George Allen "Iron" Davis Jr. (March 9, 1890 – June 4, 1961) was an American

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 ...

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 ...

. He played all or part of four seasons 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), ...

from 1912 to 1915. He played for the

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

and

New York Highlanders 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 ...

College

When Davis arrived at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

, he had never played baseball and he did not seem athletic enough for it. "His strength was confined to his brains and he had the physique of an Oliver Twist," wrote

Ring Lardner Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (March 6, 1885 – September 25, 1933) was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical writings on sports, marriage, and the theatre. His contemporaries Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Wo ...

. Davis neglected his studies in his freshman year because he was working out in the gymnasium and teaching himself to throw a baseball. When Williams coach

Billy Lauder William Lauder (February 23, 1874 – May 20, 1933) was an American professional baseball third baseman and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Athletics, and New York Giants. Career After a ...

saw Davis in the gym one day, he allowed Davis to join the baseball team. He received attention from several major league scouts, and he signed with the New York Highlanders in 1912.

Major league career

Davis pursued studies at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

while he was a major league pitcher. He won only seven career major league games, but one of those games was a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

; he threw the no-hit game for the Boston Braves on September 9, 1914, against 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 ...

. From 1918 to 1919, Davis served in the U.S. Army. After his military service, he settled in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

and took philosophy, comparative religion and astronomy classes at

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

. For thirty years he conducted astronomy classes at the

Buffalo Museum of Science The Buffalo Museum of Science is a science museum located at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Buffalo, New York, United States, northeast of the downtown district, near the Kensington Expressway. The historic building was designed by August Es ...

, where he was also a trustee. Davis was married to Georgiana "Kiddo" Jones, and they had four children. One of Kiddo's granddaughters said that she had been a suffragette and "the first in her circle to raise her skirts above the ankle."

Political career

From 1928 to 1934, Davis was a member-at-large of the

Buffalo Common Council The Buffalo Common Council is the legislative branch of the city of Buffalo, New York government. It is a representative assembly, with one elected member from each of nine districts: Niagara, Delaware, Masten, Ellicott, Lovejoy, Fillmore, Nort ...

, and sought the Republican nomination for mayor in 1934 unsuccessfully. He practiced law under a family firm before joining what would become Hodgson Russ law firm. Iron Davis mausoleum

Death

Davis hanged himself in Buffalo, New York on June 4, 1961.

References

External links