White Strikes New Pose With Three Walks Against the Rangers

Devon White, the man who once said he would rather strike out than walk, walked Monday night. And walked. And walked again.

Three times White reached base via walks. Something must have been in the air. Or perhaps in the arms of the Texas Rangers pitchers.

Texas starter Mike Jeffcoat walked White twice--in the first and third innings--and reliever Cecilio Guante walked him again in the fourth. It didn’t exactly spur the Angels on, but White did score one of the Angels’ five runs in a 5-2 victory over the Rangers before 29,614 at Anaheim Stadium.

Is this a new Devon White? One willing to put up with being walked?

Angel Manager Doug Rader doesn’t think so.

“I don’t think you can draw any conclusions from one game,” Rader said.

For White, it marked a milestone in his career: the first time he had walked three times in a game.

Coming into Monday’s game, White had 12 walks all season. The most walks he has had in a season was 39 in 1987, when he also had 135 strikeouts.

Walk? White would rather run.

And that, in part, may explain why the Angels’ fleet-footed center fielder made the following statement in 1987:

“I’d rather strike out than walk because the catcher might drop the ball and I might get to run to first.”

Rader scoffed the first time he heard that quote in spring training.

But he has come to realize that White likes to run at any and every chance he gets. He has a club-leading 25 stolen bases, third in the American League behind Rickey Henderson of Oakland (32) and Cecil Espy of the Rangers (26).

He also leads the Angels in runs scored with 487, triples with nine and has the dubious distinction of striking out 60 times, another team best. Or worst as the case may be.

His great speed is his greatest asset to the Angels, not his patience at the plate.

Cookie Rojas, the Angels’ manager last season, thought so much of White’s speed that he put the center fielder in the leadoff spot in the batting order. Even White was puzzled.

He struck out too often, tried to hit too many home runs and didn’t make consistent contact to be a quality leadoff man. The experiment proved to be a brief one.

This season, White has been batting third or fourth. Those positions are usually reserved for free-swingers such as White.

And if his comment from a few years ago is any indication, White relishes his role as a power-hitting speedster.

But for a night at least, White was content to be patient, to take what the Texas pitchers were giving him. Even if it meant walking.