Ike Davis: Difference between revisions

Ike Davis
New York Mets – No. 29
First baseman
Bats: Left Throws: Left
debut
April 19, 2010, for the New York Mets
Career statistics (through July 18, 2010)
Batting average	.261
Home runs	13
Runs	45
RBIs	45
On-base percentage	.335
Slugging percentage	.457
Teams
New York Mets (2010–present)
Career highlights and awards
2009 Mets Organizational Player of the Year

Isaac Benjamin "Ike" Davis (born March 22, 1987, in Edina, Minnesota) is a Major League Baseball first baseman for the New York Mets. He and his father Ron Davis, who pitched in the majors for 11 years, are the 197th father-son combination to have both played in the major leagues.^[1]

He led his high school team to three straight Arizona state championships as a pitcher/first baseman from 2003–05.^[2] He batted .447 in high school, and on the mound he was 23–0 with a 1.85 ERA and 14 saves.^[3][4] He also pitched for the gold medal-winning U.S.A. Youth National Team in the World Youth Championships in 2003, and was the MVP of the AFLAC All-American High School Baseball Classic in 2004.^[5][6]

Ranked second in the nation as a freshman for Arizona State University by both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball, he was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, as he became the first freshman ever to lead the Pac-10 in RBIs.^[7] He hit .353 with a .605 slugging percentage in his college career, sported a fastball that touched 94 miles per hour when he was on the mound, and was a two-time All-American and a three-time All-Pac-10 Conference selection.^[8]

Drafted 18th overall in the 1st round of the 2008 Major League draft, he batted .288 with a .371 OBP and a .467 slugging percentage in 677 minor league at bats. The Mets called him up to the majors in April 2010.^[9]

Davis, who is Jewish, was born to Millie (née Gollinger) Davis and former major league pitcher Ron Davis, who pitched in 481 games in the majors in his 11-year career.[2]^[10][11][12] His father was a power relief pitcher from 1978 to 1988 for the New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Francisco Giants, and was an American League All-Star in 1981.^[13] But as his father retired when he was 2, his memories are mostly of old-timers' games, such as the one in which he met Derek Jeter when he was 12.^[14][1] He and his father are the 197th father-son combination to have both played in the major leagues.^[1]

His mother, the youngest daughter of Bernard and Harriet Gollinger, is Jewish.^[12] A significant percentage of her family, which was from Lithuania, was killed in The Holocaust.^[15] His great aunt on his mother’s side was a Holocaust survivor, and he said: "She was the one who knew everything that happened. She was able to come to the United States, and she brought the story with her."^[16] His first name is actually Isaac, as he was named after his mother's grandfather, and his middle name is Benjamin.^[16][17] "I am really proud of my Jewish heritage," he said.^[18] "I'm glad Jewish kids get to see they can grow up to be professional baseball players."^[18] He was became one of eleven Jewish major leaguers, and as a Jewish ballplayer on the Mets, he follows Art Shamsky, Shawn Green, and Scott Schoeneweis.^[16][3] When told that Shawn Green used to receive marriage proposals from Jewish mothers, on behalf of their daughters, Davis laughed nervously and said: "I hope that doesn't happen. I'm not ready for marriage."^[16]

As a youth, he attended a five-day baseball fundamentals camp that his father runs for children ages 5–14.^[19] His father was also his little league coach until he was 14.^[1] His father said: "People would say Ike was good because his dad was a player. But it’s not that easy.... I can tell Ike how to swing, I can teach him to pitch, [teach] the game of baseball, but he’s the only one to make it to the big leagues. You can’t teach heart and soul. That’s what it takes to play in the game."^[20]

Davis attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona,^[21] where he won three state 4A titles (2003–05).^[22] His father would throw him batting practice.^[13] He hit .559 as a sophomore, the school record, ahead of Paul Konerko's .558 in 1994; he also hit a school-record 23 doubles, breaking Konerko's record of 18. He followed that up by batting .425 as a junior (when he was also Arizona 4A Pitcher of the Year), and .450 as a senior.^{[11][23][3][24][4]} As a senior, he had a 92–93 mph fastball, to complement his changeup and slider.^[11][25] He was ranked 12th in the country by Baseball America, and was a high school All-American.^[11][26]

In 2003, he also pitched for the U.S.A. Youth National Team (16-under) in international play, as they won the gold medal in the International Baseball Federation XI "AA" World Youth Championships in Taiwan, and in 2004 he played on the U.S.A. Junior National Team (18-under).^[5][27] In his two seasons playing for Team U.S.A., he batted .404.^[28]

In 2004, he was one of 40 players from across the country chosen to play in the AFLAC All-American High School Baseball Classic.^[29] He won the MVP Award for the game, hitting the go-ahead home run for his team.^[30] The following year he was MVP in the all star 2005 High School American Game.^[28]

By November 2004 he was already 6' 4" and 194 pounds.^[11] In 2005, despite having indicated he was going to go to college, he was drafted in the 19th round by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays; he elected not to sign.^[31][28]

Davis graduated high school with a .447 batting average in 320 at bats, with 48 doubles (a school record, ahead of Konerko's 44), 12 home runs, and 106 RBIs (third in school history).^[3][4] As a pitcher he was a perfect 23–0, with a 1.85 ERA, 14 saves, and 213 strikeouts (a school record) in 174 innings.^[3] His teams were 95–8 over his sophomore, junior, and senior years.^[32]

Davis chose to attend Arizona State University (ASU), picking it over Texas.^[11] In October 2005, he was ranked # 2 in the nation in the freshman class by both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball.^[33] He pitched (as the team's Friday night starter; the role given the "ace" of a college rotation), DH'd, and played first base and corner outfield.^[34][4] In March 2006, he was named a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week, Pac-10 Conference Player of the Week, and College Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll Player of the Week for a week in which he batted .588 and drove in 13 runs, in four games.^[35][36][37]

In 2006, with 65 RBIs in 227 at bats he became the first freshman ever to lead the Pac-10 in runs batted in during the regular season (and set the ASU freshman RBI record). Batting clean-up, he hit .329 with 79 hits (third all-time, for an ASU freshman), 23 doubles (tied for the Pac-10 lead, and tying the ASU record for doubles by a freshman), and a .542 slugging percentage in 58 games.^{[13][5][38][39][40][7]} His 9 home runs tied him with Bob Horner (1976) for third all-time by a Sun Devil freshman, 2 behind Barry Bonds (11, in 1983).^[38] He was also the team's opening day starter, and pitched a team-high 12 starts.^[13] He was named a Collegiate Baseball Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, Rivals.com First-Team Freshman All-American, Baseball America Second-Team Freshman All-American, Jewish Sports Review First-Team All-American, American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) First-Team All-West Region, Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, and a member of the First-Team All-Pac-10.^{[41][38][42][43][44][7]}

He spent the first part of the summer of 2006 with Team USA, and then played in only 22 games for the Anchorage Bucs of the Alaska Baseball League, but was still named the # 10 prospect in the league by Baseball America.^[45]

Davis demonstrated his versatility in an April 2007 game in which he came to the mound with his team trailing 5–4, ended the inning by striking out a batter, and in the next half-inning stole home as the lead runner in a triple steal.^[46][47] For his sophomore season, he primarily played right field (batting .349 with 23 doubles (tied for the conference lead) and 61 RBIs, in 62 games) and pitched as a middle reliever (sporting a 1.35 ERA).^[48] He again received First-Team All-Pac-10 honors, and was named a Collegiate Baseball Louisville Slugger Third Team All-American, a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Third-Team All-American, and again a Jewish Sports Review First-Team All-American.^{[49][50][28][51][52][53][54][55]}

In the summer of 2007, he played for the Wareham Gatemen in the Cape Cod League.^[56] A bone spur in his left wrist required surgery over the summer.^[13]

He was named a pre-season 2008 All-Pac-10 outfielder by Rivals.com, and a pre-season Third-Team All-American by both the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball.^[57][58] In March 2008 in consecutive weeks he was named both Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week and Pac-10 Conference Player of the Week, first for a week in which he hit .450 and struck out all four batters he faced, and then for a week in which he batted .529 with a 1.412 slugging percentage, and recorded five outs from the mound (four by strikeout) without giving up a hit.^{[59][60][61][62]} He was the first Sun Devil to win the Pac-10-award in consecutive weeks since Travis Buck in 2004.^[63] The College Baseball Foundation named him to its National All-Star Lineup.^[64]

For his junior season, Davis hit .385, with a .457 on base percentage and a .742 slugging percentage. He hit 23 doubles (tied for the Pac-10 lead), 16 home runs, and 76 RBIs in 213 at bats over 52 games, while missing 10 games with a rib oblique muscle strain.^{[32][65][66][67][68]} He was 4–1 as a pitcher, with a 2.25 ERA, 4 saves, 20 strikeouts in 24 innings against 4 walks, and hit 94 miles per hour on the radar gun.^[65][28][7] He also threw out four runners from right field.^[7] He was named ASU On Deck Circle Most Valuable Player; prior winners include Dustin Pedroia, Willie Bloomquist, Paul Lo Duca, and Barry Bonds.^[67][69] He received First-Team All-Pac-10 honors for the third straight year.^[70][71] He was also named a First Team All-American by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, the NCBWA, Rivals.com, and the ABCA.^[71][72][73]

Davis was a part of two Pac-10 Championship teams, and went to the College World Series in 2007.

He hit .353 in his college career, with a .605 slugging percentage (10th-best in ACU history). He totaled 159 runs (8th-best), 244 hits, 33 homers (5th), 69 doubles (2nd, behind Dustin Pedroia), and 202 RBIs (3rd).^[74][75] On the mound, he ended his college career as the Sun Devils closer, and totaled a 7–5 mark with 4 saves and 78 strikeouts in his career.^[75] He was also named to the ASU All-Decade team.^[49][50][76]

Scouts felt he was at his best when he used the whole field, noting that his bat speed allowed him to wait on pitches and drive them the other way, and that he was quick enough to catch up to good fastballs.^[13] Columnist Mark Schlereth of ESPN observed: "The bigger the game, the better he plays."^[77]

Davis was the 18th player taken in the first round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft, chosen by the New York Mets in his junior year as compensation for the Mets' loss of Tom Glavine to the Atlanta Braves in free agency. He was drafted for his power bat.^[78] Baseball America ranked him the third-best college power hitter in the draft, and The New York Times indicated that he projects to hit 25–30 home runs.^[79][80]

Davis said, "It was a huge thrill. I was excited to be picked by New York."^[79] He received fatherly advice from his dad, who had played in New York City for the Yankees for four seasons, going 27–10 with 22 saves primarily as the setup man for Rich Gossage: "He just said they've got the best fans, and it's a blast because every game is live or die for them," Ike Davis said. "It's a great environment to grow up playing baseball, and learning how to play under pressure in front of all those people. He loved it, and I'm looking forward to it, too."^[81][82][65] He signed for $1.575 million.^[83]

Davis was assigned to the Single-A Brooklyn Cyclones. On defense he excelled, as he committed only one error in 492 total chances at first base, for a league-leading .998 fielding percentage.^[84] Uncharacteristically, he struggled on offense, batting only .256, without a home run in 58 games.^[75] He said:

It was first time I ever swung wood full time. I was learning how to play pro ball. I had never played every day in my life. That's totally different.... You have to learn to conserve your energy. In college, you just left it all out on the field every game. In pro ball, you do that and you'll wear out, because you play every single day.^[75]

Asked the following year to name his most embarrassing professional moment, he replied: "Not hitting one home run in my first professional season."^[85]

In 2009, Davis started the year with the St. Lucie Mets. He began to turn it around, hitting .289 with 7 home runs in 59 games.^[75] He was then promoted to the Double-A Binghamton Mets, where he came into his own, hitting .309 with 13 home runs, 41 RBIs, and a .565 slugging percentage in half a season.^[75][86] Mako Oliveras, the B-Mets manager, described him by saying: "Very live bat; the ball jumps off his bat when he makes contact. And as for defense, he's like a vacuum cleaner."^[87] For 2009, Davis was named the Mets Organizational Player of the Year.^[88] After the season the Mets assigned him to the Surprise Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .391.^[32][89][90] He was named to the Arizona Fall League's all star Rising Stars Game.^[32]

In September 2009, he played for the gold-medal-winning U.S.A. World Cup team.^[32] In the off-season, Baseball America rated him the Mets’ No. 4 prospect.^[91]

Sent down to the Buffalo Bisons, the Mets' AAA affiliate, to start the 2010 season, he hit .364 with a .500 on base percentage in 10 games.^[75][92] In his minor league career, he has he batted .288, with a .371 OBP and a .467 slugging percentage in 677 at bats.

Davis played in spring training with the Mets in 2010, and led the team with a .480 average as he hit 3 home runs.^[93] At the same time he sparkled on defense, prompting Jose Reyes to say: "People talk about his hitting, but he is one of the best defensive first basemen you will ever see for a player his age."^[75] Omar Minaya, the Mets general manager, said many Mets players were rooting for Davis to break training camp with the team.^[94] Nevertheless, he was sent down to the minors prior to the start of the season.^[95][96]

He didn't stay in the minor leagues long. The Mets purchased Davis's minor league contract on April 19, 2010; Tobi Stoner was optioned down to Buffalo to make room for Davis on the major league roster.^[97] At that point Davis had played only 65 games in his life above the Single-A level.^[91]

Davis made his debut at Citi Field on April 19 against the Chicago Cubs, and singled in his first at bat.^[98] He had two singles in four at bats in a Mets win.^[14] "This is awesome," he gushed.^[14] In a sign of acceptance and welcome, after the victory Mets veteran Jeff Francoeur slapped a shaving-cream pie in his face.^[94]

He hit his first home run on April 23 against the Atlanta Braves. It traveled 450 feet (140 m), onto Shea Bridge at Citi Field.^[99] He had his first multi-home-run game on May 7.

A gifted, slick-fielding defensive first baseman, in 3 of his first 21 games he made spectacular catches of foul pop-ups, bracing himself against the railing in front of the first base dugout, and then flipping over the railing as he caught the ball.^{[100][101][102]} The 6' 4" Davis said: "I'm going to try to catch any ball I can. I've got long arms, I guess. I'd rather end the game, than worry about getting a bruise."[5][6][7]

He said:

I had such nerves the first few days. I didn't even have an approach. It was just see the ball, hit the ball. Only now am I settling in, getting the chance to think about how a pitcher is going to approach me.^[18]

But with two multi-hit games in his first four games, and the longest home run of any Met at Citi Field in his fifth game, the Met fans began to treat him like a folk hero.^[18][75][8] Within a month of his debut, he had become a fan favorite, and "I Like Ike" banners began appearing at Citi Field, a phrase that harks back to the decades-prior presidential campaigns of Dwight D. Eisenhower.^[16][18]

While the Mets had appeared uncertain Davis could handle the pressure of the major leagues as spring training ended, by mid-May—just a month after calling him up to the majors—they moved him to the cleanup spot in the batting order.^[103] Manager Jerry Manuel said: "I think we’re going to try to leave him there for a while. I think he’s ready to handle that."^[103]

On June 8, Davis hit his first career walk off home run, against the Padres' Edward Mujica.^[104] His 11 home runs prior to the All Star break tied with Benny Agbayani (1999) for the second-most by a Mets rookie, behind Ron Swoboda (15, in 1965).[9] By mid-July, on defense he had shown good range and saved a number of throws with his soft hands on scoops, and advanced metrics reflected a UZR/150 of 9.6, putting him second in baseball behind Justin Morneau.[10]

He was mentioned as a Rookie of the Year candidate by reporters for ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and Fox News.[11][12][13] At the end of June, he was among the league leaders among NL rookies in almost every offensive category.[14] As of July 19, he was leading all NL rookies in home runs (13), runs (45), and RBIs (T-45), and secon in hits (76), doubles (18), batting average (.261), slugging percentage (.457), and walks (T-32).[15]

• List of second-generation Major League Baseball players
• List of select Jewish Major League Baseball players

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Minor League Baseball bio
• ASU Sun Devils bio
• Brooklyn Cyclones bio

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