Eric Davis

At 62 years old, Eric Davis has this physical status:

Eric Keith Davis (born May 29, 1962) is an American former center fielder for several Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, most notably the Cincinnati Reds, to which he owes his nickname Eric the Red.

Davis was 21 years old when he made his major league debut with the Reds on May 19, 1984.

Davis spent eight seasons with the Reds and later played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Detroit Tigers, Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals, and San Francisco Giants.

A right-handed batter and fielder, Davis was blessed with a mesmerizing combination of athletic ability, including excellent foot and bat speed, tremendous power, and superlative defensive acumen.

He became one of baseball's most exciting players during his peak, achieving a number of rare feats.

In 1987, he became the first player in major league history to hit three grand slams in one month and the first to achieve at least 30 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season.

A native of Los Angeles, California, the Reds selected Davis in the eighth round of the 1980 amateur draft from John C. Fremont High School in South Los Angeles, where he was a heavily recruited college basketball prospect.

In his major league career, he often sustained injuries while winning two MLB All-Star Game selections, three Rawlings Gold Glove Awards and two Silver Slugger Awards.

Over a 162-game period spanning June 11, 1986, to July 4, 1987, he batted .308, .406 on-base percentage, .622 slugging percentage with 47 home runs, 149 runs scored, 123 runs batted in (RBI) and 98 stolen bases.

In 1990, he became a World Series champion in the Reds' upset and four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics. A series of injuries derailed what seemed to be an even more promising career as he moved to the Dodgers and then the Tigers, and he retired in 1994.

In 1996, Davis successfully restarted his baseball career with the Reds and was named the comeback player of the year.

He moved to the Orioles and, despite fighting colon cancer, he had one of his best statistical seasons in 1998.

Injuries again slowed Davis over the next few seasons, and he retired for good in 2001. Along with other business interests, Davis currently works as a roving instructor in the Reds organization.

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Early career

Davis won 40 bases in 62 games in his first full year of professional baseball.

When Davis first appeared in the major leagues in 1984, his physical attributes made him one of the game's most exciting players. He was a rare five-tool player with home run ability as well as sheer speed on the base paths. He used to robbing home runs and evoked comparisons of Willie Mays.

Davis began to perform in 1986, batting.277, swatting 27 homers, and stealing 80 bases. He and Rickey Henderson are the only players in major league history to play for the "20/80 club." He made 659 plate appearances and batted.406/.622 with 47 home runs, 123 RBI, and 98 stolen bases in a 162-game span (June 11, 1986-June 4, 1987). (He was caught stealing only 12 times.)

Davis continued to grow from his triumph in 1987. He went 3–for–3 on Opening Day, with a home run, a robbed base, and two walks. He was batting.526 with 4 home runs and 8 stolen bases in his first ten games. He made 2 home runs on May 1, 1987, one of which was a grand slam, on May 1, 1987. He hit another three home runs, one each to left, center, and right field, as well as a grand slam and a stolen base. He made his first appearance in history to reach three grand slams in a month earlier this month. Davis crashed into the outfield brick wall during an exciting play in the late innings at Wrigley Field on September 4; he stayed on the ground several minutes and slowed afterward.

Davis had a.293 average, 37 home runs, and 50 steals during the 1987 season. Despite playing in only 129 games, he became the first player in history to reach 30 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season. Just six players had made it to the 30-33 club before 1987, with only six others winning the tournament. Davis, Joe Carter, and Howard Johnson, among others, joined the 30-30 club in that season. With a record that is the third-best single season record ever, he led the league in power-speed numbers (42.53).

Davis' averaged 30 home runs and 40 stolen bases from 1986 to 1990. He was one of the game's most exciting players and a well-known celebrity. Every year, he earned some MVP votes from 1986 to 1990, with one of the top ten in the country every year. He appeared in the top ten of home runs, slugging percentage, and OPS each year from 1986 to 1989. Although he had several other good seasons later in his career, injuries prevented him from achieving this peak once more. Davis was a key figure in Cincinnati's "wire-to-wire" championship season in 1990, with a solid lineup around him.

In his first World Series at bat in 1990, Davis homered off Oakland's Dave Stewart. The Reds' World Series sweep started at home. Davis sustained a laced kidney while diving for a ball in game 4 of the Series, which required surgery. He underwent off-season knee surgery on a knee that he had suffered earlier this season.

Davis was unable to return to work after 1990. Injuries sabotaged his play in 1991, and Tim Belcher and John Wetteland were traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Tim Belcher and John Wetteland. In 1992, he suffered several more injuries and was largely ineffective.

Davis was traded by the Dodgers to the Detroit Tigers on August 23, 1993, for a player who will be announced later. The Tigers sent pitcher John DeSilva to the Dodgers one week later to complete the deal. In 1993, the Tigers had one of the best offenses in the country, and they were looking to fix one of their few weaknesses, the center field position, which was one of their few shortcomings. Davis, Milt Cuyler, batted very well in 29 games with the Tigers; he batted fifth or sixth and finished with an adjusted OPS of 142, his sixth 20/20 seasons. Davis had been expected to be the Tigers' primary center fielder in 1994, but injuries limited him to only 37 games and a batting average of just.183. Davis was given free agency by the Tigers following the 1994 season's strike-shortened 1994 season and decided to retire.

After recovering for one season, he was able to return to baseball with Cincinnati in 1996. He had a good season with a.287 average and 26 home runs, but injuries cut into his playing time. He had played well enough to convince Baltimore to let him know as a free agent.

End of playing career and legacy

Davis' career came to an end in 1999. He spent three years with St. Louis and San Francisco before retiring in 2001.

Davis wrote Born to Play, his 1999 autobiography in which he praised Pete Rose for having faith in him and teaching him about the game. Ray Knight, the 1996 Reds' head coach, had stern words for him, who recalled a thrilling on-field battle in 1986. Knight said that after the season, he did not support his comeback and did not stand up for him in labour talks. Davis, who sustained his World Series injury, is still bitter about the Reds' treatment of him. Davis was left homeless in Oakland after the series and asked that the Reds provide him with a private plane to transport him back to Cincinnati. After the hospital released Davis, he said he was refused a number of times and made his own way home.

Davis was "the best hitter, best runner, best outfielder, and best everything" he ever saw, according to former Reds teammate Paul O'Neill.

Davis, a hitting coach for Elite Development Invitational in Vero Beach, Florida, is a black man who plays for the National Youth Association in baseball as of 2017.

Career statistics

Davis had a.269 batting average (1430-for-5321) in 1,626 games over 17 seasons, 292 triples, 282 home runs, 934 bases on balls, 312 bases on balls,.359 on-base percentage, and a.482 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a.984 fielding percentage at all three outfield positions. He was 192 (14-for-73) in 25 out-of-74 games, with 7 runs, 2 home runs, and 12 RBI.

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