Spud Davis

Virgil Lawrence "Spud" Davis (December 20, 1904 – August 14, 1984) was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Baseball career Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Davis began his professional baseball career in at the age of 21, playing for the Gulfport Tarpons of the Cotton States League. After posting a .356 batting average in 27 games for Gulfport, he was sent to play for the Reading Keystones of the International League where he hit for a .308 average in 137 games during the season. He began as a second-string catcher with the Phillies behind Walt Lerian but, by the end of the 1929 season, he had taken over as the starting catcher with a .342 batting average along with 7 home runs and 48 runs batted in. That season would mark the first of seven consecutive seasons with batting averages above the .300 mark. Davis ended the season ranked 25th in the National League Most Valuable Player Award voting, despite the fact that the Phillies finished in seventh place.

In November 1933, Davis was traded back to the St. Louis Cardinals for catcher Jimmie Wilson. The Cardinals won the 1934 National League pennant and, went on to defeat the Detroit Tigers in the 1934 World Series. In his only post-season appearance Davis played in two games in the seven-game series, with two hits in two at bats.

Davis had another good season in 1935 with a .317 batting average, 60 runs batted in and led National League catchers in fielding percentage however, the Cardinals slipped to second place in the standings. After playing with the minor league Alexander City Millers in and , he returned to work as a coach with the Chicago Cubs from 1950 to 1953 before retiring from baseball.

Career statistics In a sixteen-year major league career, Davis played in 1,458 games, accumulating 1,312 hits in 4,255 at bats for a .308 career batting average along with 77 home runs, 647 runs batted in and a .369 on-base percentage. At the time of his retirement, Davis' .308 career batting average was second only to Mickey Cochrane all-time among major league catchers. As of , he ranks fourth all-time among career batting averages for catchers behind Joe Mauer, Mickey Cochrane and Bill Dickey.

Davis died in Birmingham, Alabama, at age 79, and is buried there.