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Willie Davis (baseball)

Willie Davis
Center fielder
Born: (1940-04-15)April 15, 1940
Mineral Springs, Arkansas
Died: March 9, 2010(2010-03-09) (aged 69)
Burbank, California
Batted: Left Threw: Left
Professional debut
MLB: September 8, 1960, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
NPB: 1977, for the Chunichi Dragons
Last appearance
MLB: September 30, 1979, for the California Angels
NPB: 1978, for the Saitama Seibu Lions
MLB statistics
Batting average .279
Hits 2,561
Home runs 182
Runs batted in 1,053
Stolen bases 398
NPB statistics
Batting average .297
Home runs 43
Runs batted in 132
Teams
Career highlights and awards

William Henry Davis, Jr. (April 15, 1940 – March 9, 2010) was a center fielder in Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the Los Angeles Dodgers. At the end of his career he ranked seventh in major league history in putouts (5449) and total chances (5719) in the outfield, and third in games in center field (2237). He was ninth in National League history in total outfield games (2274), and won Gold Glove Awards from 1971 to 1973. He had 13 seasons of 20 or more stolen bases, led the NL in triples twice, and retired with the fourth most triples (138) by any major leaguer since 1945. He holds Los Angeles club records (1958–present) for career hits (2091), runs (1004), triples (110), at bats (7495), total bases (3094) and extra base hits (585). His 31-game hitting streak in 1969 remains the longest by a Dodger. At one point during the streak, when the team was playing at home, the big message board at Dodger Stadium quoted a message from a telegram sent to Davis and the team from Zack Wheat, the team's former record holder, at his home in Missouri.

As a youngster, Davis moved to Los Angeles, where he was a three-sport standout in baseball, basketball, and track & field at Theodore Roosevelt High School. He once ran a 9.5-second 100-yard dash, and set a city record in the long jump of 25 feet 5 inches (7.75 m). Discovered by the Dodgers scout, Kenny Myers, Davis signed with the ballclub upon graduating from Roosevelt in 1958. While playing for Reno, he scored from first base on a single nine times in one season.


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Wikipedia

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