Robert Brandon Davis (September 10, 1927 – June 12, 2005) was an American

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and longtime

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who spent 52 years in the game. In his playing days, the

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 ...

appeared in 67

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for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

during the and seasons. He threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed , and was a native and lifelong resident of

Newark, Delaware Newark ( )Not as in Newark, New Jersey. is a small city in New Castle County, Delaware, New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located west-southwest of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington. According to the 2010 United States Census, ...

Playing career

Prior to his professional career, Davis played baseball at Newark High School and

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

and served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. His pro career began in the Pittsburgh organization in 1951, when he batted a composite .313 across three lower levels of minor league baseball. He then spent 55 games in the majors for the 1952 Pirates, a team that would lose 112 games. He drew a

base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

in his initial big-league appearance as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

on April 15; then, the following day, he started in

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 ...

and collected two

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in four

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against left-hander

Cliff Chambers Clifford Day Chambers (January 10, 1922 – January 21, 2012) was an American professional baseball pitcher who appeared in 189 games in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to for the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals. He ...

of the

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br>box score: 1952-04-16
/ref> But Davis struggled at the plate thereafter; overall he hit only .179 and spent part of the year with Class B

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

. In , he spent much of the year in the minor leagues before his recall in September for his final trial with the Pirates. But that resulted in only a .205 average in 39 at bats. Davis' 25 career MLB hits included three doubles and one

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

. He batted .187 lifetime with three runs batted in. But he showed speed on the base paths,

stealing Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

nine bases during his 55-game 1952 stint with the Pirates. His obituary, noting his offensive struggles, observed: "He was forced from the league after it was discovered he could not successfully steal first base."

Longtime scout

His playing career continued through 1957, then Davis became a

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

in the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

' organization from 1958 to 1960. After that season, he sporadically served as a manager in the minor leagues, but concentrated primarily on scouting. He worked for multiple organizations, including his hometown MLB team, the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. In , he served on the

coaching staff The coaching staff is a group of non-athletes tied to a sports team. A coaching staff can be existent at all levels of athletics. It is led by a head coach (known as a manager or senior coach in some sports) and consists of one or more assistant c ...

of the Phils' interim manager, Paul Owens. Davis was inducted in 1989 to the

Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame The Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame is a membership-based organization founded in 1976. The organization runs a museum with exhibits at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium on the Riverfront in Wilmington, Delaware and promotes physical fitness in ...

and later served on its board of directors. He died at age 77 at his Newark residence.

References

External links

1927 births 2005 deaths Augusta Tigers players Bartlesville Pirates players Baseball players from Delaware Burlington-Graham Pirates players Charleston Senators players Chicago Cubs scouts Columbus Foxes players Duke Blue Devils baseball players Great Falls Electrics players Houston Astros scouts Hutchinson Elks players Longview Pirates players Major League Baseball outfielders Minor league baseball managers New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players New York Yankees scouts Oakland Athletics scouts Orlando Dodgers players People from Newark, Delaware Philadelphia Phillies coaches Philadelphia Phillies scouts Pittsburgh Pirates players San Diego Padres scouts Waco Pirates players Williamsport Grays players United States Marines {{US-baseball-outfielder-1920s-stub