ERIC DAVIS’ LONG SEASON : His Banner Year Brings No Flag, Just Frustration

Billed as the next Willie Mays, he seemed to have justified it.

Eric Davis, in just his second full season as the Cincinnati Reds’ center fielder, finished among the top 10 in 7 of the National League’s offensive categories last year.

He batted .293, hit 37 home runs, scored 120 runs, drove in 100 and stole 50 bases in 56 attempts.

He also soared above outfield fences to deprive opponents of at least four home runs, winning a Gold Glove with his acrobatic style.

But the summer ended amid mounting frustration. The Reds, who led the Western Division for 81 games, faded in August and failed to come back in September, and their center fielder’s image changed with the color of the leaves.

Davis played in only 9 of 17 games after crashing into the brick wall at Wrigley Field while making a game-saving catch Sept. 4.

He missed a three-game series with the division-leading San Francisco Giants in mid-September--the Reds lost all three and fell seven behind and out of the race--and he didn’t play at all after Sept. 25, the Reds having clinched second place for the third straight year.

He missed a total of 31 games, which seemed to make his statistics even more impressive, though not everyone looked at it that way.

The comparisons to Mays yielded to the startling view that Davis might have been malingering.

“Say, hey,” gave way to, “Say, what?”

Now, back at work, having received a $566,000 raise to $899,000 and the chance to make another $105,000 in award bonuses, having taken two months off to let his wounds heal before beginning his annual winter workouts with close friends Darryl Strawberry and Chris Brown at Denker Park in south-central Los Angeles, the former Fremont High star was asked about the scars to his psyche.

He was asked how he felt being back in spring training--September behind him, his contract negotiations over. He was asked if he was happy, excited, relieved or none of the above?

“I guess I feel relief most of all because it was something I had to deal with all winter,” Davis said.

“Every time my name was mentioned it was only in regard to how I got hurt in September.

“There was not a lot of respect involved in the negotiations or anything else.

“Nothing was mentioned about the contributions I had made, only what I hadn’t done in September and the games I missed during the season.

“It was annoying and angering. I had the stats of a player who had 560 at-bats (rather than just 474). How many players did what I did in 130 games?”

Davis sat by his locker at the Reds’ new training complex and said it calmly, softly. There was no hint of bitterness, no indication that he will carry it into the season.

Agent Eric Goldschmidt, a 28-year-old USC accounting graduate, sat outside the clubhouse and said of Davis: “He felt he gave everything and more to the team and that it wasn’t reciprocated. Instead of approval, he was doubted. He was hurt and angered by that, but he’s healthy, happy with his contract and prepared to work hard.

“He’ll go about his job, put up his numbers and go home. He isn’t required to play his whole life with the Reds, and how they treat him will be an important consideration in the future.”

It isn’t clear how all this started, how the Reds’ relationship with their bona fide superstar, the one player most important to their success, turned so tenuous.

Maybe it was when Davis missed three early games with the Houston Astros because of a blister on his left hand and replacement Tracy Jones said: “A blister? I’ve had those, too.”

Maybe it was when relief pitcher John Franco, who hurt his hip in that Sept. 4 game at Wrigley Field, and right fielder Dave Parker, who had knee trouble most of the second half, took cortisone shots to play in that final three-game series with the Giants.

“In a situation like this, you have to do what you have to do,” Parker said at the time.

Said Franco: “I heard Eric was going to get (a shot), too, but I don’t know if there’s any truth to that.”

Maybe it was when Manager Pete Rose, having seen Davis make two stretching catches against the Atlanta Braves while wearing a protective vest around his rib cage, said with a degree of sarcasm, “Some catches, huh?” meaning, how could Davis do that just two days after being unable to play against the Giants.

Maybe it was the subtle pressure of Rose saying frequently he would rather use Davis at 50% than most other players at 100%, or the blatant accusation by a club vice president, Goldschmidt said, that Davis was a malingerer, or all the references to the missed games during contract talks, or the numerous stories dealing with Davis’ alleged lack of desire such as the Baseball America article headlined: “Davis: A Self-Centered Superstar?”

“I just think that it all stems from frustration,” Davis said while sitting by his locker. “The club was frustrated that I couldn’t play in September, and I was frustrated.

“Any time you have an injury that doesn’t require surgery and doesn’t show up on X-rays, there’s going to be speculation. I can’t stop it and can’t worry about it.

“I know how I felt. No one wanted to play more than I did. I was so close to doing something no one had ever done (hitting 40 home runs and stealing 40 or more bases in the same season). I mean, if people think I took myself out of the lineup, they just don’t know me.”

They might have also forgotten that he played for three weeks earlier in the season with an air cast on an injured ankle and that he frequently shrugged off the bumps and bruises that are byproducts of his aggressive style.

“I lost 14 pounds in September,” Davis said. “I had bruised ribs and torn cartilage. We took tests to see if I had a ruptured spleen or a bruised kidney or if I was bleeding internally, and each time a test came back negative, the club seemed to say, ‘OK, he should be out there playing.’

“No one seemed to understand that we were running tests only to eliminate the possibilities. I mean, just because a test came back negative didn’t mean I was suddenly well enough to play.

“They also said that Eric Davis at 50% is better than other players at 100%, but that’s not fair to me. I give 120%. If I’m missing that other 70%, I can’t play my game. I can’t take the extra base or reach a ball in the gap.

“I’ve played with bumps and bruises when I felt I could still play to my capability, but there are times when I feel I’m helping the club more by not being out there.

“I could change my style to try to avoid injuries, but then I wouldn’t be the same player. I mean, people are going to have to understand that I’ll probably never play 162 games because of my aggressiveness. I’m going to always play 135 to 140 games. I wouldn’t be as effective trying to play more.”

Davis hit .312 in the first half of last season, stole 33 bases, drove in 64 runs and hit 24 homers. He batted .273 in the second, with 36 RBIs, 27 stolen bases and 13 home runs. He said he was worn down.

Goldschmidt alluded to new general manager Murray Cook and said: “We’ve told Murray that because of Eric’s aggressive style he can’t play 162 games. He responded that they didn’t want Eric to change and that they’ll believe him when they say he’s hurt.”

Said Cook: “We’ll never say a player is not hurt if he says he is. As for Eric, we’re assuming that he’ll play every day that Pete wants him to play. How many games is up to Pete.”

The manager said that his employment of Davis will depend on the situation.

But Rose is Charlie Hustle, who wanted to play every inning of every game, starting in March.

“I was a momentum-type player,” Rose said. “It hurt me to come out of the lineup. Eric will play if he can, but he also likes his days off. He’s like Joe Morgan (Rose’s former teammate with the Reds).

“I never saw a guy who benefited more from a day off. Joe would bounce back like $6 million. He knew how to do it. He knew how to restore his energy.

“I don’t question Eric’s heart. I don’t question the fact he was hurt. The way he plays, he’s going to have aches and pains, and it’s not fair to him to say you’d rather have him out there at 50% than another guy at 100%. A guy with his talent wants to be able to do the things he’s capable of doing.

“It’s just that in my case, I get spoiled. I hate to have another guy getting four at-bats when Eric is just sitting there.”

If there are ramifications from 1987 or any lingering disenchantment, Rose said he hasn’t seen it. He said he has seen only positives from Davis.

“He’s a star now,” Rose said. “Now it’s only a matter of going out and setting standards.

“What can we expect? I think it’s realistic to expect him to hit 25 to 35 home runs, bat .280 to .310, steal 50 to 75 bases, drive in 90 to 110 runs and score 100. Those are the statistics of a perennial All-Star and MVP. If he gets the breaks, he can do even better.”

Rose is almost equally high on the offensive skills of left fielder Kal Daniels, who will hit third, with Davis batting fourth. His objective now is to find Nos. 1 and 2 hitters with the consistency of two former Cincinnati stars.

“You can have a Tony Perez and Johnny Bench and all the guys like that you want, but you’ve got to have a Pete Rose and Joe Morgan on base,” Rose said.

“I’ve got the gourmet cooks. I need some table setters. I’m not knocking what we’ve got, but you don’t know what Eric’s stats might be if he had a Rose and Morgan in front of him. A guy like that might knock in 150 runs.”

Davis has had to live with the great expectations ever since the Mays comparisons began. Now the Reds may be expecting that much more. Parker, who hit 26 homers, drove in 97 runs and had 16 game-winning hits, was traded to the Oakland Athletics for much-needed pitching help. Tracy Jones, Paul O’Neill or both will be asked to play right field. Davis, it is hoped, can pick up that much more of the offensive slack.

“There were expectations on me even when Dave was here,” Davis said. “I can only concentrate on what I have to do. I’m not Superman. We have to replace Dave collectively. I can’t do it alone. My shoulders aren’t big enough.”

It has been speculated that one factor in the Reds’ decision to trade Parker was a belief that he shirked his leadership role in the second half and may have even been a negative influence on Davis, convincing him to avoid aggravating his injuries until he had signed a major contract.

Davis denied that, saying: “Dave put out the entire time he was here. It’s unfair for people to say he was a bad influence. That’s just another part of the frustration.

“He was an integral part of the club, and it went beyond his 25 to 30 homers. We called him Pops. It was like having your father leave. I mean, you can never really replace a Dave Parker, only fill in the position.

“The club did what it felt it had to do to improve the pitching, but we still have to go out and perform. I was more surprised than anything.”

Now, too, people are saying that Davis will have to fill in the leadership gap, but he said: “That’s not my job or responsibility. Baseball is not like football, where the quarterback leads, or basketball, where the point guard leads. Nobody controls the ball in baseball. Nobody can hit, run or catch for you. A veteran player shouldn’t need anyone to motivate him.”

Davis generates some of his motivation and mental edge, he said, from the winter workouts at Denker Park, a reminder of where he came from and how tough it was there. He will be 26 in May and at an early crossroads, perhaps. Mays or malingerer?

“My job is to give 120%,” he said. “I can’t worry about what other people think. I have to look at myself in the mirror and on that basis, I feel good but not satisfied. I will never say I’m satisfied with what I’ve done because I would stop improving if I did--and I can always improve.”