If you watched baseball in the past two years you have probably heard the name Chris Davis for breaking an MLB record. Although that may sound good at first, no one in the history of baseball wants to own this record. During that two year span Davis had a .174 batting average, with 28 home runs and 331 strikeouts in his last 874 at bats. That stretch included Davis stepping up to the plate 54 times without recording a hit, the longest hitless streak in MLB history. Could you imagine for 54 straight attempts at something not getting any success? The mental nightmare that Chris Davis went through is something I would never want to imagine. In a game that already has more failures than success, Davis wasn’t able to produce any type of success. You must be saying to yourself, why don’t they just get rid of this guy? How could a guy this bad continue to get any at bats in a game? He was LITERALLY the worst baseball player in baseball for the past two years. There were about 161 reasons why Chris Davis continued to be put in games. In 2016, when Davis was a very great player on a average Baltimore Orioles team, he signed a 7 year contract extension worth $161 million dollars. During that 4 year span Davis posted a .189 batting average, with a total of 92 home runs, 357 hits, 229 walks and 745 strikeouts in 518 games. This deal can easily be looked at one of the worst sports contracts in recent history.
Day after day Davis and his contact were scrutinized during the 2019 season, leaving many to wonder just what had happened to one of the more feared batters in baseball. The Orioles were given a lot of slack for continually putting Davis in the lineup and even some recommended they just release him and eat the $69 million dollars still owed to him. Instead the Orioles stood by their guy and what really made you feel for him was the fact that after every game he was out in front of his locker to answer the same daunting questions of how we was going to climb out of this massive hole. A guy can have a bad year but four bad years in a row and you may want to think about another career path. Davis continued to wear all the criticism, including an altercation with Orioles manager, Brandon Hyde. Davis later apologized for the altercation. All of the baseball world wanted to see Davis form any type of success. He continued to put one foot in front of the other and kept pushing forward.
Before spring training started we found out that Davis talked with his wife after his abismal 2019 season and contemplated walking away from the game of baseball. Earning none of the $69 million dollars still left on his contract. He said he will have the same conversation after this season if he is unable to find success. You have to really respect a guy who would walk away from that much money because he knows that his performance isn’t worth anything close to it. He didn’t want To continue to be that player. As spring training games have started, Davis has been on an absolute tear at the plate giving the baseball world hope that this is the year he turns it around. Still very early, but since the start of spring training Davis has five hits in seven at bats, with three home runs, four walks and just one strikeout. Davis credits his success to a new strict diet, 25 pounds of muscle put on in the offseason, and a continual positive mindset. Feeling bigger and stronger than ever, Davis came into spring training with a refreshed mental slate knowing it is the start of a new season. Instead of pressing, he’s relaxed and it seems to working. It’s still very early to tell the type of season he will have, but all the early signs are positive. The whole baseball world is with you and hoping for your success big guy, rake on.
The Washed Up Athlete 