If Chris Davis hits 62?

[DrungoHazewood]

Could anyone please name a good comparison to Chris Davis other than Barry Bonds? I am tired of referring to Davis as the new Bonds.

Sammy Sosa. He had no plate discipline and was pretty much given up on early in his career then started hitting insane numbers of homers.

His #1 bb-ref comp through age 26 is Glenn Davis, which kind of shows the limits of non-context adjusted comps. #2 is Jay Gibbons, #3 is Nick Swisher, and #4 is Phil Plantier. #6 is Bo Jackson, which somehow seems a little appropriate. #10 is Lee May.

[birdcrazy]

I have already had a few people mention PEDS when I bring him up. In my mind, he reminds me a lot of a Frank Davis type hitter. Just a very strong guy who if he gets solid contact the ball is gone.

[MagicBird]

Bat speed comes from lower body strength.

Bat speed is a gift. Something that you just have. Strong wrists and forearms help way more than the lower body. But its more than just strength. A person has to have the natural ability. The natural ability can be improved upon, but its still something you have to have.

[ExileAngelos]

The only thing to do is bench him after his 60th homer - unles he gets it by game 154.

Or leave it up to Rick Dempsey's discretion.

OMG, you can't be serious with that font color. I now have a headache.

[crawjo]

I don't really understand why people get so invested in records that they would seek to de-legitimize other performances due to whatever criteria they prefer. To me the statistical record of baseball is simply a record of what has happened in all the officially sanctioned games in MLB. Every single mark in that register was achieved within a certain context, which fluctuated depending on length of schedule, composition of the baseball, size of the ballpark, whether or not dark-skinned people were allowed to play on the field, advances in health, medicine, and technology, and on and on and on. 73 is the record, but all that means is that Barry Bonds hit the ball over the fence 73 times in 1 season.

As for PED usage endangering the health of players, I somewhat agree. I think the current regime is probably the best we can ever hope for. We know players are still taking PEDs, but the tests are at least stringent enough that most players won't be able to risk the EXCESSIVE use of PEDs as was commonplace in the 1990s and early 2000s. Beyond that, it's just a risk that every baseball player has to consider. But putting your body on the line is embedded in the very nature of athletic competition. Think about pitching. Any doctor will tell you that throwing a baseball is a very unnatural and unhealthy thing to do. And yet the history of the game is marked by constant "advances" in pitching that have placed ever more strain on arms--from throwing overhanded and throwing fastballs to the discovery of the curveball, the screwball, the slider, the split-fingered fastball, etc. All these pitches come with significant risks, where many pitchers have had to have multiple reconstructive surgeries on their elbows and shoulders, or have suffered from blood clots that have curtailed careers and in some cases endangered lives. This is all built into the sport. It's part of the bargain you make when you sign up to be a professional athlete.

[OrioleMagic79]

I think that you are right. I think that he is very clean. He got upset with himself when he broke a bat over his knee after striking out because he felt that he set a bad example by losing his temper in front of a crowd. He appears to be a nice guy with a great attitude. He seems to put the team first and is very humble. His twitter is loaded with scripture verses on how to be a better person. I think that he lives his life by what he puts on his twitter, hardwork and integrity. He just quietly goes about his business and looks like he just enjoys playing the game. All those things do not make Davis perfect, but he does have a character profile that I believe make it less likely that Davis is on PEDs. Davis is a rare player and the O's are blessed to have him on this team.

After posting this, I went over to Davis' twitter and he had the following two tweets for Saturday and Sunday. They actually fit what I wrote. As an professional baseball player it is probably a constant battle to stay humble, etc., and Davis probably post these in his twitter to keep himself accountable. Here are the tweets and a link to his twitter account.

"May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you." Psalms 25:21 NLT

"For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." Matthew 23:12 NIV

http://twitter.com/ChrisDavis_19

I hope that I am wrong, but consider me extremely skeptical of Davis's season. I understand everyone on here has reasons why they think he's clean, but who though Raffy wasn't clean? I sure as hell didn't think he was on any PEDs, and then he made a very definitive statement under oath and put himself at risk for perjury...

McGwire was very humble, was worried about the example he set for kids, kept to himself, and was adored by fans everywhere. He was an easy man to love for these reasons. Wasn't clean...

Sosa was adored by fans and was very friendly with everyone. He used to talk about his relationship with God all the time. Not clean...

Lance Armstrong raised money for cancer and inspired millions of people suffering from cancer with his books, bracelets and races for a cure. He spoke about resilience, believing in yourself, connecting with your inner spirituality and having faith in something higher that you should embrace and grab hold of to drive you to success. Raised millions of dollars for cancer research. One of the dirtiest athletes in history...

I am not going to say Chris Davis is definitely using PEDs, but that doesn't mean that I can't be skeptical...even as a die-hard Orioles fan. I can't allow myself to put these guys on a pedestal anymore, only to find out the ones I believe to be the true heroes/good guys have been just as dirty as the ones that I despise...

I hope it isn't true, but I would not be surprised in the least to find out he is on something...maybe it is something that isn't known much about and is technically legal at the moment, maybe it is him staying ahead of the tests with new ways to avoid getting caught, or maybe he has never taken a PED once in his entire life...

I don't know, I hope he is clean...but I am not ever going to be able to watch a guy perform at this level again (especially for the first time at the MLB level) without being skeptical...it's a sad truth...

[OrioleMagic79]

HR come from the combination of hand eye coordination, bat speed and body mass. Bat speed comes from lower body strength. Being able to bench press a lot does little to enhance bat speed . It does increase body mass but that doesn't appreciably add much to HR distance by it's self. Davis is successful because the combination of body mass and bat speed gives him great power, even when his hand eye coordination doesn't allow him to square the ball up.

His average HR distance is 409 feet this year. Bonds was 398, same as Nick Markakis. McGwires was around 419.

No. No it doesn't.

[DrungoHazewood]

I understand everyone on here has reasons why they think he's clean, but who though Raffy wasn't clean? I sure as hell didn't think he was on any PEDs, and then he made a very definitive statement under oath and put himself at risk for perjury...

I'm still not entirely sure he wasn't.

[isestrex]

I'm still not entirely sure he wasn't.

Agreed. I think there's a decent possibility (but not rock solid) that he took something in 2005. But I don't think that's ground for assuming he used PED's his entire career.

[Mondo Trasho]

People shouldn't have to endanger their health in order to compete. That is why you can't legalize PEDs. They are an unnecessary part of the game, cause health problems (especially with abuse), and shorten life expectancies. If they were legal, everyone would feel compelled to take them to compete. If you didn't take them, the public would demand that you did in order to be better.

Oh yeah, just like the public demanded Charles Barkley keep in shape in the basketball offseason instead of eating ice cream, cake and pizza. Oh wait no one did that. And nobody would do that for baseball either.

Talk about shortening life expectancy...

[Mondo Trasho]

Chris Davis is hitting more home runs because he's hitting the ball more often. His problem last year was he struck out way too much and didn't make contact enough.

All the steroids and HGH in the world isn't going to teach you how to take a pitch low and away, or how not to swing at balls 2,3, and 4.

Now, maybe he used PEDs to get as big and strong as he is. I don't know, I'm not him nor do I follow him everyday so who knows. But, the breakout he's having this year vs previous years is that he's making more contact and being more patient.

[OrioleMagic79]

Chris Davis is hitting more home runs because he's hitting the ball more often. His problem last year was he struck out way too much and didn't make contact enough.

All the steroids and HGH in the world isn't going to teach you how to take a pitch low and away, or how not to swing at balls 2,3, and 4.

Now, maybe he used PEDs to get as big and strong as he is. I don't know, I'm not him nor do I follow him everyday so who knows. But, the breakout he's having this year vs previous years is that he's making more contact and being more patient.

Show me one example of a guy who used PEDs that didn't also see a dramatic increase in his batting average...this argument is tired, time to put it to rest...

[Ruzious]

Agreed. I think there's a decent possibility (but not rock solid) that he took something in 2005. But I don't think that's ground for assuming he used PED's his entire career.

Me 3. His story was feasible, but the media pounced on him so forcefully and with such certainty that most just assumed he was 100% guilty.

[OrioleMagic79]

Me 3. His story was feasible, but the media pounced on him so forcefully and with such certainty that most just assumed he was 100% guilty.

Any use of PEDs tarnishes an entire career...if a guy was willing to do it once, why believe him when he says he only did it once?

This reminds me of some really accurate advice that I once received when I was still hung up on a girlfriend after she cheated on me..."Once a cheater, always a cheater. It's time to move on..."

[DrungoHazewood]

Show me one example of a guy who used PEDs that didn't also see a dramatic increase in his batting average...this argument is tired, time to put it to rest...

There have to be thousands of such examples. Most guys who've failed tests were minor leaguers or pitchers or marginal players. Matt Lawton was suspended for PEDs, and really had no batting average spike in a career with a .267 average. Mike Morse was suspended in 2005 and didn't even get regular MLB playing time until 2010. Neifi Perez failed a test in 2007, just as his career as a horrible hitter was coming to an end. Jay Gibbons was suspended at the end of 2007 after posting a .230 average, and he hit .260 for his career. Manny Ramirez was first suspended in '09 during a season where he hit 22 points below his career averages. Mike Jacobs was suspended in 2011 in the midst of a season where he didn't even hit .300 in high altitude AAA Colorado Springs.

It's almost laughable to think you could pick out PED use by batting average.