Charles Theodore "Chili" Davis (January 17, 1960 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a former center fielder/designated hitter who played in Major League Baseball with the San Francisco Giants (1981-87), California Angels (1988-90, 1993-96), Minnesota Twins (1991-92) and New York Yankees (1998-99). He was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed.
Career
In a 19-year career, Davis was a .274 hitter with 350 home runs and 1372 RBI in 2436 games.
Davis was another fine outfielder developed in the Giants minors system. In his first regular season in 1982, he hit .261 with 19 home runs, 76 RBI and 24 stolen bases, and also led the National League outfielders in assists. In 1984 Davis finished third in the race for the batting crown (.315), behind Tony Gwynn (.351) and Lee Lacy (.321). When he led in errors in 1986, his nine errors tied the major league record for fewest errors by a department leader. After five productive seasons in San Francisco, including two All-Star appearances in 1984 and 1986, Davis signed with the Angels as a free agent before the 1988 season.
In his first two years with California, Davis hit 21 home runs and 93 RBI in 1988, 22 and 90 in 1989. Hampered by chronic back problems and defensive shortcomings in 1990, Davis moved from fulltime outfield duty to a DH role. The movement became permanent the following season, when he signed with Minnesota.
Davis was a critical acquisition for the Twins, as his switch-hitting ability was the perfect component to a batting order dominated by right-handed batting Kirby Puckett and left-handed hitting Kent Hrbek. Though he hit well from both sides of the plate, Davis was a far better from the the left side, and that was true in 1991. He led the Twins in home runs (29), RBI (93), doubles (34), walks (95), intentional walks (13), times on base (244), pitches seen (2,469), games played (153), slugging average (.507), on base percentage (.385), OPS (.892), home run frequency (18.4 at bat per HR), and most pitches seen per plate appearance (3.89). With his numbers, Davis helped Minnesota rise from a last-place finish the year before to an AL West title. He added two more home runs in the 1991 World Series as the Twins completed their amazing turnaround season with a seven-game triumph over the Atlanta Braves. Davis declined in 1992 (12 home runs and 66 RBI), but when he hit the free agent market, once again found the Angels decided to add him to their lineup.
David provided four years of solid production for California, including 27 home runs and a career-high 112 RBI in 1993; a .311 batting average with 26 home runs and 84 RBI in the strike-shortened 1994 season (including his third All Star berth); hit .318 with 20 home runs and 86 RBI in 1995, and collected .292, 28, 96 in 1996. After that season, he was traded to Kansas City for starter Mark Gubicza . In his one year with the Royals, Davis hit .269 with 90 RBI and a career-high 30 home runs.
Davis spent his final two seasons with the Yankees, winning his second and third World Championship rings. He finished his career in 1999 hitting .269 with 19 home runs and 78 RBI.
Ironically, in 2000 New York used a significant number of players to fill Davis' DH role, between others Shane Spencer , José Canseco, Glenallen Hill , Chuck Knoblauch, David Justice and Jim Leyritz .
At the time of his retirement at 38 age, only Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray had topped his 350 career home runs among switch-hitters.
Top 10 MLB switch-hitters with most career home runs
- Through the 2004 season:
- 1) Mickey Mantle - 536
- 2) Eddie Murray - 504
- 3) Chili Davis - 350
- 4) Reggie Smith - 314
- 5) Rubén Sierra - 240 (active)
- 6) Bobby Bonilla - 282
- 7) Ted Simmons - 248
- 8) Ken Singleton - 246
- 9) Mickey Tettleton - 245
- 10) Howard Johnson - 228
Nickname
- When he was 12 years old, Davis received a horrendous haircut, which earned him the unfortunate nickname "Chili Bowl". Later, it was shortened to "Chili".
See also
External links
