Sunday, April 11, 1999
Eric Davis: small fries to Big Mac
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ST. LOUIS — No wonder Eric Davis has written an autobiography. The St. Louis Cardinals right fielder has a knack of saying something that might sound boastful from another player's tongue but makes perfect sense coming from him.
Davis displayed this skill Saturday after flashing the talent that has kept him in the major leagues for 14 seasons. His bases-loaded, two-run single in the eighth inning broke a 2-2 tie and enabled the Cardinals to outlast the Reds 4-2.
Reds reliever John Hudek walked slugger Mark McGwire on five pitches before facing Davis, who belted a 2-0 pitch to left-center field.
“Those are tough situations to pitch in,” said Davis, who recently wrote a book with Ralph Wiley, Born to Play, which includes details of his recovery from colon cancer. “You come out of the bullpen and who would you rather face, Big Mac or me? You try not to give Big Mac anything to hit, and then you fall behind me 2-0 ... It's a tough situation.”
The same could have been said of Davis, who had only two hits in 19 at-bats before stroking his game-winner.
“I'm trying to beat every body. I'm trying to get hits off anybody I can,” said Davis, dismissing the notion that he took any special pleasure in beating his former team. “It never gets old. You'd like to do that every day.”
Davis soon found himself in the middle of an unusual play. With the bases loaded and one out, Alberto Castillo hit a potential grounder toward shortstop Barry Larkin. From second base, Davis hesitated in front of the ball, as base runners do to try to distract the fielder, then proceeded to third. But he ran into Larkin and was called out for committing interference.
It actually helped the Cardinals, because only one out was added instead of two.
“I was just trying to stay there as long as I could. That's the only way I could break up a double play,” Davis said. “I think (Larkin) clipped the back of my foot, or something.”
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