Crash Davis

{{About|the baseball player|the movie character named for him|Bull Durham}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Crash Davis

|image=Crash Davis.jpg

|position=Second baseman

|birth_date={{Birth date|1919|7|14}}

|birth_place=Canon, Georgia, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|2001|8|31|1919|7|14}}

|death_place=Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=June 5

|debutyear=1940

|debutteam=Philadelphia Athletics

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 20

|finalyear=1942

|finalteam=Philadelphia Athletics

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.230

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=2

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=43

|teams=

Philadelphia Athletics ({{Baseball year|1940}}–{{Baseball year|1942}})

}}

Lawrence Columbus "Crash" Davis (July 14, 1919 – August 31, 2001) was an American professional baseball player whose name inspired that of the main character of the 1988 movie Bull Durham.

Early life and baseball career

Born in Canon, Georgia, and raised in Gastonia, North Carolina, Davis earned the nickname "Crash" at age 14, when he collided with a teammate when chasing down a fly ball. Davis excelled as a middle infielder at Duke University, where he was the captain of the baseball team and a member of the Chi Phi fraternity until he graduated in 1940.

After graduating from Duke, Davis played three seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics, batting .230 in 148 games.

Later life

He was drafted into the United States Navy in 1942 amid World War II, and was assigned to Harvard University, where he helped run the ROTC program. Davis also coached Harvard's baseball and squash teams.

When he was discharged from the Navy in 1946, Davis returned to Durham to begin graduate school at Duke and play for the Durham Bulls, then a part of the Carolina League. Davis would play in the minor leagues, with teams including the Reidsville Luckies and the Raleigh Capitals, until 1952.

After Bull Durham was released, Davis became a minor celebrity. He befriended the director of the film, Ron Shelton, and Shelton gave him a bit part in his movie Cobb about controversial baseball player Ty Cobb.

Sometime during the mid 1950s, Davis began working for the textile conglomerate Burlington Industries at their Gastonia Plant and advanced to become the Personnel Manager for the Domestics Division in Greensboro, NC, until his retirement in the mid-1980s.

Davis died on August 31, 2001, from complications of stomach cancer.{{Cite news |last=Goldstein |first=Richard |date=2001-09-04 |title=Crash Davis, 82, 'Bull Durham' Model, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/04/sports/crash-davis-82-bull-durham-model-dies.html |access-date=2024-07-04 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

References

External links

{{baseballstats|mlb=113124|espn=20781|br=d/daviscr01|fangraphs=1003042|brm=davis-003law|retro=D/Pdavic101}}

[https://web.archive.org/web/20120204075934/http://philadelphiaathletics.org/history/crashdavis.htm The Legend of the Real Crash Davis] Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society
[https://web.archive.org/web/20010923162521/http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/crash0908.html Remembering Crash Davis] at Baseball America

Category:1919 births

Category:2001 deaths

Category:Duke Blue Devils baseball players

Category:Philadelphia Athletics players

Category:20th-century American sportsmen

Category:Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:Baseball players from Philadelphia

Category:Major League Baseball second basemen

Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II

Category:Lawrence Millionaires players

Category:Pawtucket Slaters players

Category:Durham Bulls players