Bob Davis

Baseball fans from the 1970s may have faint memories of a lanky backup catcher for the San Diego Padres. Bob Davis, a native of Locust Grove, Oklahoma, became a familiar face for the Padres faithful during the organization’s early years. Standing six feet and weighing 180 pounds, Davis caught 166 games for the Friars before spending the back end of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays and California Angels. He played close to a decade in the majors, relying on his physicality and defensive prowess to earn a spot on big-league rosters. The reserve catcher, who spoke with an Oklahoma drawl and hunted during the offseason, was not afraid to get his hands dirty. He did it time and again at the highest level of baseball.

Robert John Eugene Davis was born on March 1, 1952. Research shows that his parents were probably Robert George Davis and Mattie Bernice (Jackson) Davis, who had six children including Bob. The future major-leaguer grew up running calves on his father’s property southeast of Locust Grove.1 A small town tucked away in northeastern Oklahoma, Locust Grove had a population of a little over 800 during Davis’s childhood.2 The size of the community did not stop Davis from excelling at sports. He had a successful athletic career at Locust Grove High School, where he starred on the baseball team and earned All-State honors in basketball.3 Davis hit .553 as a junior shortstop and averaged 21.3 points during his senior basketball season.4 He also led the basketball team to an undefeated record, earning a reputation as a tenacious rebounder. Coach Johnny Allen commented, “He’s the best all-around player I’ve seen this year.”5

For all his accolades on the court, Davis decided to pursue baseball after high school. He attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where he attracted the attention of Jack Bloomfield. Bloomfield, a scout for the Padres, saw potential in Davis, then a standout pitcher and infielder. The Padres selected Davis in the sixth round of the 1970 draft and offered him a modest signing bonus of $2,000.6 He began transitioning to the catcher position the following year. Davis would catch for the entirety of his major-league career but had occasional stints in the infield and outfield while playing in the minor leagues.

At 18 years old, Davis started in short-season A ball for the Tri-City (Washington) Padres of the Northwest League. He appeared in 77 games, registering 279 at-bats, 82 hits, and a .294 batting average. He split the next season between Tri-City and the Padres’ Single-A team, the Lodi Padres of the California League. Davis’s offensive output lagged in Lodi, where he played only 21 games. However, his bat caught fire in Tri-City, where he hit .328 and led the Northwest League in home runs (14) and RBIs (83). Davis’s offensive output left an impression on Padres pitching coach Johnny Podres. Podres later told the press, “Davis is strong. He can hit the ball a long way.”7 Davis’s power helped convince the Padres to promote him to their Double-A team, the Alexandria (Louisiana) Aces of the Texas League, for the 1972 season. Davis played 54 games—including just 10 as a catcher—for the Aces before a broken left wrist kept him out for six weeks.8

Davis received an invitation to Padres’ spring training in 1973. He arrived as the lowest-ranking of five catchers, having caught less than 50 games in the minor leagues.9 The San Diego coaching staff envisioned a limited role for Davis: he was to catch batting practice and warm up pitchers before leaving for the Padres’ minor league camp. However, injuries to three of the six Padres infielders allowed Davis to showcase his skills at shortstop and third base. His strong arm and smooth play intrigued manager Don Zimmer, who remarked: “This boy has good hands.” In need of a starting catcher, Zimmer tried Davis behind the plate for the last seven games of spring training. The move paid off when Davis threw out all seven of the runners who tried to steal on him. Zimmer proceeded to name Davis the team’s Opening Day catcher, explaining, “I know this boy catches the ball better and throws the ball better than any catcher this club has had. It is atrocious the way some clubs have run on us in the past, and no matter what this boy hits, he’ll be a plus if he can catch the ball and throw out runners the way I think he will.”10 

Earning the starting spot both surprised and elated Davis. He told reporters, “The most I hoped for when I came to spring training was to wind up in Hawaii (Pacific Coast).”11 Instead, he found himself penciled into the lineup for the season opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Davis made his major-league debut on April 6 under the lights of San Diego Stadium.

He batted eighth and squared off against Dodgers ace Don Sutton. Known for his signature knuckle curve, Sutton struck out Davis twice and was nearly perfect until the Padres reached him for three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Vicente Romo saved the game for San Diego, as the Padres won, 4-2. Although 0-for-2 at the plate, Davis could not help but appreciate the experience. He later recalled, “I didn’t do well in that first game, in fact I think I was struck out a couple of times. I wasn’t really ready at that time, but what a thrill.”12

Four days later, on April 10, Davis experienced the second-fondest memory of his major-league career: recording his first hit.13 He did so against Juan Marichal, a legendary hurler for the San Francisco Giants and one of the most accomplished pitchers of his generation. Davis also scored his first major-league run in that game, although it did not affect the outcome. The Padres fell to the Giants 11-2 in a lackluster contest at Candlestick Park.

Davis appeared in the Padres’ first five games of the 1973 season but spent most of the year back in Double-A Alexandria. He played 34 games at first base while catching another 96. Fred Kendall and Pat Corrales caught most of the season for the Padres, who limped to a 60-102 record and a last-place finish in the NL West.

Davis may have added to his big-league resume during the 1974 season had it not been for a wrist injury. The 22-year-old catcher began the year with the Hawaii Islanders, the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate. Davis appeared in 77 games and registered a batting average of .230. He also spent a few innings at first base and in the outfield. The Padres were still struggling to compete in the NL West and seemed poised to promote Davis late in the season. John McNamara had replaced Don Zimmer as the Padres’ skipper and needed help at the catcher position. However, a collision at Tacoma on July 29 broke Davis’s right wrist and sidelined him before he could receive the call-up.14

Injuries did not stop Davis from putting together the best stretch of his major-league career in 1975. He started the season again with Hawaii and immediately shined at the plate. His batting average (.329) and RBIs (69) led the league when the Padres promoted him to their major-league roster on July 18. Davis’s statistics also earned him a spot on the PCL All-Star team. San Diego had yet to find a consistent starting catcher and thought Davis might provide a solution. John McNamara explained, “Davis is coming here to play—hopefully for a long time.”15 From July until the end of the season, Davis appeared in 43 games for the Padres and amassed 30 hits for a batting average of .234. He also committed only three errors in 350 innings for a fielding percentage of .986. His best game of the season came on August 22 against the Philadelphia Phillies. Davis notched three hits against a Phillies team on pace for their first winning season in eight years. The only blemish on Davis’s performance came when Phillies pitcher Wayne Twitchell picked him off first base. San Diego led most of the game but lost 6-5 after Philadelphia rallied in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings.

The Padres saw Davis as a player to build around going into the 1976 season. Before Opening Day, the Miami Herald reported that San Diego believed they had found a “hot prospect” in Davis.16 The newspaper noted that more than a fourth of the teams in major-league baseball felt they had at least one young player who could help “turn things around.”17 Davis seemed just the man for the Padres. The season, however, did not go quite as planned. Davis started the first game against the Atlanta Braves, recording one run and one RBI in the Padres’ 8-2 victory. He appeared in another 50 games for San Diego—a higher mark than the previous year—but logged fewer at-bats (83) and hits (17). His lone extra-base hit was a triple against the San Francisco Giants on June 23. Although his offensive stat line did not draw much attention, Davis posted an impressive .298 batting average while on the road. All but three of his hits came in away games. He also had five two-hit performances.

Davis played an unexpected role in a Padres victory against the Chicago Cubs on July 18. He started the game on the bench but entered as a pinch-runner in the bottom of the ninth inning. The score was tied 1-1 in a pitcher’s duel between Cubs starter Ray Burris and Padres starter Dan Spillner. With two outs, Padres left fielder Jerry Turner hit a bloop single to left field to score Davis from second base with the winning run.18 It was an exciting win for the Padres, who moved to just three games under .500. Although known for his defense, Davis’s legs helped lift the team on that day.

Davis spent most of the 1976 season as the backup to Fred Kendall, who caught a career-high 146 games. The Padres, meanwhile, won two more games than the previous season yet slid into fifth place in the NL West. The club endured a particularly rough stretch in late August, losing 8 straight games before snapping their skid against the Giants. Davis summarized the team’s woes, stating, “We were in third place when we left [San Diego] and almost reached fifth on this trip.”19 To be sure, Davis and the Padres had some highlights. Most involved All-Star pitcher Randy Jones. Jones became the first San Diego pitcher to win the Cy Young Award, posting a 22-14 record and 2.74 ERA. Jones also distinguished himself as the first Padre to start and win the All-Star Game. A sinkerball specialist, Jones relied on Davis and Kendall to serve as effective backstops. Davis did not receive the attention that Jones did, but he played a secondary role in the most successful pitching season in Padres history up to that point.

Davis occupied a similar role for the Padres in 1977. He remained a backup catcher, appearing in 48 games and posting the same number of hits (17) as the year before. His batting average dropped to .181, although he recorded a couple more extra-base hits and his first career home run. Instead of Fred Kendall, Davis spent time behind Dave Roberts and former Oakland A’s catcher Gene Tenace. The Padres had signed Tenace and his teammate Rollie Fingers as free agents that offseason. Their addition did little to improve the team’s performance—San Diego finished 69-93. It was the fourth losing season in Davis’s tenure with the club.

The 1978 campaign began with promise for Davis, who had some notable games in spring training. He drilled a two-run homer against the Giants on March 21, giving the Padres a 9-8 win over their in-state rival.20 He played the hero again a week later when his RBI single in the top of the 10th inning helped secure a 5-3 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers.21 Davis appeared in 19 games for the Padres during the regular season, recording eight hits in 40 at-bats for a .200 batting average. The club decided to demote him after May 29, returning him to the Triple-A Hawaii Islanders. Davis performed well in Hawaii, racking up 92 hits in 311 at-bats for a .296 batting average. He also received ample time behind the plate, catching 79 games for the Islanders. However, he missed out on the Padres’ first winning season (84-78). Rick Sweet and Dave Roberts served as the primary catchers for the Friars.

On December 4, 1978, the Toronto Blue Jays selected Davis in the Rule 5 draft. The Jays called Davis’s name at the suggestion of team president Peter Bavasi, whose father, Buzzie, had been general manager of the Padres.22 Davis joined a team that had existed for only two years. The 1978 Jays had posted a slightly worse record than any Davis had experienced in San Diego: 59-102.

The two seasons that Davis spent in Toronto were difficult ones. The team regressed in 1979, losing seven more games than the year before. The front office sacked manager Roy Hartsfield after a blowout 9-2 loss to the New York Yankees on September 30.23 Bavasi had hired Hartsfield because of his success managing the Hawaii Islanders, the Triple-A club on which Davis had excelled during the 1975 season.24 The Jays then promoted Bobby Mattick, director of player development, to replace Hartsfield. The move made only a marginal difference, as the team finished the 1980 season at 67-95.

The struggling Blue Jays used Davis in much the same way as the Padres had. He served as a second-string catcher during the 1979 campaign, backing up Rick Cerone and starting 29 games behind the dish. He also logged 89 at-bats, registering 11 hits (including two doubles and one home run) and eight RBIs. His .124 batting average was the lowest of his major-league career.

However, Davis rebounded the following season and brought his average back over .200 while platooning with Ernie Whitt. He appeared in 91 games, easily his single-season high in the majors, more than doubling the number from the previous year. He also recorded 47 hits in 218 at-bats and drove in 19 runs while hitting four homers—all big-league career bests as well.

Davis’s veteran experience made him an asset for the Blue Jays. The team turned to him to catch Luis Leal, a 23-year-old righty from Venezuela, during his major-league debut against the Yankees. It was no simple task. New York had a stellar lineup and Leal, whose first language was Spanish, struggled to communicate with his catcher. Davis stated after the game: “He understands a little bit of English and I made signals at him. I just tried to get him to throw strikes at first and, once he did that, I figured out which pitches were working today. We went with the fastball and slider. His curve wasn’t too good.”25 Leal surrendered a home run to Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles and worked himself into several jams. However, the rookie settled down and notched his first major-league win. Davis received credit for offering Leal some “Oklahoman advice.”26 He told the young starter, “I just said, ‘Y’all pull your pants up the same way – one leg at a time.’ I figure you’ve got to believe that if you’re here in the big leagues, you gotta believe that you’re as good as the next guy.”27 On top of his counseling, Davis had three hits and an RBI in the Blue Jays’ 9-6 victory against New York.

Davis’s clutch hitting helped the Jays capture perhaps their most inspiring win of the 1980 season. The California Angels jumped out to a 6-0 lead over Toronto during a night game at Exhibition Stadium on August 1. The Jays fought their way back, pulling to within one run of the Halos in the bottom of the seventh. They tied the game in the bottom of the eighth, and with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Davis rocketed a double into the left field corner.28 His hit scored speedster Lloyd Moseby from first base and gave Toronto a 9-8 victory.29 It was an encouraging showing in an otherwise trying year.

The Blue Jays released Davis after the 1980 season, leaving him in search of another team. Finding a club was not easy. Davis had never been an everyday player and acknowledged that the Blue Jays paid him well below the average major-league salary of $170,000.30 Even so, the journeyman catcher had become something of a celebrity in his hometown of Locust Grove. Residents of the community proudly expressed their connection to Davis, remembering him as “just a hometown boy.”31 The town constructed a sign that read “Locust Grove: The Home of Bob Davis, Catcher, Toronto Blue Jays,” and planted it on State Highway 33.32 It also celebrated “Bob Davis Day” and established a “Bob Davis Fan Club.”33 For two dollars, a person could become a lifetime member of the organization. Between 150 and 200 people signed up and received a T-shirt with Davis’s picture on it. Ed Kelley, a writer for the Daily Oklahoman, kidded that the fan club was one of the “most exclusive groups in northeastern Oklahoma.”34 Davis, appreciative of the town’s reception, explained, “They’ve never had a professional ballplayer come from this area, and I think they’re proud of that.”35 He added, “But I don’t think it dawned on them what I did for a living until they saw me on TV last year, when I had a good day.”36 Robin McGlathery, a 23-year-old schoolteacher and president of the Bob Davis Fan Club, fervently denied the charge: “They think he’s something else in Locust Grove.”37

Davis received one last crack at major-league baseball when the California Angels offered him a contract in spring 1981. His time with the Angels was short-lived. Davis started the year in Triple A with the Salt Lake City Gulls of the Pacific Coast League, the same league he had played in while with the Padres organization. He appeared in 89 games for the Gulls, racking up 79 hits in 334 at-bats (a .237 batting average), including 24 doubles, one triple, and six home runs. He also drove in 47 runs. It was his highest number of at-bats since his 1978 season with the Hawaii Islanders.

The small-town catcher from Oklahoma made his only appearance as an Angel during a September 9 contest against the Kansas City Royals. He caught six innings and recorded two hitless at-bats as the Halos lost 7-3 to the defending American League champions. The game, played at Kauffman Stadium, marked the end of Davis’s major-league career. The veteran catcher walked away having played 290 games over eight seasons. He finished with 665 at-bats, 131 hits, a .197 batting average, 6 home runs, and 51 RBIs. On defense—the skill that kept him employed—he threw out a respectable 36% of opposing base stealers, including a career-best 57% in 1977.

With baseball behind him, Davis returned to Oklahoma with his wife, Billie, and two children, Amber and Joshua. There, he became involved with the cattle business, a career he had mulled after being released by the Blue Jays.38 Davis explained to Ed Kelley while a free agent: “If nobody wants you and doesn’t pick you up, you’re out of a job. Then, you’ll be home running cattle around here, and pitching hay in the summer.”39 Sure enough, cattle became Davis’s line of work after his big-league days. He also took a job in real estate, citing a long-standing interest in buying and selling property.40 The former pro, as of 2025, worked for United Country Real Estate in eastern Oklahoma. He has returned in many ways to being the modest hometown boy covered by the Daily Oklahoman in 1981.

Still, glimmers of Davis’s glory days persist. Residents of Locust Grove paid him a lasting tribute: they named the local baseball field after him.41 It was the same field where Davis played his Little League and high school ball.42 Some years earlier, the big-league catcher had humbly dismissed the displays that Locust Grove residents rolled out in his honor. He joked that he would change the sign outside town that read “Locust Grove: The Home of Bob Davis, Catcher” to “Locust Grove: The Home of Wesley Davis, Welder”—a reference to a cousin of his. “That is what people around here think of this baseball stuff,” Davis said grinning.43 Modest as Davis may be, the people of Locust Grove have never stopped thinking highly of him.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author relied on Baseball-Reference.com and a variety of information provided on Davis’s baseball cards. The cards can be accessed through Trading Card Database: https://www.tcdb.com/.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Darren Gibson and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Terry Bohn.

Notes

1 Ed Kelley, “Bob Davis: Baseball Hero,” Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City), February 23, 1981: 1.

2 Betty Lou Harper Thomas, “The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture: Locust Grove,” Oklahoma Historical Society, accessed May 7, 2025, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=LO002#:~:text=The%20KO%26G%20was%20completed%20in,1950%2C%20and%20828%20in%201960.

3 Bob Davis Baseball Card, 1975, Dean’s Photo Service Inc. Adrian Houser, a cousin of Davis, also excelled at Locust Grove and ascended to the major leagues as a pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, and Chicago White Sox.

4 “All-State Basketball Thumbnail Sketches,” Tulsa World, March 22, 1970: 121.

5 “All-State Basketball Thumbnail Sketches.”

6 Bob Davis Baseball Card, 1975, Dean’s Photo Service Inc.; Phil Collier, “Davis Answers Padre Prayer for Mitt Miracle,” The Sporting News, April 21, 1973: 22.

7 Collier, “Davis Answers Padre Prayer for Mitt Miracle.”

8 Bob Davis Baseball Card, 1975, Dean’s Photo Service Inc.

9 Collier, “Davis Answers Padre Prayer for Mitt Miracle.”

10 Collier, “Davis Answers Padre Prayer for Mitt Miracle.”

11 Collier, “Davis Answers Padre Prayer for Mitt Miracle.”

12 Bob Davis Baseball Card, 1978, Family Fun Centers.

13 “Catching Up with Bob Davis,” Padres 360, May 28, 2015, https://padres360.wordpress.com/2015/05/28/catching-up-with-bob-davis/. Padres360 is an independent website that covers a variety of topics related to the San Diego Padres. It is managed by Rebecca L. Herman, a PhD in Organization and Management, and Wayne McBrayer, a Padres fan. The site is not affiliated with the Padres organization.

14 Bob Davis Baseball Card, 1975, Dean’s Photo Service Inc.

15 “Bob Davis Joins Padres,” The Town Talk (Alexandria, Louisiana), July 18, 1975: 12.

16 “Managers Often Lose Rookie Gambles,” Miami Herald, April 6, 1976: 156.

17  “Managers Often Lose Rookie Gambles.”

18 “Padres nip Cubs on single in 9th,” Morning News (Wilmington, Delaware), July 19, 1976: 22; “Padres Nudge Chicubs,” Tulsa World, July 19, 1976: 16.

19 “Pads break losing streak in nightcap,” Daily Times-Advocate (Escondido, California), September 6, 1976: 8.

20 Fred Down, “Mound ills plague Angels,” El Paso Herald-Post, March 22, 1978: 22.

21 “Hard-Hitting Reds Top Rival Dodgers,” Telegraph-Journal (Saint John, New Brunswick), March 29, 1978: 19.

22 “Catching Up with Bob Davis.”

23 “Roy Is Out, With Thanks,” Buffalo News, October 1, 1979: 28.

24 David E. Skelton, “Roy Hartsfield,” Society for American Baseball Research, accessed May 6, 2025, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/roy-hartsfield/.

25 Alison Gordon, “Rookies put Jays on track,” Toronto Star, May 26, 1980: 17-18.

26 Gordon.

27 Gordon.

28 “Blue Jays battle from way back to beat Angels,” Billings (Montana) Gazette, August 2, 1980: 16; “Blue Jays 9, Angels 8,” Tulsa World, August 2, 1980: 22.

29 “Tigers Sweep Twinbill from Seattle Mariners,” Winston-Salem Journal, August 2, 1980: 21; “Blue Jays 9, Angels 8.”

30 Kelley, “Bob Davis: Baseball Hero.”

31 Kelley.

32 Kelley.

33 Kelley.

34 Kelley.

35 Kelley.

36 Kelley.

37 Kelley.

38 “Catching Up with Bob Davis;” Kelley, “Bob Davis: Baseball Hero.”

39 Kelley, “Bob Davis: Baseball Hero.”

40 “Catching Up with Bob Davis”; “Find an Agent,” United Country Real Estate company website, accessed May 7, 2025, https://www.oklahomalifestyleproperties.com/ouragents.htm.

41 Kelley, “Bob Davis: Baseball Hero.”

42 Kelley.

43 Kelley.