Remembering the 3-Dog

                             Willie Davis was one of the fastest players to ever don a Dodger uniform. He was born William Henry Davis on April 15, 1940, in Mineral Springs Arkansas. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was young. He was a three-sport standout at Theodore Roosevelt High School. The school was founded in 1922 and named after the 26th president and they are nicknamed, the Rough Riders. Located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East LA, they have a spirited rivalry with Garfield High. 

                            Davis played baseball and basketball and was a track and field star, he once ran a 9.5 second 100-yard dash, and set a city record with a long jump of 25 feet five inches. He was discovered and signed after graduation in 1958 by Kenny Myers. He started at Class-B Green Bay but only played 7 games before being demoted too Class-C Reno, where he hit .365 in 117 games. He also hit 15 homers and drove in 90 runs.  He also showed some of his blazing speed stealing 33 bases. 

                            He was promoted to AAA Spokane at the beginning of 1960. In 147 games, the speedy outfielder hit .346 with 12 homers and 75 driven in. He also hit 43 doubles and 26 triples. He stole 30 bases and was caught 7 times. If anything, his only real weak spot was that he did not walk much, just 42 in 666 plate appearances. Nevertheless, he got promoted to the Dodgers and appeared in 22 games, hitting .318 with 2 homers, 10 driven in, 6 doubles and a triple. He had 3 steals and was caught 5 times. But he had played his last game in the minors. In 1961, he became the Dodgers front line center fielder.  He would stay there for 13 years.

                            1961 was not a banner year for the Dodgers as a team. They did improve over 1960 and won 89 games to finish second in the NL to the Reds. They were getting younger too. Carl Furillo was gone, replaced by slugging Frank Howard. Willie took over as the primary CF for Duke Snider. Besides the 21-year-old Willie Davis, the Dodgers had Ron Fairly, 22, Tommy Davis, 22, Howard was 24, and many of the younger players in their system who got looks that year were below 25 years old. 

                           Even the pitching staff was getting younger. The oldest starter was 28-year-old Johnny Podres, Koufax and Drysdale were 25 and 24. Stan Williams, the #4 starter was also 24. Davis played in 128 games, batting .254 with 12 homers and 45 driven in. He did not get any votes for Rookie of the Year. He stole 12 bases and was caught 5 times. His defense was good, he had 4 errors and 4 assists from CF.

                          In 1962, the Dodgers moved into their new home. All of the players were happy to be out of the coliseum. Willie was now entrenched as the Dodgers CF. He played in 157 games, slugging 21 homers, hitting .285, and driving in 85 and stealing 32 bases to go along with Will’s, 104. Willie also led the league in triples with 10. LA won 102 games and lost the pennant. They tied the Giants and lost the 3-game playoff. Losing Koufax for an extended period of time with a problem in his hand contributed to their collapse. Tommy Davis had taken over as the primary LF for Wally Moon and won the batting title. 

                           1963 brought some more changes to the roster. Duke Snider was sold to the Mets. Fairly took over at first base. Five of the starting eight players were 26 or under. Roseboro, Gilliam and Wills were the only players 30 or older. While Tommy Davis would go on to win his second batting title, Willie regressed. He hit just .245 with 9 homers and 60 driven in. He stole 25 bases but was caught 11 times. He still did not walk much, just 25 times in 555 plate appearances. But the offense was good enough with the pitching they had, Koufax winning his first Cy Young award and the MVP. They would sweep the Yankees in the World Series. Willie hit just .167 with 3 RBIs and 6 Ks in 12 at bats. His 3 driven in were important though. His 2 -run double in game 2 was enough for the 4-1 win. In game 4, he drove in Gilliam with the deciding 2nd run on a sac-fly. 

                           The Dodgers tanked again in 1964. They finished under .500 at 80-82. Koufax was injured again and started just 29 games, but he won 19 of them. The offense sputtered for the most part. But Willie had a very good season. He registered a 8.4 WAR, best on the team. He hit .294 with 12 homers, 77 driven in and a career high 42 stolen bases and he scored 91 times. He only walked 22 times in 652 plate appearances. His defense was excellent as usual, but that guy in San Francisco, Mays, kept picking up the Gold Glove hardware. 

                            65 would be another pennant winning year for the Dodgers, and they did it without LF Tommy Davis who went down with a broken ankle in May. Lou Johnson replaced him. Meanwhile, Willie’s BA sank 56 points. He dropped all the way to .238. He scored just 52 runs, hit 10 homers and drove in 57. He stole 25 bases but was caught 9 times. He walked just 14 times in 595 plate appearances. In the World Series against the Twins, he hit .231, scored 3 runs and drove in none. But he set a record, since broken, of 3 stolen bases in a single game.

                            Willie bounced back again in 1966. He batted .284 with 11 homers, 61 driven in and 21 steals. He scored 74 runs and had 177 hits, second highest of his career to that point. He had a miserable World Series in the four-game sweep by the Orioles.  In the fifth inning of game 2, he made 3 errors on two consecutive plays allowing 2 runs to score. LA’s offense was totally shut down by Baltimore pitching which allowed just 2 runs, both in the first game. Willie hit just .063 with just 1 hit in the series. In game 4, he made a leaping catch robbing Boog Powell of a homer. 

                             More changes came after the loss to the Orioles. Koufax retired, Tommy Davis was traded to the Mets along with Derrell Grifith for Ron Hunt and Jim Hickman. Maury Wills was traded to the Pirates for Bob Bailey and Gene Michael. With Koufax retired, the Dodgers pitching was not as effective as it had been before. The offense struggled to score runs and the team sank to 8th place. Willie was not immune to the slump, he continued his one good season, one down season trend with a .257/6/41 performance. He scored 66 runs and stole 32 bases.  

                              All he and the Dodgers could hope to do was improve in 1968. It did not happen. Well, not enough anyway. LA finished in 7th place. Davis’s BA dropped to .250. He hit just 7 homers and drove in 31 runs. He scored 86 runs and stole 36 bases to lead the team. Other than Drysdale’s six consecutive shutouts and 58 2/3rds scoreless inning streak, the team did not have much to cheer about. Davis played in 160 games that season, a career high. 

                               Willie would have a compete turn-around in 1969. The team improved to a 4th place finish in 1969, mostly due to the resurgence of their centerfielder. Willie hit .311 that year, he played just 129 games, his least number of games since his rookie year. He had 11 homers and 59 driven in. He stole 24 bases and scored 66 runs. It was his eighth straight year with 20 or more steals. More impressive was his 31-game hitting streak from August 1 to September 3rd. The longest since 49 when Dom DiMaggio hit in 34 straight. It broke the team record of 29 set by Zack Wheat in 1916. That streak still stands today. Closest anyone has come is 30 games by Andre Ethier in 2011.  Willie also recorded a OPS over .800 for the first and only time in his career.

                                The 1970 squad finished 2nd in the NL West. They were led by Wes Parker, who hit .319. Parker led the league with 47 doubles and drove in 111 runs despite hitting just 10 homers. Willie led the league in triples with 16, hit .305, with 8 homers, 93 driven in and 38 stolen bases. LA finished 2nd again in 1971. Willie hit over .300, .309, for the third straight season. He hit 10 homers to go along with 10 triples, 33 doubles, 20 stolen bases and 74 driven in. He scored 84 runs and had 198 hits: his career high. Willie made his first All-Star team and won his first Gold Glove.
                               Willie turned 32 in 1972. He played his 13th season with the Dodgers.  The Dodgers finished 2nd in the West. Willie hit .289/19/79. His second highest homer total in his career. He stole 20 bases, making it 12 years in a row with 20 or more steals. He scored 81 runs and had 178 hits. The team would finish 2nd for the third straight year in 1973. 33-year-old Davis batted .285/16/77. He stole 17 bases ending his 12-year streak. He made the All-Star team for the second time and won his second Gold Glove. Willie went 3-3 in his two All-Star games, one of his hits was a homer off of Nolan Ryan. 

                              That winter, the Dodgers decided to go in another direction. They traded for CF Jimmy Wynn from Houston and traded Willie to the Expos for reliever Mike Marshall. Both those moves paid off for the team as Wynn brought some RH power to the team, and Marshall won the Cy Young award as the Dodgers won the pennant for the first time since 1966, then lost the World Series in 5 games to the A’s.

                             Willie had a good year in Montreal. He batted .295/12/89. He stole 25 bases for the Expos. That winter, Montreal traded Willie to the Rangers for Pete Mackanin and Don Stanhouse. He played 42 games with the Rangers before being traded again, this time to the Cardinals. The Rangers received Ed Brinkman and Tommy Moore. Willie had better stats in St. Louis, batting .291. Hit totals for the year, .277/11/67. He stole 23 bases, giving him 14 seasons of stealing 20 or more. That winter, he was on the move again, this time traded back to the NL and the West to the Padres for OF, Dick Sharon. 

                             Willie was no longer an everyday player. He was 36 and slowing down. The Padres were bad enough though for him to play in 141 games. He hit .268, but had just 5 homers and 46 runs batted in. He stole just 14 bases but had 10 triples. The fifth time in his career in double figures. The Padres actually finished in 5th place in the West, 3 games ahead of Atlanta. Willie was released after the season and got no MLB offers that winter. So, he went to Japan and signed with the Chunichi Dragons. 

                              The 37-year-old Davis played in 72 games for the Dragons. He hit .306 with 25 homers and 63 driven in. He returned to Japan in 1978 and played in 127 games for the Crown Lighter Lions in the Japanese Pacific League. He batted .293 with 18 homers and 69 driven in. He was signed as a free agent by the Angels in March of 1979. He would play in 43 games for the Angels, hitting .250 with no homers and just 2 RBIs. He was on the Angels roster for the ALCS that year, he collected 1 hit in 2 at bats. That was his last major league action.

                              He played in the Mexican League in 1980, playing for Vera Cruz. He hit .301 in 91 games with 6 homers, 6 triples, 21 doubles and 37 driven in. He managed the team for a few games and then retired. His final MLB line, .279/182/1053. He had 2,561 hits and 398 stolen bases. At the time of his retirement, he ranked third in MLB history in games played in center field behind Willie Mays and Tris Speaker. Despite his career 60.8 WAR, Davis did not appear on the 1985 Hall of Fame ballot, the first year in which he would have been eligible. And he has not appeared on any subsequent ballot. 

                           Willie had married Jeanna LenYou in September of 1963. They had two daughters, and he adopted her son. They divorced in 1975. Davis also had another son with his second wife, Amy Rumbelow. Davis converted to Buddhism while married to Jeanna and he would constantly finger his prayer beads and chant before games. When he went to play in Japan, he hoped his host country would embrace his religion. However, his enthusiastic display of his religion disturbed his teammates and made them feel like they were attending a Buddhist funeral, that according to his manager, Wally Yonamine.

                         He appeared on several TV programs including Mr. Ed, The Flying Nun and Owen Marshall. He also appeared in Jerry Lewis’s 1970 movie, Which Way to the Front. Willie fell on hard times later in life. He had problems with drugs and some brushes with law enforcement. Buzzie Bavasi once said that Davis wasted a lot of his talent. Buzzies quote was ” He could have been a Hall of Famer, but he had million-dollar legs and a 10-cent head.”.

                        He made headlines in 1996 when he went to his parents’ house and threatened to kill them if they did not give him 5000$. He was armed with a set of throwing knives and a samurai sword. Tommy Hawkins worked with him and would see him at Dodger Stadium in various states of disarray. Willie was for a time a very disturbed person Hawkins said. He eventually got his act together and worked his way back into the Dodger fold. Davis was found dead by his neighbor on March 9th, 2010.  Initial indications said it was from natural causes. 

                         Willie is second all-time in games played for LA behind Bill Russell, first in WAR, offensive WAR, 5th in defensive WAR. First in at bats, plate appearances, runs scored, hits, total bases, triples, 2nd in doubles behind Garvey. Third in RBIs behind Garvey and Karros, third in stolen bases. He will forever be remembered by those of us who saw him play. One of the most exciting plays in baseball was Willie running out a triple.