Staff file photo / R. Michael Semple Bill White, a graduate of Warren G. Harding High School, was honored before the Ursuline and Harding football game Sept. 23, 2016, at Mollenkopf Stadium. He will be honored as the Buck O’Neil Award winner at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown this summer.

A Warren native will be honored at Cooperstown this summer.

Bill White was named the recipient of the John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced on Monday.

“From a young man born in Florida, educated in Warren, Ohio who took the opportunity to raise extra cash to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a doctor, I’d like to take the time to thank the Hall for recognizing my contributions to the sport,” White said in a news release.

White, 92, will be honored at the Hall of Fame Weekend’s Award Presentation on July 25.

The Buck O’Neil Award was created in 2007 to “honor an individual whose efforts broadened the game’s appeal and whose character, integrity and dignity is comparable to the late O’Neil.” The honorees are chosen by the Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors.

White is the seventh winner of the award. Roland Hemond (2011), Joe Garagiola (2014), Rachel Robinson (2017), David Montgomery (2020) and Carl Erskine (2023) were the other recipients.

He was the National League’s president from 1989 to 1994 and was one of the highest-ranking black executives in American sports at the time.

After graduating from Warren G. Harding High School, White studied pre-med while attending Hiram College. The New York Giants signed him in 1953, and he planned on using his $2,500 signing bonus to cover his schooling, but he excelled on the field.

He helped desegregate several leagues while playing minor league ball, including the Carolina League in 1953, as he became the league’s second black player.

In 1956, White made his major league debut with the Giants, but he served in the United States Army for the next two years before he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1959. From 1959 to 1964, he made six straight All-Star games. At first base, he also won seven straight Gold Gloves.

In 1964, he helped lead the Cardinals to the World Series title and finished third in the NL MVP voting.

White was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1965, but returned to the Cardinals in 1969. He appeared in 49 games for the Cardinals that season before retiring.

During his 13-year career, he batted .286 with 202 home runs, 870 RBIs and finished in the top seven of the MVP voting twice. He also posted four 100-RBI seasons.

He joined the New York Yankees broadcast team in 1971 and worked alongside Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto for most of the next 18 seasons. White called Bucky Dent’s home run in the 1978 one-game American League playoff, and also called postseason games for ABC Sports.

In 1989, White took over as the NL president after it was vacated by eventual commissioner Bart Giamatti. White oversaw the league’s expansion into Miami (Marlins) and Colorado (Rockies), as well as the movement to unite the NL and AL under the Major League Baseball umbrella.

“Bill White’s lifetime of service made him one of the most respected figures in baseball, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame is proud to present him with the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Jane Forbes Clark, Chairman of the Board of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

“His work as an All-Star player, pioneering executive and beloved broadcaster built a legacy of excellence that we are honored to celebrate in Cooperstown.”