Willie Davis: 1940-2010

Willie Davis, left, with Derrell Griffith, John Roseboro, Ron Fairly and Tommy Davis in a 1965 spring training photo.

Willie Davis, one of the fastest and flashiest players in Dodgers history when he roamed center field in the 1960s and '70s, died today. He was 69.

Davis was found dead in his Burbank home on Victory Blvd., by a neighbor who sometimes brought him breakfast, according to police. Burbank police Sgt. Robert Quesada said they do not suspect foul play and believe Davis died of natural causes.

Davis played on the Dodgers' 1963 and 1965 World Championship teams. A three-time Gold Glove winner, career .279 hitter and NL All-Star in 1971 and '73, he was known as "The 3 Dog" for wearing No. 3, often batting in the No. 3 spot of the Dodger lineup, and leading the team in triples season after season (twice leading the N.L.). He had 138 triples when he retired, the fourth-best by any major-leaguer since 1945.

Davis spent 14 seasons with the Dodgers from 1960-73 and he remains the Los Angeles franchise leader in hits (2,091), extra-base hits (585), at-bats (7,495), runs (1,004), triples (110) and total bases (3,094). He also set what remains a Dodgers team record in 1969 with a 31-game hitting streak.

The 6-foot-2, 180 pounder built like a greyhound was discovered by Dodgers scout Kenny Myers when he saw him perform at L.A.'s Roosevelt High as a world-class sprinter and long jumper. Davis, who also played football and basketball, was signed upon his high-school graduation in 1958 -- during the summer of the Dodgers' first season in L.A. -- and he made the major-leaguer roster within two seasons, replacing future Hall of Famer Duke Snider as the Dodgers' center fielder. This was after leading the Cal League with a .365 average and the Pacific Coast League with a .346 average the previous two seasons.

The Dodgers' mainstay was traded to Montreal in the winter of 1973 in a deal that brought future Cy Young Award-winning relief pitcher Mike Marshall to the Dodgers. The Dodgers replaced Davis in center field with Jimmy Wynn.

After stops in Montreal (1974), Texas ('75), St. Louis ('75) and San Diego ('76), Davis played two seasons in Japan ('77 and '78) before closing his career with the Angels ('79).

At the end of his career, Davis ranked seventh in major league history in putouts (5,449) and total chances (5,719) in the outfield, and third in games in center field (2,237) behind Willie Mays and Tris Speaker.

He had 13 seasons of 20 or more stolen bases.

His best season may have been his second full season, in 1962. The 22-year-old hit .285 with 32 steals, 103 runs scored, 10 triples, 21 homers and 85 RBI, batting in the No. 2 spot behind Maury Wills, who stole a league-record 104 that season. Davis and Wills set a major-league record for combined steals by teammates.

During his 1969 season, when he had the 31-game hitting streak where he hit .435 (54 for 124) and raised his season average 56 points, Davis hit .311 by season's end, seventh best in the NL. And in 1970, he hit .305 with 38 stolen bases and 93 RBI.

Davis also set what was a World Series record when he committed three errors in the fifth inning of Game 2 in the 1966 Fall Classic.The season before, in the 1965 World Series, Davis set a record with three stolen bases in a game, against Minnesota.

(The Dodgers' Rafael Furcal also made three errors in the fifth inning of Game 5 of the 2008 NLCS against Philadelphia, only the second time in post-season play that's ever happened).

During a 2006 interview with InsideBaseball.net, Davis said playing in L.A. was a blessing for him.

"People always remembered me; this is my hometown," he said. "I could do it all in high school -- ran a 9.5 in the 100, did a national record 25-5 1/2 in the broad jump -- and Kenny Myers said, 'I'm gonna groom you to play center field for the Dodgers in two years. And he did."

On his nack of scoring from first base on a single, Davis said: "People asked me about my hat always flying off: Did you have an oversized hat? No, it was just the wind that made it come off. And I think that was just part of my personality."

Davis' "personality" got the best of him sometimes. Dodgers front-office people always expected more from him, but that didn't always happen.

"He could have been a Hall of Famer, but he had million-dollar legs and a 10-cent head," said former Dodger GM Buzzie Bavasi.

In 1973, after the Dodgers sent him to Montreal, Davis told Sports Illustrated: "Now I can just be me. When I first started I never wanted to be great, to be another Mays. I just wanted to play. But the pressure got to me. One day I would try to be Musial, to hit like him. The next day, Mays. The next, somebody else. I kept trying to be somebody else and I got the short end. Now with Buddhism I've found the real Willie Davis. In Montreal I will have a new life, a new challenge. Now I'm dredging up all my potential, getting the true value out of myself. Everything is beautiful."

Expos manager Gene Mauch said at the time of the trade: "As far as I'm concerned there's only one centerfielder in the league, and I've got him."

In the 1990s, Davis was in and out of trouble after he was involved in drug use. He was jailed in 1996 for allegedly threatening to kill his parents and burn their Gardena house down unless they gave him money. Helped by his brother and former Laker Tommy Hawkins, then part of the Dodgers' front office, Davis became a member of the Dodgers' speakers bureau and counseled youngsters on the evils of drug use.

Dodger owner Frank McCourt issued the following statement:

"Willie Davis was beloved by generations of Dodger fans and remains one of the most talented players ever to wear the Dodger uniform. Having spent time with him over the past six years, I know how proud he was to have been a Dodger. He will surely be missed and our sincere thoughts are with his children during this difficult time."

A full obit in Wednesday's editions ....