Tuesday, May 13, 2008

#448 Mike Davis



Why this card is awesome: Because in 1988, the year of this set, Mike Davis had perhaps the second most improbable plate appearance of the entire season. Shame on you if you don't know what I'm talking about. But if not, here's a clue: it immediately preceded the first most improbable plate appearance.

Cool stat: Davis will long be remembered for that walk. In his career, he himself had 2 walk-off plate appearances (winning ones, that is.) Just for comparison, he had 42 other walk-off plate appearances where his team lost.


3 comments:

In Defense of Absurdity said...

In 1987, I had a magazine/booklet touting the hottest cards to collect that year. Lo and behold, Mike Davis was in it, pretty much as the biggest sleeper in the book. It cited the fact that he had averaged like 21 home runs for each of the preceding three years, and advised that, "given that his cards go for 3 cents each, what's the harm in putting away 100 or so until he retires or cops a home run crown?" This is probably the only reason that I ever heard about this guy. I wonder how the $3.00 investment has paid off for those who took the advice.

Ernest said...

As a lifelong A's fan I have always liked Davis. In fact, one of the best items in my A's collection is a game used 1986 A's green alternate jersey of his, signed.

Given that, it is painful to think that he was on base when the thing of which I will not speak happened.

Bart said...

I went to high school with Mike Davis' brother and sister. I didn't know Mike, but they were the nicest and most athletic family I ever knew. Mike's brother Mark was drafted but chose to go to Stanford on a baseball scholarship.

Bart