Glenn Davis (baseball)
Encyclopedia
Glenn Earl Davis is a former Major League Baseball
first baseman
. While a member of the Houston Astros
in the late 1980s, he finished three times in the top ten in National League MVP
balloting . He batted and threw right-handed.
, the school's athletic director, George Davis, took an interest in Glenn. While they are not related to Glenn, he and his wife, Norma, practically adopted him, and they are the biological parents of former major league pitcher
Storm Davis
. Though they are not related, Glenn and Storm have long considered themselves brothers.
Both were drafted in the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft
by the Baltimore Orioles
upon graduation from University Christian High School (Storm seventh round, Glenn 31st). While Storm chose to sign with the Orioles, Glenn accepted a baseball
scholarship and played one season at the University of Georgia
before becoming a first round pick (#5 overall) for the Houston Astros in the January Secondary 1981 Major League Baseball Draft
.
rookie of the year balloting.
Davis had a break out season in 1986. He had sixty RBIs and twenty home runs at the All-Star break
to make his first All-Star team
. For the season, he clubbed 31 home runs, and had 101 RBIs with a .265 batting average
to win the Silver Slugger
award at first base, and finish second to the Philadelphia Phillies
' Mike Schmidt
in NL MVP voting.
The Astros handily won the National League West
by ten games over the Cincinnati Reds
to face the New York Mets
in the 1986 National League Championship Series
. The only scoring in the game one pitchers' duel between Mike Scott
and Dwight Gooden
was a solo home run by Davis in the second inning. From there, Mets pitching would contain Davis until the classic game six extra innings marathon. Davis went three-for-seven with a run scored and two RBIs, including the final run
of the game as the Astros attempted to come back from a 7-4 deficit in the 16th inning.
Davis remained one of the top sluggers in the NL through 1989, earning a second All-Star selection in 1989, and finishing in the top ten in MVP voting in 1988 and 1989. In the 1990 season opener, Cincinnati Reds pitchers hit Davis with pitches in three of his six plate appearances. He hit three home runs in a loss to the San Francisco Giants
on June 1, however, a rib injury cause Davis to miss the entire month of July, and limited him to just 93 games all season. Despite his limited time on the field, Davis still managed to put up respectable numbers, hitting 22 home runs and driving in 64. He led the league by getting hit with a pitch eight times, including a September 29 game against the Atlanta Braves
which caused benches to clear. In the offseason, he was part of what many consider to be worst trade in Baltimore Orioles
history when he was traded to the Orioles for Steve Finley
, Pete Harnisch
and Curt Schilling
.
with the Orioles. He was batting .244 with four home runs and eight RBIs through April 24, 1991 when this injury landed him on the disabled list
, and kept him from the Orioles' line-up through the middle of August. Upon his return, he never regained his power hitting form, and ended the season with ten home runs, 28 RBIs and a .227 average in 49 games.
After having been dealt to the San Diego Padres
in 1986, Storm Davis rejoined the Orioles in 1992. Injuries caused Glenn to miss most of the month of April, and on May 7 the two appeared together in a game as teammates for the first time since college, a game in which Storm won. Glenn saw most of his action as designated hitter
that season, appearning in 106 games, but managing to hit only thirteen home runs and drive in just 48.
The 1993 season was a disaster for Davis. Splitting time fairly evenly between first base and designated hitter, Davis was batting just .177 with one home run and nine RBIs through May when his jaw was broken in a bar fight. After a brief stint with the triple A Rochester Redwings, Davis' return to action was delayed when he was hit by a line drive foul ball from teammate Jeffrey Hammonds
on August 1. He was finally reactivated on September 6, but following an argument with Orioles manager Johnny Oates
about being left out of the starting line-up against left-handed
pitcher Dave Fleming
, was released by the club without playing another game.
1994, but did not make the club. He later joined the Omaha Royals
and produced a batting average of .282 with 27 home runs and 97 RBI, but was not given another opportunity to play in the Majors. Davis played baseball in Japan for the Hanshin Tigers
as "Glenn" in 1995 and was a member of the independent St. Paul Saints
in 1996. He currently holds the record for most career home runs without hitting a grand slam
.
. He currently serves as an elected city councilman for the city of Columbus and owns the Hilton Garden Inn in Columbus. He is married to the former Teresa Beesley from Columbus, Georgia
, and the couple have three children: Sharayah, Tiffany, and Gabrielle.
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
. While a member of the Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
in the late 1980s, he finished three times in the top ten in National League MVP
MLB Most Valuable Player Award
The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award is an annual Major League Baseball award, given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America...
balloting . He batted and threw right-handed.
Early life
Davis' parent divorced when he was six years old. While attending University Christian School in Jacksonville, FloridaJacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, the school's athletic director, George Davis, took an interest in Glenn. While they are not related to Glenn, he and his wife, Norma, practically adopted him, and they are the biological parents of former major league pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
Storm Davis
Storm Davis
George Earl "Storm" Davis , is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the major leagues from 1982-1994.-World Series experience:...
. Though they are not related, Glenn and Storm have long considered themselves brothers.
Both were drafted in the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft
1979 Major League Baseball Draft
The 1979 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held on June 5-7, 1979, via conference call.-First round selections:The following are the first round picks in the 1979 Major League Baseball draft.* Did not sign- Background :...
by the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
upon graduation from University Christian High School (Storm seventh round, Glenn 31st). While Storm chose to sign with the Orioles, Glenn accepted a baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
scholarship and played one season at the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
before becoming a first round pick (#5 overall) for the Houston Astros in the January Secondary 1981 Major League Baseball Draft
1981 Major League Baseball Draft
-First round selections:The following are the first round picks in the 1981 Major League Baseball draft.- Other notable players :*John Elway was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 2nd round of the 1981 amateur draft...
.
Houston Astros
Davis soon developed into one of the top power hitting prospects in the Astros' farm system, hitting 71 home runs before receiving his first call up to the majors in September . In his first full season, , Davis batted .271 with twenty home runs and 64 runs batted in to finish fifth in National LeagueNational League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
rookie of the year balloting.
Davis had a break out season in 1986. He had sixty RBIs and twenty home runs at the All-Star break
1986 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1986 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 57th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 15, 1986 at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, the home of the...
to make his first All-Star team
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
. For the season, he clubbed 31 home runs, and had 101 RBIs with a .265 batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
to win the Silver Slugger
Silver Slugger
The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball...
award at first base, and finish second to the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
' Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Michael Jack Schmidt is a Hall of Fame third baseman popularly considered among the greatest third basemen in the history of Major League Baseball. He played his entire career for the Philadelphia Phillies....
in NL MVP voting.
The Astros handily won the National League West
National League West
The National League Western Division, or NL West, is one of the three divisions of Major League Baseball's National League. It was created in 1969 when the previously undivided National League expanded its membership to twelve teams, positioning half of them in an Eastern division and the other...
by ten games over the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
to face the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
in the 1986 National League Championship Series
1986 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Wednesday, October 8, 1986 at Astrodome in Houston, TexasGame 1 featured a pitching duel between eventual NLCS Most Valuable Player Mike Scott and Dwight Gooden. Scott allowed just five hits and walked one while striking out 14 in a complete-game effort as the host Astros prevailed 1–0...
. The only scoring in the game one pitchers' duel between Mike Scott
Mike Scott (baseball)
Michael Warren "Mike" Scott is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the New York Mets and the Houston Astros. He won the National League Cy Young Award in...
and Dwight Gooden
Dwight Gooden
Dwight Eugene Gooden , nicknamed "Doc Gooden" or "Dr. K", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was one of the most dominant and feared pitchers in the National League in the middle and late 1980s.-Career:...
was a solo home run by Davis in the second inning. From there, Mets pitching would contain Davis until the classic game six extra innings marathon. Davis went three-for-seven with a run scored and two RBIs, including the final run
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
of the game as the Astros attempted to come back from a 7-4 deficit in the 16th inning.
Davis remained one of the top sluggers in the NL through 1989, earning a second All-Star selection in 1989, and finishing in the top ten in MVP voting in 1988 and 1989. In the 1990 season opener, Cincinnati Reds pitchers hit Davis with pitches in three of his six plate appearances. He hit three home runs in a loss to the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
on June 1, however, a rib injury cause Davis to miss the entire month of July, and limited him to just 93 games all season. Despite his limited time on the field, Davis still managed to put up respectable numbers, hitting 22 home runs and driving in 64. He led the league by getting hit with a pitch eight times, including a September 29 game against the Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
which caused benches to clear. In the offseason, he was part of what many consider to be worst trade in Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
history when he was traded to the Orioles for Steve Finley
Steve Finley
Steven Allen Finley is a former Major League Baseball outfielder.-Early life:Finley, who grew up in Paducah, Kentucky, attended Paducah Tilghman High School and Southern Illinois University, where he earned a degree in physiology and played for the baseball team from 1984–87.-College, Team USA,...
, Pete Harnisch
Pete Harnisch
Peter Thomas Harnisch is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher.-Baltimore Orioles:Harnisch studied accounting, and was a star pitcher at Fordham University, compiling a 21-3 college record, 2.29 earned run average and 213 strikeouts in 204 innings pitched...
and Curt Schilling
Curt Schilling
Curtis Montague "Curt" Schilling is a former American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series in and won World Series championships in with the Arizona Diamondbacks and in and with the Boston Red Sox. Schilling retired with a...
.
Baltimore Orioles
Davis suffered a nerve injury in his neck during his first Spring trainingSpring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
with the Orioles. He was batting .244 with four home runs and eight RBIs through April 24, 1991 when this injury landed him on the disabled list
Disabled list
In Major League Baseball, the disabled list is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players.-General guidelines:...
, and kept him from the Orioles' line-up through the middle of August. Upon his return, he never regained his power hitting form, and ended the season with ten home runs, 28 RBIs and a .227 average in 49 games.
After having been dealt to the San Diego Padres
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...
in 1986, Storm Davis rejoined the Orioles in 1992. Injuries caused Glenn to miss most of the month of April, and on May 7 the two appeared together in a game as teammates for the first time since college, a game in which Storm won. Glenn saw most of his action as designated hitter
Designated hitter
In baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 6.10, an official position adopted by the American League in 1973 that allows teams to designate a player, known as the designated hitter , to bat in place of the pitcher each time he would otherwise come to...
that season, appearning in 106 games, but managing to hit only thirteen home runs and drive in just 48.
The 1993 season was a disaster for Davis. Splitting time fairly evenly between first base and designated hitter, Davis was batting just .177 with one home run and nine RBIs through May when his jaw was broken in a bar fight. After a brief stint with the triple A Rochester Redwings, Davis' return to action was delayed when he was hit by a line drive foul ball from teammate Jeffrey Hammonds
Jeffrey Hammonds
Jeffrey Bryan Hammonds is a former Major League Baseball player. He attended Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey and Stanford University in California before playing pro ball...
on August 1. He was finally reactivated on September 6, but following an argument with Orioles manager Johnny Oates
Johnny Oates
Johnny Lane Oates was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees from 1970 to 1981...
about being left out of the starting line-up against left-handed
Left-handed
Left-handedness is the preference for the left hand over the right for everyday activities such as writing. In ancient times it was seen as a sign of the devil, and was abhorred in many cultures...
pitcher Dave Fleming
Dave Fleming
David Anthony Fleming is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1991 to 1995, mostly for the Seattle Mariners.Fleming was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, and went to high school in Mahopac, New York...
, was released by the club without playing another game.
Career stats
Davis joined the New York Mets for Spring trainingSpring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
1994, but did not make the club. He later joined the Omaha Royals
Omaha Royals
The Omaha Storm Chasers are a United States minor league baseball team currently based in the Omaha suburb of Papillion, Nebraska. The team is the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals major league club and has been a member of the expanded Pacific Coast League since 1998. From 1969 to 1997,...
and produced a batting average of .282 with 27 home runs and 97 RBI, but was not given another opportunity to play in the Majors. Davis played baseball in Japan for the Hanshin Tigers
Hanshin Tigers
The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...
as "Glenn" in 1995 and was a member of the independent St. Paul Saints
St. Paul Saints
The St. Paul Saints are a professional baseball team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the United States. The Saints are a member of the North Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball...
in 1996. He currently holds the record for most career home runs without hitting a grand slam
Grand slam (baseball)
In the sport of baseball, a grand slam is a home run hit with all three bases occupied by baserunners , thereby scoring four runs—the most possible in one play. According to The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, the term originated in the card game of contract bridge, in which a grand slam involves...
.
Personal life
In 1992, Davis founded The Carpenter's Way home for troubled children in Columbus, GeorgiaColumbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
. He currently serves as an elected city councilman for the city of Columbus and owns the Hilton Garden Inn in Columbus. He is married to the former Teresa Beesley from Columbus, Georgia
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
, and the couple have three children: Sharayah, Tiffany, and Gabrielle.