The 47 Best Players for the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #38 Derrick White

38. Derrick White
Derrick White's career makes no sense. I keep looking through things, and there is no rhyme or reason to anything. He was drafted by the Expos after a very good final year at Oklahoma and sent to play short season ball for the rest of 1991. In 1992, he skipped both levels of A-ball to play the entire year in Double-A. He put up decent numbers. Then, in 1993, he played in High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A before getting a callup for 23 games for the Expos. In 1994, he struggled in Triple-A, got released by the Expos, signed by the Marlins and sent down to Double-A. In 1995, he signed with the Detroit Tigers, played the majority of the year at Triple-A but also got 39 games with the Tigers. Then, in 1996, he signs with the Oakland Athletics and spends the entire year between both levels of A-ball. I thought there were rules against guys being that old (26) and in low-A. In 1997, he spent the year at Double and Triple-A for the Angels before signing with the Cubs in the offseason.

White went to Triple-A Iowa and put up his best numbers ever, torching the league to the tune of 1.112 OPS in 66 games for the team. His torrid pace earned him a callup at the end of May. Things continued to be weird for White. He played in 11 games for the Chicago Cubs and got a total of ten at bats. In nine of those at bats, he failed to record a hit. Five of those times, he failed to even make contact. But one at bat was different. In one at bat, Derrick White unleashed his potential, and that is what is important to remember.

The date was June 6, 1998. The Chicago Cubs hosted the Chicago White Sox at Wrigley Field in just the second year of interleague play. A pitcher's duel was expected as Scott Eyre took on the Cubs' Kevin Tapani. It played out that way for the first two innings as both teams were held scoreless. The White Sox were the first to put a run on the board in the top of the third when Ray Durham hit a double and was driven in by Mike Caruso.

But the Cubs would not go down easily. They strung together a ton of singles and took advantage of a Frank Thomas error to score three runs in the third. They continued the momentum in the fourth when Jose Hernandez hit a solo home run. Things were looking great for the good guys. In the 5th, the White Sox inched closer when Mike Caruso drove another run home. In the sixth, the White Sox made their move as Robin Ventura tripled, Magglio Ordonez singled, and then Charlie O'Brien hit a home run to give the White Sox a 5-4 lead. It may have only been the sixth inning, but this game looked like it was over.

Eyre had calmed down and appeared to be cruising. He dispatched of Henry Rodriguez easily. Then, something truly inexplicable happened as he found a way to walk Jose Hernandez. It looked like it wouldn't matter when he got the second out by making Scott Servais ground out. Instead of ending the inning against Kevin Tapani, Jim Riggleman made a bold move. He brought in Derrick White, a man who was 0-5 with three strikeouts on the season. Only a fool would make such a folly as a manager, but Jim Riggleman was no fool. Scott Eyre smirked to himself as he saw White stroll to the plate, but his overconfidence would be his downfall. Eyre left one over the plate, and Derrick White connected. It was high; it was deep; it was gone. Derrick White would give the Cubs a one-run lead in a game they would go on to win 7-6. He may have gone 0-9 in his other at bats, but his one hit was instrumental in getting the Cubs to the playoffs that year.

White seemed like a guy who would quickly wash out of baseball, but he found a way to hang around the game. He never made the major leagues again after 1998, but he bounced around from Triple-A, independent ball, Korea, Japan, and found his home in Mexico where he tore it up for Tijuana until finally retiring in 2009. It may have not been the career he dreamed of, but it definitely had its moments.

In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes

Jose Canseco Is Brilliant

Usually, I like to have a theme when I break down Jose Canseco tweets, but sometimes, I just feel that I need to break things down, even if there is no centralized plot line here. He has provided a potpourri of interesting items, and I would be remiss if I did not help share his thoughts with the world. Let's begin:

cancun is one of the best places i have been it should be named the capital of the caribean
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) March 4, 2012

I am above mocking Jose for his lack of capitalization, punctuation, and spelling, so let's just ignore all of those and focus on the message. This is where we run into problems. The first problem is that the Caribbean is basically just a generic name for islands in a certain part of the world. The second, and most important problem, is that Cancun is in Mexico, which is not even a part of the Caribbean. Not your best effort, Jose, but you'll get 'em next time.

Someone big wants me out of Mexico .question is who and y
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) March 8, 2012

Who? That's easy...

K-Dogg is the most powerful man in Mexico, so if something's going down, he's got to be involved. But why is he doing this? Well, that's pretty goddamned obvious. Because he can. Arriba la raza!

I have a medical condition I wish I didn't have to use testosterone but I have no choice
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) March 8, 2012

Although most people assume this medical condition was caused by excessive steroid use, those people are wrong. Sure, those people have "doctor's evidence" on their side, but a Ph.D. doesn't make you a genius. So what really caused his testosterone problem, you ask? Lack of hugs. So please, ladies and gentleman, give this man a hug.

Also, as a bonus, Jose Canseco has since deleted these, but my phone saved them to give me a chance to share these amazing tweets with the world:

What's long, veiny and muscular and wraps around your body
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) March 11, 2012

That is really what he wrote. There is clearly only one place that this joke is going, and it's clearly going to be Jose claiming he has a large penis. He hasn't done this in a while, but it is probably time for him to assert this so he can impress his Twitter followers. I guess I'll still read ahead to make sure I'm righ...wait, what? No fucking way. In a shocking upset, the punchline is...

My arms hugging you saying thanks for supporting me
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) March 11, 2012

Wow. Just...wow. At this point, it is becoming a very real possibility that Jose Canseco is some sort of comedy genius. Nobody could not think penis with the opening of this riddle, and to come back with "My arms hugging you saying thanks for supporting me," deserves to be recognized. These are not tweets that should be deleted. These tweets should be taught to all young writers, because it is pure genius. God bless you, Jose Canseco. You inspire us all.

Jose Canseco And The Power Of Twitter

Jose Canseco loves Twitter. Although he will take extended breaks here and there. He always comes back to it, because those two were made for each other. Twitter uses Jose for cheap entertainment, and usually it's a one-way game where Jose continues to give and give, but things changed recently. Jose used Twitter and went from being unemployed to being paid to play baseball in one of the best party cities in North America. How did this all happen? Let's go through things.

Never give up your dream .I love baseball and I dream about playing again in the majors .just (cont) tl.gd/frsq8r
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) February 11, 2012

Jose shared his dream of playing baseball again, hoping the Twitter world would notice and he could get back in the game that he loves. But instead of just hoping it would happen, he decided to spice things up to make sure that people would notice.

I fight for the truth and the right to play baseball
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) February 11, 2012

This is another amazing tweet from an amazing man. Jose Canseco fights for two things in this world. The first is the truth, which seems pretty reasonable. The second is the right to play baseball, something that I do not remember was a great struggle for revolutionaries throughout history. I don't think anyone is stopping Jose from playing baseball, but it would be quite a scene to see him at an old sandlot diamond and people chasing him off, as they said they didn't want his kind around here. He would assume it was for steroids, but in that small town, they probably just hate people who were on The Surreal Life and/or Celebrity Apprentice.

Life is not worth living if you can't try difficult things
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) February 11, 2012

Baseball is difficult at any age that's y its the greatest
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) February 11, 2012

Jose takes it to the extreme, by saying life isn't worth living if you can't try difficult things, followed by saying that baseball is difficult. Ipso facto, if you do not let Jose play baseball, you are basically committing murder.

Do you haters need a hug think possitive and you will never hate again and good things will happen (cont) tl.gd/frtcag
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) February 11, 2012

This isn't an interesting tweet, because Jose has about a thousand that talk about haters, but it became interesting when he followed it with this tweet.

This is my baby chapstick . lockerz.com/s/182802536
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) February 11, 2012

I was so terrified to find out what his "baby chapstick" meant. It's not just me, baby chapstick could mean his dick, right? I mean, it's extremely self-deprecating, because chapstick is small enough, so baby chapstick is just sad. I reluctantly found out what it meant, and was very pleased that it was just his dog. And if you're asking what this has to do with getting him back in baseball. Hell, I don't know, but sure enough, the next day he drops this bomb.

Back in baseball I knew I would play this year you just gotta believe in your dreams .
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) February 12, 2012

And that's all it took. Just insinuate that you'll kill yourself if you don't get something, give your dog a name that could also describe your penis, post a picture, and boom, you're playing baseball again. Not only that, Jose is going to be playing for a team based in Cancun. Outside of trying to cheat on his girlfriend with college coeds on spring break, what will Jose be doing?

Never been to mexico before except border towns where i had some issues .can't wait to see mayans and there ruins they were badass
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) February 12, 2012

Um, who wants to be the bad guy? Anybody? Well, I guess I'll do it. As far as I know, there really aren't Mayans anymore, so I hope you aren't counting on hanging out with them on your journey. Little known fact about the Mayans, they aren't around anymore because the Spaniards took away their right to play baseball. Huge ritualistic suicide after they all wrote in their diaries how hard life is. Tough break.

But thanks to Twitter, suicide threats, and small dogs named after small dongs, Jose Canseco is back in baseball. Best of luck, Jose.