Joel Clark Davis (born January 30, 1965) is a retired

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 ...

. He played professionally for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

from 1985 to 1988.

Career

Davis was born in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

and graduated from

Sandalwood High School Sandalwood High School is a comprehensive public high school in Jacksonville, Florida. The school is one of 47 high schools in the Duval County School District. Like all Duval County schools, it is accredited through the Southern Association ...

in Jacksonville. He played minor league baseball with Sarasota of the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

. Davis was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the first round (13th pick) of the

1983 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1983 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Compensation picks Other notable players *Bill Swift, 2nd round, 29th overall by the Minnesota Twins, but did not ...

. He played his first Major League Baseball game on August 11, 1985. He is a left-handed batter and a right-handed thrower. Following major surgery on his right shoulder, Davis retired from playing. He played his last professional game on July 5, 1988. He entered college and started teaching and

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

in 1996, coaching at

Episcopal School of Jacksonville Episcopal School of Jacksonville is an independent, coeducational private college preparatory school in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It was founded in 1966 by the Episcopal Diocese of Florida. The school has two lower schools, a middle sc ...

for five seasons. Davis joined the faculty of

Stanton College Preparatory School Stanton College Preparatory School is a preparatory high school in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Stanton College Preparatory School is a highly selective school that offers both the Advanced Placement and the International Baccalaureate ...

in Jacksonville, Florida as a HOPE teacher in 2002 teaching health and life management. He also coaches the baseball team at Stanton. Davis was the baseball coach at

Atlantic Coast High School Atlantic Coast High School (ACHS) is a public high school in the Duval County Public Schools district, located in southeast Jacksonville, Florida, United States.Sanders, Topher"Duval school admins cheer for the new Atlantic Coast High School"Flo ...

in Jacksonville. On February 8, 2020, Davis was arrested and charged with

resisting arrest Resisting arrest, or simply resisting, is an illegal act of a suspected criminal either fleeing, threatening, assaulting, or providing a fake ID to a police officer during arrest. In most cases, the person responsible for resisting arrest is crimi ...

and violating an

order of protection A restraining order or protective order, is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault. Restraining and personal protection or ...

. Those charges were later dropped. On May 13, 2020, Davis was arrested after violating a protective order by following his ex-wife to work, yelling at her, threatening her and grabbing her by the wrist and hair. He later pleaded guilty to

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

charges of

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

to cause bodily harm and violation of an injunction for protection and was sentenced to ten months of probation and fifty hours of

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

and required to undergo a mental health evaluation.

References

External links

Chicago White Sox: Joel Davis RP

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, Retrieved February 10, 2009.
Joel Davis
at Baseball Reference.com.
Baseball AlmanacSportsPool.comBaseball Historian

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Joel 1965 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Appleton Foxes players Baseball players from Jacksonville, Florida Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago White Sox players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Glens Falls White Sox players Hawaii Islanders players Major League Baseball pitchers Niagara Falls Sox players Vancouver Canadians players People convicted of domestic violence People convicted of battery Sandalwood High School alumni