Getting a New Look : The Twins Like What They See of Chili Davis, Who Is Seeking to Win, Not Prove Angels Wrong

This is about. . . .

Redemption? Revenge? Both?

Chili Davis, the Minnesota Twins’ designated hitter who leads the major leagues in home runs and is among the leaders in runs batted in, refuses to flaunt his recent success.

He was signed as a new-look free agent in January after the Angels, he contends, chilled the market by portraying him as a physical risk in the hope he would return on their terms.

Do 19 homers and 51 RBIs represent satisfaction or what?

“Just the fact that we’re in first place is satisfaction enough,” Davis said of the Twins’ position in the American League West, two games ahead of the Angels.

“I don’t need to rub anything in. I’m sure (Angel executives) pick up the paper every day and say, ‘Well, if we had to do it again. . . .’ ”

Today’s paper will show that Dave Parker, their 40-year-old designated hitter, has 13 fewer homers than 31-year-old Davis, 20 fewer RBIs and is batting .219 compared to .277 for Davis, who is fourth in the league in slugging percentage, third in extra-base hits, sixth in total bases.

Andy MacPhail, Minnesota’s general manager, doesn’t need a daily paper to remind him that his own designated hitters compiled the league’s poorest DH statistics last year.

“We wouldn’t be where we are if it wasn’t for Chili, that’s for sure,” he said. “We’re the beneficiary of him being 100% physically and on a mission to demonstrate he can still play.”

A mission?

“I’m on a mission to win,” Davis said. “I’m not on a mission to prove anything to anyone. I think I’ve proven what I can do when I’m healthy.”

He did it, for the most part, during six seasons with the San Francisco Giants and again in his first two with the Angels, in which he totaled 43 homers and 183 RBIs.

A lower-back strain reduced his availability to 113 games last year, when he hit 12 homers, drove in 58 runs and caused consternation among some in the clubhouse and front office who believed he wasn’t being diligent about his back exercises.

Said one Angel official: “I don’t care what Chili says, he allowed himself to get out of shape last year, wasn’t dedicated about his therapy and rejected our attempts to have him drop by during the winter so we could check out his condition. We weren’t going to rewrite his contract in the hope he was OK.”

Davis was one of 15 players awarded new-look free agency as part of the collusion settlement in January, but said he approached that process hopeful of remaining with the Angels, provided they demonstrated an interest.

It didn’t happen, according to Davis and agent Tom Reich, who said he made five contract proposals to the Angels, finally asking only for an improvement in the 1991 terms of Davis’ existing contract, which called for a ’91 salary of $1.45 million.

“I don’t think they had any intention of letting me go, but they put out the word I was damaged goods, thinking there wouldn’t be any interest and I’d have to come back with the same deal,” Davis said. “Anaheim was a beautiful place to play. The fans, my teammates and most of the people in the front office were great, but I didn’t want to be where I wasn’t wanted.

“The Angels said they couldn’t reach me to check on my health, but that was only an excuse. They had my address and phone number. Tom Kelly (Minnesota’s manager) reached me. Kirby Puckett and Dan Gladden reached me. The Twins showed five times more interest in me than the Angels.”

None of that happened, however, until after Minnesota third baseman Gary Gaetti had signed with the Angels as a free agent, creating a desperate need for power in the Metrodome.

With no other alternatives, Davis signed with the Twins on the night before his free-agent rights expired and he would have been forced to return to California.

He received a one-year guarantee of $1.7 million, with the chance to make another $600,000 in performance and award bonuses. The Twins hold a 1992 option at $2.5 million, which they can buy out for $300,000.

“Our scouts were satisfied with what they saw of Chili in September,” MacPhail said. “Even if there was some fall-off physically, we felt our park (sometimes known as the Homerdome) would compensate. We felt he was capable of hitting 20 to 25 homers and driving in 90 to 100 runs.”

Davis is only five shy of his best home run total, 24, with the Giants in 1987. He is on a pace to drive in more than 100 runs for the first time. He said it has been his best half-season, thanks in part to the loss of 20 pounds while strengthening his back by exercise and diet over the winter.

“I wouldn’t say I’m 100%, but I feel good physically and mentally,” he said. “I feel a lot better than I did at any time last year. I’m not damaged goods and I never was.”

The departure of Davis, coupled with the decision to let Brian Downing leave, put the Angels in the DH market. Dante Bichette was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for Parker. Davis isn’t gloating over his statistical edge.

“The only reason I want to see his numbers stay down is because it will be tougher for the Angels to beat us,” he said, adding that he has always been an admirer of Bichette.

“I thought with the proper patience and handling, he could develop into one of the game’s premier players and power hitters. I still think that, but I wasn’t surprised he was traded because I knew he and Doug (Rader) didn’t get along. It’s just that if you’re going to trade a player with his potential, I would think you’d get an established pitcher or a couple of young players in return. That part of it did surprise me.”

Perhaps, Davis suggested, there was confusion in the front office, a power struggle between Mike Port, later ousted as general manager, and new club President Richard Brown. Davis believes his own situation was affected by those dynamics.

“I think if it had been left up to Mike Port, he would have signed me to a new contract,” Davis said. “But it was up to Richard Brown and Dan O’Brien (Port’s aide and eventual successor), two guys I hardly knew and who hardly knew me.

“Was I disappointed? Yes. Frustrated? No. Change is inevitable in this game. You learn to move on.”