only hoped for. I am deeply humbled and grateful.”
White won a Gold Glove in every year he played for the Jays and was an All-Star in 1993. His most famous defensive moment came during Game 3 of the 1992 World Series, known among Blue Jays fans simply as “The Catch.” With Deion Sanders on second base and Terry Pendleton on first, David Justice hit a deep fly ball off of Juan Guzman. White made a spectacular jumping catch on the play, crashing into the outfield wall. Uncertain if a catch was to be made, Pendleton passed Sanders on the basepath and was called out. The relay throw from White eventually made it to John Olerud at first, who spotted Sanders attempting to reach third. He tossed the ball across the infield to Kelly Gruber, who chased Sanders back to second and dived in an attempt to tag him before the two-sport star got back to the bag. Replays showed that Gruber appeared to catch Sanders on the foot, but he was ruled safe by umpire Bob Davidson, robbing the Jays of what should have been a triple play.
White finished his Blue Jays tenure batting .270 in 656 games with 733 hits, 72 home runs, 254 runs batted in, 126 stolen bases and an OPS of .760.
Upon leaving the Jays, White would go on to play six more seasons in the bigs with the Florida Marlins, with whom he won another World Series in 1997, Arizona Diamondbacks, with whom he was an All-Star in 1998, Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers.
The enshrinement ceremony is set for June 20.
