Davis Is Angels’ Heart and Soul On, Off Field

“He’s everything to the team. He is the club. Take him out of the lineup and who are we?”

Was this Tony Lazzeri talking about Babe Ruth? Babe Ruth on Lou Gehrig? Bo Jackson on Bo Jackson?

Wrong on all three.

The speaker Sunday was Angel right fielder Tim Salmon and the player in question was designated hitter Chili Davis.

It’s probably impossible to find anyone connected with the Angels--players, management or fans--who would disagree with Salmon.

Nolan Ryan once carried similar weight around Anaheim Stadium. So did Reggie Jackson, and ever so briefly Wally Joyner and Jim Abbott. They were the players fans came to see play, guys who usually came through with the big play at the right moment.

Davis has certainly carved a niche as the Angels’ heart and soul, hitting as well as he ever has. Sunday’s performance wasn’t particularly awe-inspiring, yet such games add up to something special.

Davis singled twice, had two runs batted in, scored two runs and stole a base, his first this season. At day’s end, his batting average stood at a lofty .380. Sunday’s 8-3 victory over Boston marked the 24th game he’s had a hit. He’s had two hits or more in 10 games. And he had a 12-game hitting streak interrupted by knuckleballer Tim Wakefield on Saturday night.

The Angels have played 30 games this season and Davis has been in the lineup for each one.

And to think, he’s 35.

Isn’t this where he’s supposed to slow down, play a little golf, relax and count all his money? After all, he signed his three-year, $11.4-million contract a few weeks ago. The pressure should be off.

Fat chance.

“What I want to do is have three booming years, then walk away and have them beg me to come back,” Davis said with a laugh.

He’s off to a rousing start.

“He’s a tremendous presence in the lineup, a dominant personality,” shortstop Gary DiSarcina said.

“We wouldn’t be where we are now without him, I know that,” Manager Marcel Lachemann said.

“I’ll be begging him to come back even if he doesn’t have three great years,” Salmon said.

Davis returned to the Angels after two solid seasons with the Minnesota Twins, hit 27 home runs with 112 RBIs in 1993 and the general consensus was, “Wow, he had one last great season.”

Then came ’94 and a .311 batting average, 26 homers and 84 RBIs in 45 fewer games. And now this. Can there possibly be more to come?

“He seems to be getting better,” Lachemann said. “He’s seen it all. He’s picked up a lot of things with a lot of different people. That always pays off.”

Davis has been a crucial part of the Angel batting order, but he’s also the acknowledged clubhouse leader. And he takes that role as seriously as he does his job as DH.

No slackers allowed. No excuses either. Judge and jury.

“That’s the way it is here,” Davis said. “We don’t need anybody popping off. We don’t want to hear about what you did in college or in the minors. If I can go out and play hard, I expect everyone else to.”

Young players like Salmon and DiSarcina look to Davis with a sense of reverence. Clearly, he is their role model.

They could have picked worse.