GUIDERAIL FEATURE STORY: Doug Davis

When Doug Davis led the Syracuse Chiefs to a 4-2 win over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees on September 1, 2008, he left the field having managed 999 games in eight seasons as a Minor League skipper. It was nearly 13 years until he managed his 1000th game – on Opening Day 2021 fittingly for the RailRiders on May 4 at Syracuse.

Reaching that milestone has been a long time coming for the Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania native, one that was made even lengthier by the COVID-19 pandemic. After serving in several capacities as an assistant coach for the RailRiders since 2017, Davis was slated to manage the team in 2020. Unfortunately, he didn’t get that opportunity when the Minor League Season was canceled last summer.

“It’s very meaningful to me. Obviously, longevity is one of the things – this is year 38 for me – so if you hang around long enough you get to certain milestones,” said Davis about reaching the 1,000 game plateau. “It’s a blessing, being able to stay in the game you love and enjoy, the camaraderie and friendships that you build over those years, that’s all very, very important. The players that you have a chance to spend time with and watch develop and move on to bigger and better things. That all comes to mind for me.”

Despite the excitement, the 2021 season promises to bring unprecedented challenges to just play a full 120-game season. Players have to comply with various MLB protocols, and the very structure of the schedule is radically changed from 2019.

“Things are different, no question about it. I think we knew that coming into this,” Davis said. “Most of the players were in spring training so they could sort of ease their way through some different times. We have a team here that’s fired up and ready to go. It has been a long stretch for everyone … [the season] has been a long time coming.”

Davis did not rest on his laurels while there were was no season. He was tasked by the Yankees with the important job of running the team’s Alternate Training Site out of PNC Field.

“For me, the Alternate Site was great. I mean it was a breath of fresh air,” Davis noted. “Just getting me back on the field and in a managerial role. Although I didn’t really feel like I was managing this club. I was kinda leading it and guiding it, setting schedules and stuff like that. But from a managing standpoint – not a whole lot of that going on.”

Despite the unprecedented challenges that have come with the global pandemic, Davis is thankful to be given the opportunity to work with the RailRiders for a fourth season.

“Being close to home – close to family and stay in my house and be able to commute – means an awful lot to myself and to my family,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to have some friendly faces come to the ballpark and see people during the course of the season that I normally wouldn’t get a chance to see.”

Davis’ 38-year career in baseball is a testament to the nomadic nature of the industry.

He graduated from Central Columbia High School in 1982 and began playing college baseball at North Carolina State University. In 1984, he was drafted in the ninth round of the MLB Draft by the California Angels and began his professional career with the Peoria Chiefs of the Midwest League. Davis hit .220 in 43 games with the Angels Single-A affiliate, which was skippered by 30-year-old Hazleton, Pennsylvania native Joe Maddon, now the manager of the Chicago Cubs.

After Davis’ first game with the Chiefs, Maddon drove him from the stadium to the hotel where he was staying. On the ride, the two bonded over their shared roots in northeast Pennsylvania and developed a strong relationship.

For the next two seasons, Davis played under Maddon again with the Midland Angels of the Texas League before finally getting the call to the big leagues in 1988. On July 8 of that year, he boarded a 6:40 am flight in Portland, Oregon destined for Cleveland, Ohio, where he arrived at Municipal Stadium just over an hour before first pitch.

“I didn’t have the chance to take batting practice or anything to prepare for the game except get my uniform,” remembers Davis of his debut.

In the top of the fourth, third baseman Jack Howell was hit in the head by a pitch from the Indians’ Bud Black and had to be removed from the game. Manager Cookie Rojas turned to Davis and asked if he could play third base.

“I had never played [third] before,” said Davis, but he wasn’t about to let that prevent him from getting in the game. “So I go into my first major league baseball game to pinch run for Jack Howell and play third base.”

Davis’ unorthodox debut was far from over as two batters later Black hit Devon White in the kneecap with a pitch to load the bases. White dropped his bat and took a step toward Black while yelling at him, but Indians catcher Andy Allanson climbed on his back and a benches-clearing brawl ensued.

“I haven’t been in the big leagues for five minutes, and I’m in the middle of a bench-clearing brawl in Cleveland, playing a position I’ve never played before. So that was a good experience,” Davis laughs. “Welcome to the big leagues.”

After his big league cameo, Davis finished the 1988 season in the minor leagues with Triple-A Edmonton. He bounced back and forth for the next two and a half seasons with Edmonton and Midland before the Angels released him in July 1991. The Kansas City Royals quickly signed Davis and assigned him to Double-A Memphis.

“I wasn’t sure where my career was going at that point,” said Davis. “I had been in Triple-A for four years with the Angels and there were no opportunities there, and nobody else had opportunities [for big league playing time] either.”

The following offseason, Davis signed a contract with the Texas Rangers. He spent most of the 1992 season in the minor leagues, but on April 23, he made his lone MLB appearance with the Rangers.

On an 86-degree day at Arlington Stadium, Davis entered an 11-5 game in the top of the ninth as a defensive replacement for Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez. He led off the bottom of the inning against Jack Doherty of the Detroit Tigers and poked a single through the left side of the infield between shortstop and third base. It was his first – and only – big league hit.

Davis spent the next two seasons back in Triple-A with Oklahoma City and retired as a player to begin his coaching career in 1995 with the Lake Elsinore Storm in the Angels organization.

“When I left the Angels [in 1991] they actually wanted me to start coaching, and I just wasn’t ready at that time,” said Davis. “I wanted to keep playing … so after the ’94 season, the Angels were the first team to call and offered me a coaching position and I took it almost immediately.”

After one year as an assistant coach, the 33-year-old got his first managerial job with the Pittsfield Mets of the New York-Penn League. Davis guided the team to a 47-28 record and a playoff birth. In 1997, he led Pittsfield to its first and only league championship. His performance earned him a promotion within the Mets organization to the Capital City Bombers of the South Atlantic League, where he steered the team to a franchise-record 90 wins and captured another league championship.

In 1999 and 2000, Davis managed the Binghamton Mets of the Eastern League before leaving to become the Minor League Field Coordinator for the Montreal Expos in 2001. He served the Florida Marlins in the same role in 2002, before taking over as bench coach of the Marlins in 2003 and 2004 under Jack McKeon. In the 2003 season, Davis reached the pinnacle of baseball, winning the World Series in six games against the New York Yankees.

“[Winning the World Series] was a tremendous experience,” said Davis. “It was remarkable watching team evolve, watching a team of very talented players grow together as a group and then just watch all the things fall into place.”

Davis returned to his role as the Marlins Minor League Field Coordinator for the 2005 season, but in 2006 he again changed organizations and became the manager of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats of the Eastern League in the Toronto Blue Jays system. After one year in New Hampshire, he was promoted to manage the Syracuse Chiefs in 2007 and 2008 before taking over as the Blue Jays Minor League Field Coordinator from 2009-16.

In 999 games spread out across eight seasons as a minor league manager, Davis compiled a 515-484 (.516) record and won three league championships. He is eager to add another championship at home in Northeast Pennsylvania.

“I love managing,” said Davis, who added that he also loved his role as a field coordinator. “I loved being able to not only work with players but [as a field coordinator] to also work with staff and have a chance to see staff members evolve and grow and watch their careers.”

Davis returned to the dugout in 2017 when he joined the RailRiders as a defensive coach. He transitioned to the role of bullpen coach for the 2018 season and served in that role for manager Jay Bell in 2019 as well before he was named manager prior to the 2020 season.

“Honestly, for me, it couldn’t get any better than this.”