Curtis Benton Davis (September 7, 1903 – October 12, 1965) 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), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. Even though he did not reach the big leagues until he was 30, the right-hander was a two-time

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 ...

All-Star over a 13-year career spread among the Philadelphia Phillies (1934–1936), Chicago Cubs (1936–1937),

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 ...

(1938–1940), and Brooklyn Dodgers (1940–1946). The

Greenfield, Missouri Greenfield is a city in Dade County, Missouri. The population was 1,220 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Dade County. History Greenfield was laid out in 1841, and named for the greenery of the original town site. A post office call ...

, native had quite a list of accomplishments, including winning 19 games as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

, 22 games in 1939, eleven double-digit victory seasons, and pitching in the 1941 World Series. He had excellent control, leading the NL in BB/9IP in 1938 and 1941, and finishing in the top ten in the league ten times.

Career

Nicknamed "Coonskin”, Davis began his career in

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

in 1928 at the age of 24 with the

Salt Lake City Bees The Salt Lake City Bees was a primary moniker of the minor league baseball teams, based in Salt Lake City, Utah between 1911 and 1970 under various names. After minor league baseball first began in Salt Lake City in 1900, the Bees were long-time ...

of the Class C Utah–Idaho League, and promptly won 16 of 30 decisions. The following year, he jumped all the way to the top

minor-league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

level as a member of the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. In five seasons in San Francisco, he won 90 games and lost 77. Then he was selected on October 2, 1933, by the Phillies in that year's Rule 5 draft. As a

in , he won 19 games (losing 17) for a Phillies club that won only 56 of 149 games—accounting for 34 percent of the club's victories. The following year, he went 16–14 for another futile Phillies team. His fortunes improved when, in May 1936, he was acquired by the first-division Cubs, for whom he went 21–14 in 52 games over a season and a half and made the All-Star team. Appearing in that season's Midsummer Classic, played at Braves Field,

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Davis entered the contest in the seventh inning with his side ahead, 4–0. But he gave up a

home run 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 ...

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

, the first batter he faced, and singles to Baseball Hall of Famers

Goose Goslin Leon Allen "Goose" Goslin (October 16, 1900 – May 15, 1971) was an American professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns, and Detroit Tigers, from until . Goslin ...

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...

and

Luke Appling Lucius Benjamin "Luke" Appling (April 2, 1907 – January 3, 1991), nicknamed "Old Aches and Pains" was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Chicago White Sox (1930–1950). He was elected to the Base ...

; he retired two other Hall of Famers,

Earl Averill Howard Earl Averill (May 21, 1902 – August 16, 1983) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1929 to 1941, including 11 seasons for the Cleveland Indians. He was a six-ti ...

and

Bill Dickey William Malcolm Dickey (June 6, 1907 – November 12, 1993) was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees for 19 seasons. Dickey managed the Yankees as a player-manager in ...

, but had to be relieved by Lonnie Warneke with the National League margin cut to only one run. Warneke nailed down the save, however, and the NL hung on to win, 4–3. On April 16, 1938, he was one of the Cubs' players who were involved in the trade that brought future Hall of Fame pitcher

Dizzy Dean Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean (January 16, 1910 – July 17, 1974), also known as Jerome Herman Dean (both the 1910 and 1920 Censuses show his name as "Jay"), was an American professional baseball pitcher. During his Major League Baseball (MLB) career ...

from the Cardinals; the Cubs won the

pennant, but Davis would enjoy a stellar campaign as in St. Louis, going 22–16 (3.63) and finishing third in the Senior Circuit in wins and saves and fifth in

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

. He made the NL All-Star squad for a second time. Then, the following year, on June 12, 1940, he was traded to Brooklyn with future Hall of Fame slugger

Joe Medwick Joseph Michael Medwick (November 24, 1911 – March 21, 1975), nicknamed "Ducky" and "Muscles", was an American Major League Baseball player. A left fielder with the St. Louis Cardinals during the " Gashouse Gang" era of the 1930s, he also pla ...

for four players and $125,000, in one of the highest-profile transactions of the baseball season. He won 13 games in as the Dodgers captured their first pennant since 1920. Then he started Game 1 of the 1941 World Series against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

, surrendering six hits and three

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

s in 5 innings pitched. He was charged with the 3–2 Brooklyn defeat in what would be his only World Series appearance. In , Davis almost pitched the Dodgers to their second successive National League title. He won 15 of 21 decisions, posted a 2.36

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

, third in the NL, and led the Brooklyn staff with five shutouts. But the Cardinals overcame the Dodgers in a furious pennant race, and Davis' club finished out of the postseason. He remained a Dodger throughout the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

era, winning ten games during each of the – seasons. After pitching one game in (on April 28), he was released by Brooklyn three days later. Career totals for his 429 games pitched include a 158–131 record, 281

games started In baseball statistics, games started (denoted by GS) indicates the number of games that a pitcher has started for his team. A pitcher is credited with starting the game if he throws the first pitch to the first opposing batter. If a player is li ...

, 141 complete games, 24 shutouts, 111

games finished In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a game finished (denoted by GF) if he is the last pitcher to pitch for his team in a game. A starting pitcher is not credited with a GF for pitching a complete game. Mariano Rivera is th ...

, 33 saves, and an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

of 3.42 in 2,325 innings pitched. Other top ten rankings for Davis include wins (four times),

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

(four times),

H/9IP In baseball statistics, hits per nine innings (denoted by H/9) is the average number of hits allowed by a pitcher in a nine inning period; calculated as: (hits allowed x 9) / innings pitched. This is a measure of a pitcher's success based on the ...

(three times), WHIP (five times),

(five times), saves (five times),

(once), and oldest player (five times). An excellent hitter for a pitcher, Davis had a .203 career

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(165-813) with 70 runs, 11 home runs and 81 RBI. He hit .300 (12-40) with the Cubs in 1937 and .381 (40-105) with 17 RBI with the Cardinals in 1939. Davis died at the age of 62 in

Covina, California Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley. The population was 51,268 according to the 2020 census, up from 47,796 at the 201 ...

References

External links

The Deadball Era
* : {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Curt 1903 births 1965 deaths Baseball players from Missouri Brooklyn Dodgers players Chicago Cubs players Major League Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball managers Montreal Royals players National League All-Stars People from Greenfield, Missouri Philadelphia Phillies players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Paul Saints (AA) managers St. Paul Saints (AA) players Salt Lake City Bees players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players