Steve Webb
Was Key part of the great 60s teams
LOS ANGELES — Tommy Davis, a two-time National League batting champion for the Dodgers, died Sunday night at 83, according to a report by the team.
Davis, who was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., died in Phoenix with his family at his bedside, according to media reports.
Davis was one of the big stars of those great Dodger teams of the 1960s. He played the first eight seasons of his 18-year career with the ballclub, and was almost immediately a star. Davis hit .346 in 1962 and .326 in 1963 to become the first batting champion in Los Angeles Dodgers history. His 230 hits and 153 RBIs in 1962 are Los Angeles season records. He was a member of Dodgers’ World Series championship teams in 1959, 1963 and 1965.
Davis could play both left field and third base, and was known as a pure hitter. His back-to-back batting crowns put him on the cusp of superstardom. However, an ankle injury really slowed his career after that, and he never quite lived up to the promise of those two early breakout seasons. However, until Trea Turner captured the batting title last season (albeit with a lot of time in Washington), Davis was the only LA Dodger to accomplish the feat. All the other Dodgers to win the crown were from when the team was back in Brooklyn.
Davis stayed in baseball after retiring as a player. He worked for the Dodgers as a minor‑league instructor and also as part of the community relations department. He and his wife, Carol, raised their daughter in Greater Los Angeles. Davis also had three daughters and a son from his first marriage. He served as the batting coach for the Seattle Mariners for one season in 1981(under manager Maury Wills) and eventually returned to the Dodgers – pressing the flesh out in the community and passing along batting tips to everyone from prospects to middle‑aged fans at the team’s fantasy camps.
