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Bill Davis was signed as a amateur free agent by the Indians in 1964.
Davis would spend five seasons in the minors, and was pretty awesome almost every season. His highlight season was 1965 with the Portland Beavers. He would hit 33 HR, 106 RBI with a .397 OBP and .974 OPS. Davis had serious power, but also a great eye at the plate–he would retire with 258 walks to 363 K’s.
| Year | Age | Tm | Lev | Aff | AB | HR | RBI | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | 22 | Charleston | AA | CLE | 271 | 9 | 42 | 49 | 53 | .292 | .400 | .861 |
| 1965 | 23 | Portland | AAA | CLE | 518 | 33 | 106 | 74 | 94 | .311 | .397 | .974 |
| 1966 | 24 | Portland | AAA | CLE | 398 | 17 | 48 | 59 | 73 | .274 | .368 | .825 |
| 1968 | 26 | Portland | AAA | CLE | 461 | 12 | 66 | 48 | 78 | .265 | .332 | .725 |
| 1969 | 27 | 2 Teams | AAA | STL,MIN | 300 | 13 | 55 | 28 | 64 | .290 | ||
| 5 Seasons | 1948 | 84 | 317 | 258 | 362 | .286 | .369 | .843 | ||||
When Davis was 25 he tore his Achilles tendon and missed the entire 1967 season, likely derailing any chance he had with the Cleveland organization. He was traded to the expansion San Diego Padres. The Padres actually opened the 1969 season with him as their starting 1B, but sent him down after only 10 games–which seems silly to do when you have a rookie on and expansion team…but whatever.
He would get traded to St. Louis…where he and HOF pitcher Warren Spahn would have an argument…and he would get sent to the Twins. The Twins never gave him a chance, despite great AAA numbers, so Davis decided to retire at age 27.
| Year | Age | Tm | AB | HR | RBI | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 23 | CLE | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .300 | .300 | .700 | 97 |
| 1966 | 24 | CLE | 38 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 9 | .158 | .267 | .530 | 53 |
| 1969 | 27 | SDP | 57 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 18 | .175 | .288 | .481 | 40 |
| 3 Yrs | 105 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 28 | .181 | .281 | .519 | 50 | ||
| 162 Game Avg. | 266 | 3 | 13 | 35 | 71 | .181 | .281 | .519 | 50 | ||
David passed on a chance to play in Japan–you have to think he would have just wrecked the league–and decided to settle down in Minneapolis working real estate.
