Glenn Davis Saga Turns for the Worse

The Glenn Davis saga continues to grow ever more frustrating to the Baltimore Orioles. Tuesday the Orioles placed the ailing first baseman on the 15-day disabled list, recalling outfielder Luis Mercedes from Class AAA Rochester to take Davis’ spot on the roster.

And team officials again were left wondering when -- and if -- their once-so-promising pairing with Davis will work out as planned.

Davis is back in Baltimore, receiving treatment for a strained muscle beneath his left shoulder blade. The Orioles had hoped he would rejoin the club for Wednesday’s game against the Boston Red Sox, the second contest of a three-game series at Fenway Park. But when Manager Johnny Oates and General Manager Roland Hemond huddled for a meeting here Monday evening and got Davis on the telephone, Davis indicated that he was uncertain about when he’d be able to play.

So the Orioles decided to put Davis on the DL retroactive to last Tuesday. He’ll be eligible to return April 22, but Oates said that he’s been given no assurances that Davis will be ready. Mercedes, who hit .334 at Rochester last year, nearly made the team out of spring training.

“I didn’t suspect (that Davis was headed for the DL) from the beginning,” Oates said Tuesday. “I thought it was just going to be a couple of days. That’s what he led me to believe.

“I’m to the point now where I just want him to get healthy. When he’s healthy, I’ll welcome him back with open arms. ... It doesn’t do us any good to harp on him not being here. Our goal is to get him healthy and get him on the field.”

Meanwhile, there appears to be growing disenchantment about Davis within the Orioles ranks. Davis has played in 50 of the 169 games played since the Orioles acquired him in a trade with the Houston Astros prior to last season. Team officials were careful to avoid putting any pressure on Davis to play at any point last season, when he missed four months with a weakened right shoulder caused by a nerve disorder in his neck.

They were relieved late last season and this spring when Davis seemed healthy and ready to regain the form that saw him average 31 home runs and 96 RBI per year over his first four full big-league seasons with the Astros. But they’ve gotten little thus far in the way of a return on their investment. They paid Davis $3.275 million to hit 10 homers and drive in 28 runs in 49 games a year ago, and during the offseason they re-signed Davis to a two-year contract that could pay him over $7 million. He has a guaranteed salary of nearly $2.9 million for 1992.

Still, the Orioles are anxious to begin reaping some of the benefits. They’ve watched outfielder Steve Finley and pitcher Pete Harnisch -- whom they traded, along with pitcher Curt Schilling, for Davis -- flourish in Houston. Now the Orioles can’t even get Davis to agree to be treated under the supervision of team physician Charles Silberstein. He has his own doctor. He even has his own batting coach. Privately, some members of the organization have been critical of Davis.

Oates, however, refused Tuesday to be dragged into that fray, saying only that “I’m looking forward to getting home and having a face-to-face talk with him.”

Davis, who spent the afternoon receiving treatment, Tuesday night declined to comment on his injury. And there seemingly is nothing wrong with the relationship between the Orioles and Davis that his return to the lineup -- plus perhaps a few dozen homers and 80 or so RBI -- wouldn’t cure.

When the Orioles made the deal for him in January 1991, they envisioned having the kind of run producer to support Cal Ripken in the middle of their batting order that they hadn’t possessed since the departure of Eddie Murray. When Davis was healthy (or even semi-healthy) last season, they got a glimpse of what he can do: Even with the trapezius muscle in his shoulder slowly withering away in the early stages of the year, he had four home runs in 41 at-bats before going onto the DL. This spring, the Orioles saw Davis’ compact stroke produce some monstrous blasts, and their imaginations were in overdrive again.

Yet during spring training, Davis said that he was experiencing occasional muscle spasms in his neck and shoulders. When the team came north, he said, he had worse spasms in his back and side. Davis played first base in the Orioles’ Opening Day victory over the Cleveland Indians, getting a single in three at-bats. He hasn’t played since. The Orioles offense has sputtered while the team compiled a 3-4 record. According to Oates, Davis said he experienced a “new spasm” this weekend after he climbed out of a swimming pool during one of his treatments.