Arthur Willard Davis (June 6, 1942 – January 13, 2023) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

who played for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

from 1965 to 1966 and the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

in 1969. Due to his imposing , frame, Davis was nicknamed the "Jolly Green Giant". He batted and threw

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subject ...

, and signed with Cleveland after starring in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

. He began his baseball career in the Double-A Eastern League in 1964, and in his sophomore season he hit 33 home runs, batted .311 and drove in 106 runs for the Triple-A

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

in 1965. Recalled by Cleveland in September, he made ten appearances as a pinch hitter and counted a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

among his three hits. He began and ended 1966 with the Indians, but spent most of the year in Portland. In 38 MLB

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

, Davis made only six hits, but one was his first (and only) Major League home run, against veteran

Jack Sanford John Stanley Sanford (May 18, 1929 – March 7, 2000) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from through . Sanford was notable for the meteoric start to his career when, he led ...

of the California Angels as a pinch hitter on September 9. Davis then spent the entire 1967 season on the disabled list after he ruptured his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ( ...

while playing a pick-up basketball game in January. He would never play another game for the Indians, but after his third stint with Triple-A Portland in 1968, he was traded to the newly established Padres. He was the starting first baseman in the first official

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

game ever played by the Padres on April 8, 1969, and went hitless in three

against the Houston Astros. He started ten more games in April, but did not hit enough to hold the regular job, and was traded to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

in May. The Cardinals immediately sent him to Triple-A, where he spent the rest of the 1969 season, his last in baseball. In addition to his home run, Davis' 19 total MLB hits also included three doubles in 64 career games played and 105

. Davis then returned to his hometown of

Richfield, Minnesota Richfield is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States near the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling. An inner ring suburb of Minneapolis, it is bordered by Minneapolis to the north, Min ...

, where he worked in real estate and banking. Davis died January 13, 2023.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Bill 1942 births 2023 deaths American men's basketball players Baseball players from Minnesota Charleston Indians players Cleveland Indians players Denver Bears players Major League Baseball first basemen Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball players People from Graceville, Minnesota People from Richfield, Minnesota Sportspeople from Hennepin County, Minnesota Portland Beavers players San Diego Padres players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players