Card of the Week

This past week Willie Davis was found dead in his home. Willie was an outfielder for the LA Dodgers, and he was fast. In Chavez Ravine an outfielder needed to be fast especially in centerfield. Willie never was a player that could be considered "an all time great" but he played on some great teams with some amazing ballplayers and you can read more about him here.

One of his noted claims to fame was something he did in the minors. It was said he tagged on a fly ball from second base and went all the way home to score. Either that is really fast or the outfielder had a terrible arm. He never was a great hitter but was good for a hit about a fourth of the time. With his speed he was never a base stealer like his teammate Maury Wills but he could stretch a single into a double or a double into a triple which could mean another run which was a big deal because the Dodgers didn't score a lot of runs-the figured Koufax and Drysdale would just pitch shutouts.

Koufax and Drysdale appreciated him for his speed in the outfield but he was also the kind of guy that could make errors-like dropping the ball on a fly and then making another error on the throw in. That is tough to do but also kind of remarkable. So Willie Davis is the card of the week because another old ballplayer has passed on as we lose more of those guys who played when baseball was king.