Tommy Davis, the Orioles' first DH, passes away at 83

[SteveA]

He played for the Orioles in 1973, 1974, and 1975, the first three years the AL had the DH.   He hit .306 for us in 1973.

He was already in his 30s when we acquired him, but we got three very productive years out of him.

[Frobby]

Just now, SteveA said:

He played for the Orioles in 1973, 1974, and 1975, the first three years the AL had the DH.   He hit .306 for us in 1973.

He was already in his 30s when we acquired him, but we got three very productive years out of him.

By modern metrics, he wasn’t as good as he seemed at the time.  OPS of .732/.702/.671, OPS+ of 107/105/95, rWAR 1.1/0.7/0.6.    But his BA was solid and he was pretty good on RBI in ‘73-74.   RIP.

[Pickles]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

By modern metrics, he wasn’t as good as he seemed at the time.  OPS of .732/.702/.671, OPS+ of 107/105/95, rWAR 1.1/0.7/0.6.    But his BA was solid and he was pretty good on RBI in ‘73-74.   RIP.

Shocking to see a .700 OPS being above average, and a DH having a positive WAR with such a number.

[Tony-OH]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

By modern metrics, he wasn’t as good as he seemed at the time.  OPS of .732/.702/.671, OPS+ of 107/105/95, rWAR 1.1/0.7/0.6.    But his BA was solid and he was pretty good on RBI in ‘73-74.   RIP.

It really is interesting when you take guys of the past and put them through more accurate modern metrics and find out they were more valuable, or less valuable than you believed.

[Oriole1940]

Pitching dominated many years back then.  It finally got to the point where the league instituted the DH to add more offense.

[waynebug]

If you were a little older you would remember Tommy Davis as a Dodger.

The 1962 and 1963 NL batting champ.  He set the Dodgers record with 230 hits and 153 (?) RBIs in a season.

He was injured about 1965 and was never as good.

 

[foxfield]

3 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

It really is interesting when you take guys of the past and put them through more accurate modern metrics and find out they were more valuable, or less valuable than you believed.

Like Bobby Grich....

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

3 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

It really is interesting when you take guys of the past and put them through more accurate modern metrics and find out they were more valuable, or less valuable than you believed.

Like Bobby Grich for instance he has a hall of fame resume, but wasn’t a high average hitter or RBI guy most seasons. But between his WAR, OPS+ and defensive metrics, Grich should have been voted in a long time ago.

Hopefully the players’ committee gets it right and soon. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

15 minutes ago, foxfield said:

Like Bobby Grich....

Heh, you beat me to it. 

[Tony-OH]

15 minutes ago, foxfield said:

Like Bobby Grich....

Exactly. Grich was always not appreciated due to his low average. Forget all those walks.

[DrungoHazewood]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

By modern metrics, he wasn’t as good as he seemed at the time.  OPS of .732/.702/.671, OPS+ of 107/105/95, rWAR 1.1/0.7/0.6.    But his BA was solid and he was pretty good on RBI in ‘73-74.   RIP.

Not to speak ill of the recently deceased, but they hadn't really figured out DHing or the relative value of someone with zero defensive value back then.  Davis was not productive, and each year they had guys at Rochester with .850+ OPSes.

[oriolediehard]

I will always remember the clutch winning hit he got in 1974 to help O's to the playoffs.  He was a great clutch hitter for the O's. RIP. He dropped a fly ball in the 1966 World Series that helped the O's too. My childhood hero.

[Number5]

2 hours ago, oriolediehard said:

He dropped a fly ball in the 1966 World Series that helped the O's too.

I believe that you are thinking of the Dodgers' center fielder, Willie Davis.

RIP, Tommy.

[Just Regular]

On 4/4/2022 at 4:30 PM, waynebug said:

If you were a little older you would remember Tommy Davis as a Dodger.

The 1962 and 1963 NL batting champ.  He set the Dodgers record with 230 hits and 153 (?) RBIs in a season.

He was injured about 1965 and was never as good.

 

You had this in your memory bank, but his early excellence was new to me.   From BP today:

This is kind of my Ryan Mountcastle dream season, and of course in his 30's if he is still hacking and in the league, he might resemble Orioles Tommy Davis.

The preceding was inspired by the late Dodgers great-for-a-moment Tommy Davis, who passed away on April 3. In 1962 Davis, then 23, had an offensive season remarkable for its hitting excellence and consistency. The Dodgers’ cleanup hitter for much of the season, the left fielder and occasional third baseman hit .346/.374/.535 in 163 games, leading the National League in batting average. His 230 hits and 153 runs batted in led the league as well. Davis’ 27 home runs were unremarkable (Willie Mays led the league with 49; Davis ranked 12th) but that actually helps put the spotlight where it belongs: Davis saw 510 baserunners, a high total for the NL that year but not an especially high total overall. Davis was not a hitter who liked to walk, but in this case his eagerness to swing worked in his team’s favor—he averaged .376 with men on and plated 25% of those runners, which is a top-20 figure all time and one of the highest figures by a player working outside of the rabbit-ball 1920s and 30s. Put another way, only 23 players since 1900 have driven in over 150 runs in a season, and Davis is one of them.