Antonacci: Canada “second home” to new ball hall inductee White
Legendary Toronto Blue Jays centre fielder Devon White has been elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Photo: Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
February 6, 2026
By J.P. Antonacci
Canadian Baseball Network
The last time Devon White was in Toronto for the World Series, he was loping gracefully across centre field, pulling fly balls out of the air with a seemingly effortless ease.
The Blue Jays fan favourite known as “Devo” didn’t make it to the outfield this past October, stopping at the pitcher’s mound to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 6 between his alma mater and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“First and foremost, I was just hoping I didn’t bounce it,” White said with a smile during a press conference on Feb. 5 unveiling the Jamaican-born Gold Glover as a 2026 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee.
“It brought back memories,” he said of returning to the dome for the Fall Classic.
“Myself and my family were there in the box just watching the game, and it was unbelievable the feeling it brought back.”
When he was a player, White continued, he was too focused to fully appreciate the atmosphere.
Three decades later, he could take it all in.
“It’s such a different feeling when you play. You’re really engaged in the game itself,” he said.
“But when you’re there as a fan and you’re looking around and seeing thousands of people cheering for one team, one country, the feeling that you’ve got is just, oh my God, these people were doing the same thing for us back in the 90s, and even the 80s for the guys before me.”
The full-throated fan support made an impression on White’s family as well.
“My youngest daughter, she wasn’t born at the time, and she got a chance to see this and was like, ‘You played with these people?’” he said.
“It was a different generation, but really supportive. And it was amazing for me as a fan now – although I’m close to all the players – to see what was going on in the city.”
Standing on the pitcher’s mound, White was about 340 feet away from the centre field wall where he immortalized his place in baseball lore. Fans could flash back to seeing the graceful fielder splayed out on that wall beside the “400” sign, hauling in a David Justice drive and nearly prompting a triple play.
“The Catch” was a tide-turning play during Toronto’s first championship season in 1992, but it is Joe Carter’s World Series-winning homer in 1993 that will be immortalized in statue form outside Rogers Centre this summer.
White said he razzed his former teammate after news of the honour broke last week.
“He’s perfect for it,” he said sincerely. “I’m glad that they are doing something like that for him and that Series team, and I’m looking forward to seeing them unveil that.”
White was already a star on both sides of the ball when the Blue Jays traded for him from the California Angels ahead of the 1991 season.
Atop the fearsome lineup known as WAMCO, White tore around the bases and launched baseballs over the wall and into the gap, legging out triples and making opposing catchers wail with each successful stolen base.
Toronto fans marvelled at his defence. “Devo” rarely had to dive, since his blistering sprint speed and unerring eye help him corral long flies and sinking liners without leaving his feet.
The seven-time Gold Glove winner knows “The Catch” will forever be his calling card, but it is a catch in Camden Yards the following summer to rob Baltimore’s Leo Gomez of a home run that sits atop White’s personal highlight reel.
“The catch I made that I surprised myself too was in Baltimore when I leaped over the fence and brought that ball back,” White recalled.
With the Jays clinging to a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, Gomez crushed a drive that seemed headed for the Orioles bullpen in left-centre field.
White raced to the warning track. Channeling his inner high-school basketball star, he grabbed the top of the wall with his bare hand and launched his gloved hand about three feet into the bullpen, pulling in the would-be homer with an astonishing backhanded grab before tumbling onto the grass.
“My waist was over the fence,” White smiled. “So I think that was the moment for me that would be statue-worthy.”
After a 17-year playing career, White got into coaching, serving as hitting coach with the Buffalo Bisons with a cameo as first base coach for the Blue Jays in 2022.
Now a special assistant to player development with the Blue Jays, White said he preaches “preparation, discipline and work ethic” to young players.
“If I ask you to be out on the field at 9 o’clock, 8:45 is late to me,” he said.
“When you practice, you’re supposed to practice harder than when you play the game. Those are the things that made me successful. Every day I was shagging fly balls, regardless of whether I was a Gold Glove winner or not.”
The three-time World Series winner said being inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame feels like the continuation of “a long chain of success and memory” that started with the young outfielder battling “big mosquitos” while cutting his teeth with the triple-A Edmonton Trappers.
“When I got traded to Toronto, I was ecstatic,” White said.
Having relatives in the Jamaican community in Toronto made for an easy transition to a city where he quickly felt “comfortable,” he added.
“I’ve always said Canada is my second home. The city is so diverse, and I love being there,” White said.
“Being in the hall of fame now, a big circle came right together for me. I’m very, very happy about it.”