Bill White
Former JSU Pitcher Bill White Joins Texas Rangers 40-Man Roster
9/4/2007 9:44:00 PM | Baseball
ARLINGTON, Texas – Just one day after being added to the 40-man roster, former Jacksonville State stand-out Bill White made his major league debut in the seventh inning of the Rangers’ 3-2 win on Wednesday.
With Texas holding a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh inning, the left-hander entered the game with two outs in relief of Wes Littleton, who had given up a two-run home run to John Buck.
White then gave up a single to David DeJesus to right field, but got Mark Grudzielanek to fly out to center field to end the inning.
“It was exciting,” White said on the Fox Sports Net television network following the game. “The first guy comes out and got a hit and I was thinking – oh lord. I then told myself to calm down and do what I know to do.”
White opened the eighth inning by getting Mark Teahen to strike-out on a breaking ball after running the count to full for the first out of the inning and then was lifted for Jamey Wright.
“This whole experience has just been great,” added White.
White made 43 appearances at Double-A Frisco, where he was 2-0 with two saves and a 4.44 ERA (24 earned runs in 48 innings) with 64 strike-outs to just 26 walks. He pitched in one game for Triple-A Oklahoma in April, before joining Frisco.
“I didn’t know it was Bill’s first night in the big leagues,” Texas manager Ron Washington said in his post-game interview. “He handled himself well and I thought he showed a lot of guts to throw a breaking ball with a 3-2 count.”
He signed with Texas as a free agent March 28, 2007, after being released by Washington. He had spent the previous seven seasons in the Arizona organization.
White, who was the 99th overall pick in the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, becomes the fourth pitcher in Jacksonville State history to play in the major leagues.
The Alexander City, Ala., native posted the best strikeout-to-innings ratio in college baseball in 2000, fanning 136 batters in 76.2 innings. He tossed Jacksonville State’s 16th no-hitter in school history on March 12, 2000, vs Alabama A&M after recording 12 strike-outs.
With Texas holding a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh inning, the left-hander entered the game with two outs in relief of Wes Littleton, who had given up a two-run home run to John Buck.
White then gave up a single to David DeJesus to right field, but got Mark Grudzielanek to fly out to center field to end the inning.
“It was exciting,” White said on the Fox Sports Net television network following the game. “The first guy comes out and got a hit and I was thinking – oh lord. I then told myself to calm down and do what I know to do.”
White opened the eighth inning by getting Mark Teahen to strike-out on a breaking ball after running the count to full for the first out of the inning and then was lifted for Jamey Wright.
“This whole experience has just been great,” added White.
White made 43 appearances at Double-A Frisco, where he was 2-0 with two saves and a 4.44 ERA (24 earned runs in 48 innings) with 64 strike-outs to just 26 walks. He pitched in one game for Triple-A Oklahoma in April, before joining Frisco.
“I didn’t know it was Bill’s first night in the big leagues,” Texas manager Ron Washington said in his post-game interview. “He handled himself well and I thought he showed a lot of guts to throw a breaking ball with a 3-2 count.”
He signed with Texas as a free agent March 28, 2007, after being released by Washington. He had spent the previous seven seasons in the Arizona organization.
White, who was the 99th overall pick in the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, becomes the fourth pitcher in Jacksonville State history to play in the major leagues.
The Alexander City, Ala., native posted the best strikeout-to-innings ratio in college baseball in 2000, fanning 136 batters in 76.2 innings. He tossed Jacksonville State’s 16th no-hitter in school history on March 12, 2000, vs Alabama A&M after recording 12 strike-outs.
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