Eric Davis
Outfielder
Born: May 29, 1962 (1962-05-29) (age 46) Los Angeles, California
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 19, 1984 for the Cincinnati Reds
Final game
October 7, 2001 for the San Francisco Giants
Career statistics
Batting average	. Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in Baseball farthest from the batter Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Events 1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships 110 men and Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Detroit Tigers over San Diego Padres (4-1 Alan Trammell, MVP The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati Ohio, USA Events 3761 BC - The epoch (origin of the modern Hebrew calendar ( Proleptic Julian calendar) Champions Major League Baseball Regular Season Champions Other champions Caribbean World Series: The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in, that currently play in the National League West Division. Batting average is a Statistic in both Cricket and Baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively 269
Home runs	282
Runs batted in	934
Teams
Cincinnati Reds (1984-1991, 1996) Los Angeles Dodgers (1992-1993) Detroit Tigers (1993-1994) Baltimore Orioles (1997-1998) St. Louis Cardinals (1999-2000) San Francisco Giants (2001)
Career highlights and awards
2x All-Star selection (1987, 1989) World Series champion (1990) 3x Gold Glove Award winner (1987, 1988, 1989) 2x Silver Slugger Award winner (1987, 1989) 1997 Roberto Clemente Award 1997 Hutch Award 1997 Tony Conigliaro Award 1996 NL Comeback Player of the Year 1989 Home Run Derby winner

Eric Keith Davis (born May 29, 1962 in Los Angeles, California) is a former center fielder for several Major League Baseball teams. The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati Ohio, USA Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Detroit Tigers over San Diego Padres (4-1 Alan Trammell, MVP Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Minnesota Twins over Atlanta Braves (4-3 Jack Morris, MVP Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Atlanta Braves (4-2 John Wetteland, MVP The Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team based in Los Angeles California, USA Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Toronto Blue Jays over Atlanta Braves (4-2 Pat Borders, MVP Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Toronto Blue Jays over Philadelphia Phillies (4-2 Paul Molitor, The Detroit Tigers are a professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan, USA Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Toronto Blue Jays over Philadelphia Phillies (4-2 Paul Molitor, Headline events of the year As a result of a players' strike the MLB season ends prematurely on August 11, 1994. The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Florida Marlins over Cleveland Indians (4-3 Liván Hernández, Headline events of the year Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr The St Louis Cardinals (also referred to as "the Cards " or "the Redbirds " are a professional Baseball team based in St Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Atlanta Braves (4-0 Mariano Rivera, MVP Champions Major League Baseball Regular Season Champions Other champions Caribbean World Series: The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in, that currently play in the National League West Division. Champions Major League Baseball Regular Season Champions Other champions Caribbean World Series: The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the "Midsummer Classic" is an annual Baseball game between players from the National League For other events named "World Series" see World Series (disambiguation. The 1990 World Series matched the defending champions and heavily-favored Oakland Athletics against the Cincinnati Reds, with the Reds sweeping the Series in four For the award given to amateur boxers see Golden Gloves. In American Baseball, the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to The The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually to a Major League Baseball player selected for his character and charitable contributions to his community The Hutch Award is a Major League Baseball award given to an active player who best exemplifies the fighting spirit and competitive desire to win The Tony Conigliaro Award is a national award instituted in 1990 by the Boston Red Sox to honor the memory of their former star Tony Conigliaro. The Home Run Derby is an event played prior to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the Outfielder in Baseball who plays defense in center field - the baseball fielding position Davis was 21 years old when he broke into the big leagues on May 19, 1984, with the Cincinnati Reds, the team for which he is most remembered. The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati Ohio, USA Davis actually began his professional career as a shortstop, but after committing 35 errors during his first season in the professional ranks, he was on the verge of being released. Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and Third base. It was then suggested that he be moved to center field and his career flourished.

Early career

When Eric Davis first appeared in 1984, his physical talents gave him the potential to be one of the most exciting players in the game. He was a rare five-tool player with home-run power as well as sheer speed on the basepaths. In Baseball, a five-tool player is one who excels at hitting for average, hitting for power, Baserunning skills and speed Throwing He made a habit of robbing home runs and elicited comparisons to Willie Mays. Willie Howard Mays Jr (born May 6 1931 is a retired American Baseball player who played the majority of his career with the New York and San Francisco Giants

Unfortunately, he was also highly injury-prone, never playing more than 135 games in any season.

Davis showed what he could do in 1986 hitting . 277 with 27 homers and stealing 80 bases. He built on that success by hitting . 293 with 37 homers and 50 steals in 1987, despite playing in only 129 games. From 1986 to 1990, he averaged 30 home runs and 40 steals. In 1990, with a solid team around him, Davis would be a key player in Cincinnati's "wire-to-wire" championship season.

One of Davis' most famous moments was when he homered off Oakland's Dave Stewart in his first World Series at bat in 1990. The Oakland Athletics are a professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. David Keith Stewart (born February 19 1957 in Oakland California) is a former right-handed starting Pitcher in Major League Baseball For other events named "World Series" see World Series (disambiguation. The home run triggered a World Series sweep for the Reds. While diving for a ball during the Series, Davis suffered a lacerated kidney which required surgery. He also underwent off-season surgery on a knee that he had injured earlier in the season.

After 1990, Davis was unable to get his career back on track. Injuries sabotaged his play in 1991 and he was traded to Los Angeles for Tim Belcher and John Wetteland. Timothy Wayne Belcher (born October 19, 1961 in Mount Gilead Ohio) is a retired Major League Baseball Pitcher. John Karl Wetteland (born August 21, 1966 in San Mateo California) is a former Major League Baseball Pitcher, who pitched as a He suffered several more injuries in 1992 and was largely ineffective. By the end of 1993, the Dodgers dealt him to Detroit for a minor-leaguer. After the trade, his body continued to deteriorate and he retired at the end of the 1994 season.

After recuperating for one season, he felt healthy enough to return to baseball with Cincinnati in 1996. He had a solid season with a . 287 average and 26 home runs, although injuries cut into his playing time. He had played well enough, however, to convince Baltimore to sign him as a free agent. The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Cancer diagnosis and recovery

In May of 1997, Davis was devastated to learn that he had colon cancer. Colorectal cancer, also called colon cancer or large bowel cancer, includes Cancerous growths in the colon, Rectum and He vowed to return that season, although most felt that it would be unlikely that he could recover in time and was forced to have an ileo-anal pouch. The ileal pouch-anal anastomosis ( IPAA) also known as an ileo-anal pouch, restorative proctocolectomy, ileal-anal pullthrough, or sometimes By September, while he was still in treatment, Davis returned to the team. His cancer treatment left him tired but he worked hard to regain his form. Davis was well-enough to hammer a game winning home run in the 1997 American League Championship Series. After the season, he was given the Roberto Clemente Award. The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually to a Major League Baseball player selected for his character and charitable contributions to his community He serves as an honorary board member of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation or MMRF is a Non-profit organization based in Norwalk Connecticut dedicated to "accelerating the search for a

Davis was brought back for 1998 and went on to have one of his best seasons, batting . 327 with 28 homers. He also hit in 30 consecutive games that season.

End of Career

1999 would be the beginning of the end for Davis. He spent three injury-plagued seasons with St. Louis and San Francisco before retiring in 2001.

In 1999, Davis wrote his autobiography, Born to Play in which he credited Pete Rose for having faith in him and teaching him about the game. An autobiography, from the Greek αὐτός autos "self" βίος bios "life" and γράφειν graphein "to write" He also had harsh words for Ray Knight, who was the Reds manager in 1996. Charles Ray Knight (born December 28 1952, in Albany Georgia) is a former right-handed Major League Baseball player who played in He claimed Knight did not support his comeback and did not stand up for him in contract negotiations after the season. Davis remains bitter about the Reds treatment of him after his World Series injury. Davis was left behind in Oakland after the series and requested that the Reds provide a private plane to bring him back to Cincinnati. Oakland (ˈoʊklənd founded in 1852 is the eighth-largest city in the U Davis claimed that he was refused a number of times and made his own way home after the hospital released him.

Trivia

• Davis was also among the first high profile baseball players to wear Nike high-top cleats.
• He was known as "Eric the Red" during his career in Cincinnati.
• He is the godfather of NBA basketball player Jordan Farmar. Jordan Robert Farmar (born November 30 1986 is an American professional Basketball player for the NBA 's Los Angeles Lakers.
• Steve Carlton recorded his 4,000th strikeout against Davis in 1986. Steven Norman Carlton (born December 22, 1944 in Miami Florida) is a former left-handed Pitcher in Major League Baseball, from to Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar)
• He is childhood friends with Darryl Strawberry, another former MLB baseball player. Darryl Eugene Strawberry (born March 12, 1962) is a former Baseball player who is well-known both for his play on the baseball field and for his controversial
• When he played his first MLB game in 1984, he played without a number. Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar)
• His high school league included Darryl Strawberry and Chris Brown on a cross town team.

Highlights

• Twice National League All-Stars (1987, 1989)
• 3-time Gold Glove Award (1987-89)
• Twice Silver Slugger Award (1987, 1989)
• Second in stolen bases (NL 1986, 80 - behind Vince Coleman, 107)
• TSN Comeback Player of the Year Award (1996)
• Roberto Clemente Award (1997)
• Hutch Award (1997)
• Tony Conigliaro Award (1997)
• Best season: 1987
  • . The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the "Midsummer Classic" is an annual Baseball game between players from the National League For the award given to amateur boxers see Golden Gloves. In American Baseball, the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to The In Baseball, a stolen base occurs when a Baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the Pitcher is delivering the ball to Home plate This is for the baseball player For the heroic train dispatcher see Vince Coleman (train dispatcher. The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award is the older of two annual awards in Major League Baseball given to one player in each league who has The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually to a Major League Baseball player selected for his character and charitable contributions to his community The Hutch Award is a Major League Baseball award given to an active player who best exemplifies the fighting spirit and competitive desire to win The Tony Conigliaro Award is a national award instituted in 1990 by the Boston Red Sox to honor the memory of their former star Tony Conigliaro. 293 batting average
  •    37 home runs
  •  100 RBI
  •    50 stolen bases
• Stole 80 bases in 1986 with 27 homers in only 415 At Bats. Batting average is a Statistic in both Cricket and Baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively
• Became the first, and one of only two players ever to hit 25 or more home runs and steal 80 or more bases in a season in 1986 (Rickey Henderson accomplished this feat for the Yankees that same year). Rickey Henley Henderson (born as Rickey Nelson Henley, December 25 1958 in Chicago, Illinois) is a former Major League Baseball Outfielder The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of The Bronx, in New York City, New York.
• Holds the Baltimore Orioles hitting streak record with 30 games in 1998. The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.
• Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame (inducted in 2005)

Career statistics

• Games Played: 1626
• At Bats: 5321
• Hits: 1430
• Runs: 938
• Doubles: 239
• Triples: 26
• Home Runs: 282
• Runs Batted In: 934
• Batting average: . The Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame was instituted in 1958 to recognize the career of former Cincinnati Reds players managers and front-office executives In Baseball, an at bat ( AB) or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including Batting average, On base In Baseball statistics, a hit (denoted by H) sometimes called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches In Baseball, a run is scored when a player advances safely around first second and third base and returns safely to Home plate, touching In Mathematics a triple is an n-tuple with n being 3. A triple is a sequence of three elements Batting average is a Statistic in both Cricket and Baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively 269
• Stolen bases: 349
• Played 17 seasons from 1984 to 2001. In Baseball, a stolen base occurs when a Baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the Pitcher is delivering the ball to Home plate

See also

• 30-30 club
• Hitting for the cycle
• Top 500 home run hitters of all time
• List of athletes on Wheaties boxes
• Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game

Books

Autobiography: Born To Play, 1999, ISBN 0-670-88511-8

DVD

Documentary/Biography/Instructional: Hitting From the Heart, 2007 http://www.ericdavisbaseball.com

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Official Eric Davis website
• Eric Davis at Baseball Library
• Eric Davis at PreventCancer.org
• Time Magazine article on Eric Davis (1987)