Devon White Knocking at Door of Wally World

The kid from Jamaica by way of the streets of New York had already come a long way.

When he first arrived in training camp five years ago, the raw 18-year-old with big-league speed and very little else “had trouble playing catch,” according to Angel Manager Gene Mauch.

But the spring of 1987 was a different story. Devon White, the project, was on the verge of becoming Devon White, the impact player.

The kid they call “Devo” was the talk of the Cactus League. He hit .375 with 3 homers and a team-leading 22 RBIs. Mauch figured if White’s rookie-year batting average was within 100 points of that spring splurge, they could declare the project a success.

Five days ago, White was hitting .240 and had driven in one run. He wasn’t exactly in the top 10, but then, even Wally World wasn’t built in a day, right?

Since then, White has put together some Joyner-like rookie numbers. In the last 19 innings, he has had three homers and two game-saving catches.

Monday in Seattle, he hit a two-run home run in the top of the 10th inning. In the bottom of the inning, he made a sprinting catch of Alvin Davis’ line drive and threw on the run to double up Jim Presley as the Angels won, 5-3.

Tuesday, he hit another home run, and Wednesday he made two spectacular catches to help Kirk McCaskill beat the Mariners on a four-hit shutout.

Friday night at Anaheim Stadium, the rookie right fielder extended his hitting streak to seven games with a solo home run in the third inning. And he kept his hit-stealing streak going when he took a homer away from the Twins’ Roy Smalley in the seventh as the Angels beat Minnesota and nemesis Bert Blyleven, 2-1.

Mauch said, “Devon White used everything he’s got tonight . . . blaze, bat and slam dunk. That was a great catch. But that’s what we talk about. He and Gary (Pettis) catch everything that stays in the park and some of the ones that are just barely out.”

White, who conceded that he was thinking about Blyleven’s “off-the-table curve” most of the time he was hitting, took advantage of a 2-1 fastball.

“I was just trying to make contact,” he said. “I’m fairly satisfied with the way I’m swinging the bat. I just have to cut down on the strikeouts.”

White, 24, said he misjudged Smalley’s drive, but the 6-foot 1-inch rookie, who developed his jumping ability on the blacktop basketball courts of New York, had plenty of raw ability to override the error in judgment.

His elbow smacked against the right-field wall as he speared the drive about three feet above the eight-foot fence.

“My initial move was toward center, but I made up for it,” White said, smiling. “If I didn’t misjudge it, I wouldn’t have had to make that showboat catch.”

Mauch, who wondered how you catch a ball that’s a yard above the fence and stay out of the “showboat” category, will take it either way. In any case, it’s beginning to look as if White will make highlight-film catches the routine.

“Balls hit directly at you are the toughest for an outfielder,” Mauch said. “Even when Devo’s out of whack, he’s smooth.”

Not bad for a kid who could hardly play catch a few years ago.