Now, Frank White Gets the Royal Treatment : But Things Were Quite a Bit Different in His First Season With Kansas City

The contract Frank White signed with the Kansas City Royals this spring will bring hundreds of thousands of dollars to a proud man who was once humiliated by 45 cents.

“You forgive something like that,” he says. “But you never forget.”

A six-time Gold Glove winner at second base and a cornerstone of the most successful era of any Kansas City sports team, White is all but bound to the Royals for the rest of his career. Avron Fogelman, the Royals’ co-owner, saw to that when he signed White to a contract extension that carries through the 1988 season, when White will be 38.

By then, 12 years will have passed since that painful summer of disillusionment in 1976 when White discovered how fickle and cruel baseball fans can be.

Let the record show that Frank White is a happy man. He is grateful to an organization and a city that acknowledges him as one of the best second baseman of his generation.

He has not forgotten that he began his work life toiling in a metal shop with only one hope for something better--the tryout camp his hometown’s new American League team was holding in a city park.

From that inauspicious beginning have come more Gold Gloves for fielding excellence than you can count on one hand. There have been All-Star appearances, five American League West titles and a World Series.

Signing a lifetime contract was a cause for celebration. But it was also a time of reflection.

Whitey Herzog replaced the fired Jack McKeon as the Royals’ manager during the 1975 season, when the expansion Royals were turning into contenders. One of Herzog’s most cogent observations that September concerned second base, the property of the aging but extremely popular Cookie Rojas.

“There were some balls hit past Cookie that Frank White would have got,” Herzog said. “Next year, Frank White is going to be my second baseman.”

It was a transition of pain. White expected to be welcomed with open arms, a hometown boy made good. Instead, he was treated as an interloper.

“Cookie was the most popular player the Royals had had,” White said. “He was a tremendous player. I admired him a great deal myself. I can see why the fans loved him.”

The Royals won their first AL West crown that year, with White struggling at the plate while proving that he was, indeed, a superior defensive player.

“I didn’t handle it well at all,” he says. “I was hurt. I was surprised. I was awfully confused. I remember one night an umpire picked up 45 cents people had thrown onto the field as a show of disrespect for me. They would shout, ‘We want Cookie,’ and throw coins at me. The umpire was trying to make light of it, but it hurt.

“But, it lasted only a year for me. By the next season, everybody seemed to accept me.”

In 1977, White put on a brilliant display of defense. He won his first Gold Glove with a fielding percentage of .989 that year, making only eight errors in 752 chances. From June 27 through Sept. 9, he set a club record for second basemen with 62 straight errorless games. And he did it while making sometimes spectacular plays on the slick, quick artificial turf of Royals Stadium.

Jeers and insults turned to cheers and standing ovations.

So now, there is a lifetime contract. And, White knows, somewhere out there is a young man, probably in his late teens, who is destined some day to replace him as the Royals’ second baseman. He is probably blessed with sharp eyesight, quick feet and cat-like reflexes. And, if he’s not careful, he could be in for a painful time of transition.

What advice would he get from one who has been there?

“You can’t tell him not to pay attention to the things people say and do because he can’t help but pay attention,” White said. “He’s just got to have a strong belief in himself and a strong desire to do well. He’s got to keep the crowd from dictating how he feels and how he plays. He’s got to relax and be as comfortable as possible--and just tough it out.

“And a lot will depend on how the club is doing at the time. If we’re winning and doing well, it will be a lot smoother for him. But if we’re struggling and times are hard, it could be tough.”