Angels ’94 : Chili : Davis Is Secure in His Designated Spot Despite the Presence of Close Friend Bo

Bo Jackson, asked if he had a minute to talk about Chili Davis, scowled like Larry Holmes at a weigh-in.

“Chili . . . Davis! I ain’t got time for no Chili . . . Davis,” he bellowed. “I’ve got work to do.”

And he stomped off to the batting cage, where he would vent all this apparent anger.

Jackson, a close friend of Davis, was clearly enjoying this and made sure every Angel within earshot saw the show. But soon, the rivalry between the two might become more than a daily game of clubhouse one-upmanship.

Davis is coming off the best season of his career. He hit 27 home runs, had 32 doubles and drove in 112 runs, more than any designated hitter in Angel history. He chased home one run for every five at-bats and figured to come into 1994 about as designated a hitter as a DH can be.

But Bo’s presence looms.

What if Bo’s hot, and Chili’s not?

Will Manager Buck Rodgers be tempted to go with Bo?

Rodgers, who stuck with Davis last year when he got off to a very slow start, says Jackson will get some action at DH, but it won’t be because Davis is 0 for 10.

“There are some pitchers that Chili doesn’t handle too well, and in those cases, I’ll probably put Bo in at DH,” Rodgers said. “And Bo’s going to play (some) left field.”

In his first news conference as an Angel, Jackson said he didn’t intend to be a replacement for Davis. But Davis is well aware of his buddy’s ability to swat a baseball, and he knows Jackson won’t turn down any at-bats simply because they will come at Davis’ expense.

“I’ve looked at it from that point of view, sure, but I’m not going to go out there and put extra pressure on myself,” Davis said. “I mean, I knocked in a million runs last year, and I don’t think Buck will panic on me.

“Last year could have been a really (lousy) year if Buck wouldn’t have kept me out there.”

Two months into the season, Davis was hitting .222 with four homers and 29 runs batted in.

“A lot of managers would’ve reached the point where they would’ve said, ‘Let’s try someone else,’ but he stuck with me. Maybe it was because I never gave an at-bat away, never quit,” said Davis, who hit nine home runs with two strikes and nine in the seventh inning or later.

“Maybe it was because I worked so hard in the spring to get ready. Anyway, in the end, it paid off for me and him and the Angels.”

The return of Davis--who signed with Minnesota as a free agent on Jan. 29, 1991, and came back to the Angels via the same route in December of 1992--has paid off for the club in almost too many ways to count.

If you can believe the youngsters who are the future of the team, Davis’ presence in the clubhouse is worth at least 112 more RBIs on the field.

“I give Chili a lot of credit for the success I had early last year,” first baseman J.T. Snow said. “He really had me ready. He told me that guys would be testing me early, giving me the fastball just to see if I could hit it.”

Snow crushed a lot of those fastballs and was hitting .407 on April 25, but later, when he was fasting on a steady diet of breaking balls, Davis came through again.

“He taught me to keep working hard and to keep my attitude good because this is a streaky game,” Snow said. “Things can change at any moment.”

Snow knows change. He was back in the minors by midseason and will probably start there this year. But Tim Salmon, whose season-long high turned into a rookie of the year award, says Davis deserves a footnote on the trophy.

“Chili’s been a huge influence on me,” Salmon said. “Of course, his presence behind me (in the batting order) has been a key factor, but he’s been my tutor, too.

“There’s so much I’ve learned from him about temperament at the plate. We both face a lot of RBI situations and are expected to drive in runs, and there’s a lot of pressure that goes along with that. But Chili taught me to be patient and never to give away an at-bat.”

Davis’ ability to help young players seems to be surpassed only by his willingness to help.

“He’s a veteran who is totally approachable,” Salmon said. “I remember my first day in the clubhouse, and he walked right up, sat down and started talking to me.

“I’m sure every guy on this team can tell you something he’s done for them. He’s so important to the chemistry of this team.”

Shortstop Gary DiSarcina has been hanging on Davis’ words of wit and wisdom since he first came up with the Angels in 1989.

“He’s been a positive force for me since I was a rookie,” DiSarcina said. “He’s the epitome of a professional baseball player. He’s so consistent emotionally, and it’s good for the young guys to see what it takes to play up here.

“The amazing thing is he treats everyone exactly the same, whether they have 10 years in or 10 days in. And nowadays, that’s kind of rare.”

Davis insists he is only doing for others what players such as Joe Morgan, Reggie Smith and Jack Clark did for him when he was a rookie with the Giants in 1981.

“They treated me with respect as a rookie, and I’ll never forget that,” Davis said. “Anyway, it’s easy to suck up to the guys who have been here 10 years, but they don’t need it. Everybody’s always sucking up to them.

“But that’s not the case for the guys who are nervous about just getting here or trying to win a position. I haven’t got a college degree like some of these guys, but I’m smart enough to know that no man is above anyone else.”

“And there’s a selfish part to it, too. It’s all part of trying to win. I’m not trying to help Tim Salmon just for Tim Salmon. What helps him helps us, too.”

Everyone it seems, from teammates to the front office, marvels at Davis’ ability to maintain an even keel, to shake off a three-strikeout performance and knock in the winning run in the ninth.

“See this is just a game, man, but I don’t know if you can really teach that,” Davis said, smiling. “I think that’s part of my personality. If I fall in love and get dumped, then I just walk away and go on. That doesn’t mean I don’t care. That doesn’t mean I don’t hurt. I guess it’s more a case of ‘Why worry about it when I could be dead tomorrow?’

“That attitude really helps in this game, because a season is 162 games long and if you let every bad game, every frustration, get to you, you’ll be gray, or bald, or have some serious ulcers.

“And even more important, you probably wouldn’t be very successful.”

Success has always been fleeting for Davis, especially in recent years. In 1989 with the Angels, he hit 22 homers and drove in 90 runs. In ‘90, those numbers dipped to 12 and 58. The next season with the Twins, he had 29 home runs and 93 RBIs. Then in ‘92, he fell to 12 and 66.

When he resurfaced in Anaheim as a 33-year-old designated hitter last year, Davis rebounded with his most productive season.

“I don’t think you can expect Chili to have two career years back to back,” Rodgers said. “I don’t think you’ll see him drive in that many runs or hit that many homers, that’s a little too much to ask. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he hit for a better average.”

Davis, a career .267 hitter, batted .243 last season.

“I’m not even thinking about duplicating last year,” Davis said. “(Luis) Polonia and (Chad) Curtis seemed to be on base every time I came up, and I’ve never had two guys in front of me who stole 40 or 50 bags each in a year. They not only caused a lot of distraction for pitchers, but they got over to third with nobody out or one out and I was able to get a lot of RBIs with an out.”

Davis and the Angels discussed a two-year contract extension last fall, but the Angels eventually renewed his option for $2.4 million. So, for the third time in five years, Davis will be playing in the final year of a contract.

The last two times, he also found himself looking for a new job.

“That’s just the way it is,” Davis said. “I mean, one reporter asked Buck last year if he thought I was washed up. It was the middle of June, and I already had 50 RBIs.

“I guess the man up there has decided that I’m going to have to prove myself every year, but that’s all right. I’m used to it by now.”