Blake Jonathan Davis (born December 22, 1983) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

, who played in

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), ...

(MLB) for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in 2011.

Early life

High school

Davis attended

Fountain Valley High School Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) is a public high school in Fountain Valley, California, USA. It was established in 1966 and is a part of the Huntington Beach Union High School District. It is notable for its rivalry with Edison High School, p ...

Fountain Valley, California Fountain Valley is a suburban city in Orange County, California. The population was 57,047 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History The area encompassing Fountain Valley was originally inhabited by the Tongva people. Europea ...

. Competing in the vaunted

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a s ...

(CIF), he primarily played

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

and led the school in

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

and assists. As a senior, Davis earned first-team All-Sunset League, second-team All-Orange County, and second-team All-CIF honors. That year, he batted .376, while posting 14

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

, in helping the Barons to the league title and the CIF quarterfinals. Davis had already achieved a first-team all-league and second-team all-county pick as a junior, when he hit .459 and set single-season school records for hits (45) and assists (83).

College

Davis played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

. In 2003 (his freshman year), he was granted a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

season. In 2004, Davis played shortstop in 41 games (32 of them as a starter). He hit .295 on the year, collecting 10 multiple-hit games, including two three-hit games, where he collected four

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBI) — one on Apr. 9 vs. Pacific and the other in the Regional-clinching win over Pepperdine on June 6. Davis had a six-game hitting streak from Mar. 13 to Mar. 24, hitting .381 (8-for-21) over that span. He was 16-for-46 (.348) with

runners in scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when they are on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter h ...

(RISP) and collected 13 of his 21 RBI with two outs. Davis also led the team with a .600 average (9-for-15) when leading off an

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

. In 2005, Davis emerged as the full-time Titan shortstop. He played in 62 games (starting 51) and hitting a majority of the time in the leadoff spot. Davis hit .325 on the year, good for third-best on the team, and 15th in the Big West Conference. He was ranked fifth in the conference with 50

runs scored 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 ...

and second with eight

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

(ranking second all-time in single-season triples, in Fullerton’s record book). Davis led the Titans with 17 stolen bases (in 19 attempts), finishing just behind Cal Poly's Brandon Roberts (20) for the top conference spot. Davis also matched his career-high two

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

in 2005 (one of which was his first-ever

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

on Feb. 27 at UNLV). Davis’ longest

hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 plate ...

lasted seven games (from May 22 to June 6), where he hit .358 (10-for-28) over that span. Davis tallied 20 multiple-hit games, collecting three hits on eight occasions and four hits on May 1, where he went 4-for-5, with 4 RBI, while scoring four runs against UC Santa Barbara. Davis tied a career-high with four RBI on two occasions (Feb. 27 vs. UNLV and May 1 vs. UC Santa Barbara). He moved over to play as a second baseman for an injured

Justin Turner Justin Matthew Turner (born November 23, 1984) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dod ...

in two games, on April 8–9. Davis tallied a team-high 8 assists on May 3 vs. San Diego State. He earned first-team All-Big West recognition and was also a member of the Fullerton Regional all-tournament team. Davis earned second-team, ABCA/Rawlings West Region honors. He was drafted in the 46th round (1,377th overall) by 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 F ...

in the

2005 Major League Baseball draft The 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best ...

, but elected not to sign. In July, 2005 Davis became the Titans' 15th player to play with the US National team. While playing with the US National team, he started 16 games (playing in 20 games overall), hit .275, with two triples, and four RBI. He had two stolen bases (on four attempts). Davis also led the team in assists with 58. In 2006, Davis played in 64 games, while hitting .351 on the year. He had 15 stolen bases (in 22 attempts), 13 doubles, 5 triples, and his collegiate career-high 5 home runs. Davis also had 39 RBI on the year.

Professional baseball

Minor leagues

Davis was drafted in the 4th round (115th overall) of the 2006 Major League Baseball draft by the Baltimore Orioles, becoming Cal State Fullerton's highest MLB draft choice that year. Although Davis had played shortstop almost his entire career, he was moved to

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

for the 2011 season with Triple-A

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and played about 70% of the time at that position.

Major leagues

On June 18, 2011, Davis got his chance when he was called up to the major leagues, to replace

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, artist, and poet. He has released 23 albums, as well as three studio albums as a former member of alt-country band Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams left ...

. On August 13, 2011, while playing at

Camden Yards The Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a baseball stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early ...

against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

, Davis hit his first (and only) MLB home run, after

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

review: Crew chief Jeff Nelson watched the replay and upheld the call.

Independent leagues

Davis signed with the Independent League

Long Island Ducks The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor-league baseball team based on Long Island in Central Islip, New York. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "partne ...

for the 2015 season. He became a free agent after the 2015 season.

Personal life

Davis’ parents are Samuel and Cynthia Davis; he has one older brother (Bryan) and one older sister (Crissy). Blake Davis majored in Communications while at Cal State Fullerton. He has two different colored eyes. Davis lists God as his greatest influence in life. Davis married his high school sweetheart, Rayanne Bearden, on November 13, 2010.

References

External links

Cal State Fullerton Titans Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Blake 1983 births Living people Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Newport Beach, California Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball players Delmarva Shorebirds players Frederick Keys players Bowie Baysox players Aberdeen IronBirds players Norfolk Tides players Nashville Sounds players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball infielders Phoenix Desert Dogs players Surprise Rafters players Long Island Ducks players Baseball players from Fountain Valley, California North Adams SteepleCats players