| Chili Davis | |
|---|---|
 Davis in 1983 | |
| Outfielder /Designated hitter | |
| Born: (1960-01-17)January 17, 1960 (age 65) Kingston, Jamaica | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 10, 1981, for the San Francisco Giants | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 3, 1999, for the New York Yankees | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .274 |
| Hits | 2,380 |
| Home runs | 350 |
| Runs batted in | 1,372 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
As player
As coach | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Charles Theodore "Chili"Davis (born January 17, 1960) is a Jamaican-American former professional baseball player. He played as anoutfielder anddesignated hitter from1981 to1999 for theSan Francisco Giants (1981–1987),California Angels (1988–1990, 1993–1996),Minnesota Twins (1991–1992),Kansas City Royals (1997) andNew York Yankees (1998–1999). His first MLB coaching position after his playing career was with theOakland Athletics from 2012 to 2014. He also coached for theBoston Red Sox,Chicago Cubs and theNew York Mets. Davis was aswitch-hitter and threw right-handed. He is thefirst ballplayer born in Jamaica to appear in an MLB game (althoughOscar Levis played in theNegro leagues).
Born inKingston, Jamaica, Davis moved with his three brothers and sister to Los Angeles at the age of 10. Davis originally attendedFremont High School before transferring toSusan Miller Dorsey High School in Los Angeles. In high school, Davis playedcatcher andfirst base. Prior to his first year in the minor leagues, Davis was exclusively a right-handed hitter.[1]
In a 19-year career, Davis was a .274 hitter with 350home runs and 1,372RBI in 2,436 MLBgames.
Davis was anoutfielder developed in the Giantsminors system. In his first regular season in 1982, he hit .261 with 19 home runs, 76 RBI and 24stolen bases, and also led allNational League outfielders inassists. In 1984 Davis finished third in NLbatting average (.315), behindTony Gwynn (.351) andLee Lacy (.321). When he led the league in fieldingerrors in 1986, his nine errors tied the major league record for fewest errors by a category leader. After seven seasons in San Francisco, including twoAll-Star appearances in 1984 and 1986, Davis signed with the Angels as afree agent before the 1988 season.
In his first two years with California, Davis hit 21 home runs with 93 RBI in 1988, and then 22 home runs with 90 RBI in 1989. In 1990, hampered by chronic back problems and defensive shortcomings, Davis moved from full-time outfield duty to a DH role. After signing with Minnesota the following year, Davis remained a DH and would do so for the rest of his career.
Davis contributed to the Twins with his switch-hitting ability, as the Twins' lineup already possessed right-handed battingKirby Puckett and left-handed battingKent Hrbek. Though he hit well from both sides of the plate, Davis performed better from the left side, as many switch hitters do as a result of facing more right-handed pitching. In 1991 he led the Twins in home runs (29), RBI (93),doubles (34),walks (95), intentional walks (13),times on base (244), pitches seen (2,469),games played (153),slugging average (.507),on-base percentage (.385),OPS (.892), home run frequency (18.4at bat per home run), and most pitches seen per plate appearance (3.89). With these numbers, Davis helped Minnesota rise from a last-place finish the previous year to theAL West title. In the1991 World Series, in which he hit two home runs, Davis and the Twins defeated theAtlanta Braves in seven games. Davis declined in production in 1992 (12 home runs and 66 RBI), and as a free agent the following year returned to the Angels.
Davis provided four years of solid production for California, including 27 home runs and a career-high 112 RBI in 1993. In 1994, he hit .311, with 26 home runs and 84 RBI, and appeared in the All-Star game in the strike-shortened 1994 season. In 1995, he hit .318 with 20 home runs and 86 RBI, and in 1996 hit .292, 28 home runs and 96 RBI. In 1997 he was traded to Kansas City forstarterMark Gubicza. In his one year with the Royals, Davis hit .279 with 90 RBI and a career-high 30 homers. Davis spent his final two seasons with the Yankees, winning his second and thirdWorld Series rings. In 1999, his final season, he hit .269 with 19 home runs and 78 RBI.
Davis finished his career with 350 home runs which ranks seventh all-time by a switch hitter, followingMickey Mantle,Eddie Murray,Chipper Jones,Mark Teixeira,Carlos Beltrán andLance Berkman. Eleven times, Davis hit a home run from both sides of the plate in the same game and finished his career tied with Eddie Murray for first in this category, which has since been broken by Mark Teixeira,Nick Swisher and Carlos Beltrán.
Davis played in the outfield from 1981 to 1989. By 1990, he started to see more time asdesignated hitter in theAmerican League. In 1993, he appeared as a pitcher for the only time in his career, pitching the final two innings of a game against theTexas Rangers. He faced seven batters, while allowing no runs, no hits, and surrendering no walks. However, he did hit batterJose Canseco.[2] Davis was specifically a designated hitter from 1995 to 1999, and did not log any innings in the field the final five seasons of his career.[3]
Following his playing days, Davis was a hitting coach for theAustralian National Baseball team for three years and was hired in 2010 by theLos Angeles Dodgers as a hitting coach for their instructional league. While there was speculation that he might join the Dodgers as a coach for the 2011 season, Davis instead joined thePawtucket Red Sox's coaching staff as their new hitting coach.[6] On November 25, 2011, Davis was hired to be theOakland Athletics hitting coach.[7] In October 2014, he returned to the east coast, as the hitting coach for theBoston Red Sox.[8] On October 26, 2017, he was named hitting coach for the Chicago Cubs.
On October 11, 2018, Davis was relieved of duties as hitting coach for theChicago Cubs. On November 28, 2018, Davis was named hitting coach for theNew York Mets. He was fired by the Mets on May 3, 2021, after 22 games.[9] The team had scored the second-fewest runs per game in MLB.[10]
Davis spends his time with his wife, Ann, and their three sons in Arizona and his family in California. He also has a sister named Olive who organized a fundraising event where Davis pitched to fund money for education.[11]
The moniker "Chili" comes from Davis's childhood, when his father gave him a particularly poorbowl cut. Neighborhood children teased him that it looked as though someone had simply placed achili bowl on his head to cut around, and the nickname stuck.[12]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Oakland Athleticshitting coach 2012–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Boston Red Soxhitting coach 2015–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chicago Cubshitting coach 2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | New York Metshitting coach 2019–2021 | Succeeded by |
