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Tommy Davis (outfielder)
Herman Thomas Davis Jr. (March 21, 1939 – April 3, 2022) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left fielder and third baseman from 1959 to 1976 for ten different teams, most prominently for the Los Angeles Dodgers where he was a two-time National League batting champion and was a member of the 1963 World Series winning team.
During an 18-year baseball career, Davis batted .294 with 153 home runs, 2,121 hits and 1,052 runs batted in (RBI) in 1,999 career games. He was also a talented pinch hitter, batting .307 (62-for-202) in his career. In 1962, he finished third in the MVP voting after leading the major leagues in batting average, hits and runs batted in.
Davis's 153 RBIs in that season broke Roy Campanella's team record of 142 in 1953 and remains the franchise record; his 230 hits are the team record for a right-handed batter (second most in franchise history behind only Babe Herman's 241 in 1930), and his .346 average was the highest by a Dodgers right-handed hitter in the 20th century until it was broken by Mike Piazza in 1997 with .362.
Herman Thomas Davis Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in the neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant. He was the only child of Herman Sr. and Grace Lenore Davis. His mother referred to him as "Tommy" to distinguish him from his father.
He attended Boys High School in Brooklyn, where he was a basketball teammate of future Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens and played for coach Mickey Fisher. He was also a long jumper on the school's track and field team with record breaker Bernard Lowther. In 1956, he was considering signing with the New York Yankees, but received a phone call from Jackie Robinson who convinced him to sign with the Brooklyn Dodgers instead.
Signing out of high school, Davis began his minor league career for the Class-D Hornell Dodgers of the Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League in 1956 before moving to the Kokomo Dodgers of the Midwest League the following season where he won a batting title. During his time in Kokomo, Davis credited manager Pete Reiser for helping him grow as player, recalling years later that Reiser encouraged him to be a more aggressive hitter and base runner.
In 1958, he was promoted to the Double-A Victoria Rosebuds of the Texas League where he performed well despite playing with an injured wrist. Davis recalled facing racial discrimination while in Victoria, remarking years later: "The more they yelled, the harder I played." Towards the end of the season, Davis was promoted again, this time to the Triple-A Montreal Royals of the International League where he won the year-end Governors' Cup with the team, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games.
Davis was moved to the Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League for the 1959 season, where he won another batting title. During the year, he was briefly called up to the Dodgers, making his major league debut as a pinch hitter on September 22, 1959 against the St. Louis Cardinals; he struck out against Marshall Bridges after pinch hitting for pitcher Clem Labine.
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Tommy Davis (outfielder)
Herman Thomas Davis Jr. (March 21, 1939 – April 3, 2022) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left fielder and third baseman from 1959 to 1976 for ten different teams, most prominently for the Los Angeles Dodgers where he was a two-time National League batting champion and was a member of the 1963 World Series winning team.
During an 18-year baseball career, Davis batted .294 with 153 home runs, 2,121 hits and 1,052 runs batted in (RBI) in 1,999 career games. He was also a talented pinch hitter, batting .307 (62-for-202) in his career. In 1962, he finished third in the MVP voting after leading the major leagues in batting average, hits and runs batted in.
Davis's 153 RBIs in that season broke Roy Campanella's team record of 142 in 1953 and remains the franchise record; his 230 hits are the team record for a right-handed batter (second most in franchise history behind only Babe Herman's 241 in 1930), and his .346 average was the highest by a Dodgers right-handed hitter in the 20th century until it was broken by Mike Piazza in 1997 with .362.
Herman Thomas Davis Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in the neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant. He was the only child of Herman Sr. and Grace Lenore Davis. His mother referred to him as "Tommy" to distinguish him from his father.
He attended Boys High School in Brooklyn, where he was a basketball teammate of future Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens and played for coach Mickey Fisher. He was also a long jumper on the school's track and field team with record breaker Bernard Lowther. In 1956, he was considering signing with the New York Yankees, but received a phone call from Jackie Robinson who convinced him to sign with the Brooklyn Dodgers instead.
Signing out of high school, Davis began his minor league career for the Class-D Hornell Dodgers of the Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League in 1956 before moving to the Kokomo Dodgers of the Midwest League the following season where he won a batting title. During his time in Kokomo, Davis credited manager Pete Reiser for helping him grow as player, recalling years later that Reiser encouraged him to be a more aggressive hitter and base runner.
In 1958, he was promoted to the Double-A Victoria Rosebuds of the Texas League where he performed well despite playing with an injured wrist. Davis recalled facing racial discrimination while in Victoria, remarking years later: "The more they yelled, the harder I played." Towards the end of the season, Davis was promoted again, this time to the Triple-A Montreal Royals of the International League where he won the year-end Governors' Cup with the team, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games.
Davis was moved to the Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League for the 1959 season, where he won another batting title. During the year, he was briefly called up to the Dodgers, making his major league debut as a pinch hitter on September 22, 1959 against the St. Louis Cardinals; he struck out against Marshall Bridges after pinch hitting for pitcher Clem Labine.