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Message #: 415
Message from: Billy Vanson
Sent: Oct 10, 2003
Subject: Where Have You Gone Tommy Davis????
By Ben Platt
MLB.com
He was the last Dodger to win a National League batting championship.
His .346 average in 1962 was a Los Angeles Dodger record for 35 years until Mike Piazza broke it with a .362 average in 1997.
Tommy Davis was Dodger to the bone.
The Brooklyn native signed with his hometown team, hoping to become a star at Ebbets Field -- but when the team moved to Los Angeles, Davis would make a name for himself on the West Coast. He won consecutive batting titles in 1962 and '63, and helped the Dodgers sweep the Yankees in the 1963 World Series.
In 1965, Davis' career path was altered 17 games into the season when he broke his ankle sliding into second base. He would play one more year in Los Angeles and before beginning a nine-year odyssey, playing for numerous teams including the Mets, White Sox, Seattle Pilots, Angels, Orioles and A's. He ended his career in 1976 with the Kansas City Royals.
So what has Davis been up to since his playing days ended?
"Well, I've been working for myself," said Davis. I'm into the advertising specialty field -- caps, T-shirts and that nature. I've been teaching hitting privately for the past eight years, I have about 30 kids that I teach on a regular basis, that can be in December or whatever, because of the weather, and then I make some personal appearances and do some traveling."
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| Davis and Dodgers starter Darren Dreifort. | | |
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Davis sat down with MLB.com at Dodger Stadium, which will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2002. Davis was in left field the day the ballpark opened in 1962 and agreed that the stadium looked pretty close to the way it did when it first opened.
"It's one of the best looking parks for the price and it still looks beautiful," said Davis. "When you come here the dimensions are great and the ball field is great and people can see everything from any seat in the house."
Davis reminisced about the wonderful Dodger teams he played with in the early 1960s.
"We had a great family," said a very proud Davis. "Starting from the top with (Dodger GM) Buzzie (Bavasi) and Mr. (Walter) O'Malley and Al Campanis and (Dodger manager) Walter Alston right on down to Sandy Koufax -- who's a homey of mine, he's from Brooklyn -- and to Mr. Maury Wills. He was the key to our offense. He got on base quite often and made it easy for us to hit. We got more fastballs because he was stealing bases.
"Then you had the pitching with Koufax, Drysdale, Podres, Perranoski ... Osteen came a little later. We were fortunate enough to be in a playoff in '62 that we should have won, but we redeemed ourselves in '63 with a 4-0 series win over the Yankees.
"In '65 and Lou Johnson came in and took my place (due to his broken ankle) and was a hero in the World Series. We were again in the World Series in '66, but we lost 4-0 to that Baltimore team. I unfortunately remember that too."
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| Davis, far right, poses with Dodger Manager Jim Tracy, third from right and the other speaker's bureau members when Tracy met with the group in January of last year. | | |
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Davis, who will turn 63 in March, had a remarkable year in 1962 batting .346 with 230 hits and an astounding 153 RBIs. Davis credits his talented teammates for the success he had that year.
"You have to remember now, we had great pitching, we had Maury on-base a lot, so you got to see a lot more fastballs," said Davis. "I also had Frank Howard hitting behind me, who had a great year also. So, the pitchers didn't want to walk me because of Frank Howard, I got three guys in front of me that can fly in Maury, Jim Gilliam and the Three-Dog (Willie Davis), so if they're on-base, I get more fastballs to hit -- it's as simple as that, and I like fastballs (Davis grins). So I took advantage of that and I could stay in the zone under those circumstances."
Since the early 1980s Davis has been a member of the Dodgers' speakers bureau, a group of former Dodger players such as Wes Parker, Joe Moeller, Rudy Law, Don Newcombe, Lou Johnson, Al Downing, Bobby Castillio, Ron Cey and others who speak all over Southern California on behalf of the Dodgers.
"We each average maybe three or four speaking engagements a month," said Davis. "Multiply that by 12 members and that's how many we do. We're here to keep the Dodger image out there and talk to people who are great Dodger fans. Some remember our playing days and they want to know about the young kids coming up now and we inform them as much as we can."
Before the 2001 season started, current Dodger manager Jim Tracy met with bureau to pick their brains about Dodger tradition and solicit their opinions about the current Dodger team. Davis was very impressed with Tracy's gesture.
"We did have a meeting," said Davis, "and according to Don Newcombe, that was the first time in 42 years that a manager talked to the ex-ballplayers and had a meeting with the guys, who gave him some advice and made some suggestions. He was very open and willing to do that and to this day he told us that his door is always open and to come down and come and say hello to him. That's great. It's nice to know that he would accept some of our comments and maybe help the team. We are here to help the team."
Davis, who helped the Dodgers in so many ways in the past, is still helping the organization in the present and foreseeable future.
