Last week, reader Mark asked if The APBA Blog could post Eric Davis’ 1986 card. As it turned out, Davis’ 1986 card was in the queue for Monster Monday. As I was searching for Kirby Puckett’s card for his post, I ran across Davis’ and it was too good to pass up.
Honestly, Davis’ stats in his breakout year with the Reds were good but not spectacular with a few exceptions. He hit .277 with 27 homers and 71 rbis.
He did however, steal 80 bases for Cincinnati. That came in second to Vince Coleman’s 107 thefts. Coleman did not have the power of Eric Davis, though. Davis’ .523 slugging percentage combined with his 80 steals showed Cincy he was a player who could do it all.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 Totals | 132 | 487 | 415 | 97 | 115 | 15 | 3 | 27 | 71 | 80 | 68 | 100 | .277 | .378 | .523 |
Two things stand out about this card to me. One is the obvious potential for steals. Davis’ 1986 card has three 11s and five 14*s which means he will be stealing a whole lot of bases.
The other is Davis’ on-base potential. In addition to his three 11s and five 14*s, he also possesses power numbers 1-5-5 which means he has a total of eleven chances to reach base no matter who is pitching. This does not include the two 8s or two 9s (or even the 53-15).
I was curious so I checked to see how manager Pete Rose used Davis in the lineup. Initially, Davis was the leadoff man in 1986 but Rose saw the power in him and moved him into the cleanup hole. He finished with 82 games started in the 4th spot.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 162 Games | 9 Players | 10 Players | 4 Players | 8 Players | 9 Players | 11 Players | 12 Players | 6 Players | 9 Players |
| Most-Games | Milner-58 Daniels-26 Stillwell-23 Larkin-22 Davis-19 Jones-8 Oester-4 Venable-1 Rowdon-1 | Rose-61 Bell-57 Concepcion-16 Milner-10 Venable-7 Stillwell-3 Jones-3 Daniels-3 Larkin-1 Davis-1 | Parker-147 Daniels-7 Venable-7 Davis-1 | Davis-82 Esasky-38 Parker-10 Bell-10 Diaz-9 Daniels-6 Perez-5 Venable-2 | Diaz-66 Bell-52 Perez-16 Concepcion-11 Jones-5 Rowdon-5 Esasky-4 Milner-2 Davis-1 | Concepcion-44 Stillwell-24 Perez-22 Milner-22 Bell-19 Larkin-12 Esasky-5 Davis-5 Rowdon-5 Diaz-3 | Diaz-50 Esasky-43 Butera-27 Bell-12 Stillwell-9 Perez-6 Milner-6 Rowdon-3 Concepcion-2 Van Gorder-2 | Oester-144 Stillwell-5 Butera-4 Concepcion-4 Rowdon-4 Diaz-1 | Browning-39 Gullickson-37 Denny-27 Welsh-24 Soto-20 Power-10 Terry-2 Price-2 Smith-1 |
Perhaps Rose found out about the two 5s on his card!
Perhaps what is most amazing about Eric Davis’ 1986 is that he was hitting under .200 as late as June. On June 11, he went 1 for 1 to put himself over the Mendoza Line for good. Two days later, he went on a five-game hit streak and then a week later, went on another one. He ended up hitting .361 that June and .381 for July.
He did get into a few brushes with opposing players in 1986.
As the broadcaster says: “I’ll you one thing… you’re barking up the wrong tree going after Ray Knight!”
thanks for the suggestion, Mark!
