Lorenzo "Piper" Davis (born July 3, 1917, died May 21, 1997), star Negro League baseball player, of the Birmingham Black Barons from 1942 to 1949.[1]
Davis grew up in the small coal mining community of Piper, AL, thus the nickname "Piper." Throughout his childhood and adolescence, Davis looked for a way to escape the coal mining life that he watched his father endure. Baseball provided that escape.
Davis could play most infield positions but he is primarily known for playing second base and first base. Along with shortstop Artie Wilson and Davis at second base, the Black Barons possessed one of the finest doubleplay combinations in the Negro Leagues.
In July 1947, the St. Louis Browns of the American League purchased a 30-day option to purchase the Davis' contract from the Black Barons. At the end of the 30 days, the agreement was allowed to expire when the two parties could not come to terms on a contract for Davis to play with a minor league farm team (Elmira, NY) for the St. Louis Browns. Black Barons owner Hayes and Davis felt Davis playing in the white minors was a demotion and a cut in pay. Davis instead stayed with the Black Barons. In 1948, Davis became the player/manager of the Black Barons. A star rookie with the Black Barons that season was a young outfielder named Willie Mays.[2]
Davis later played in the integrated minor leagues in the 1950s, though he never played in the white major leagues. And, though he was signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1950 and spent spring training with the team, he never played in the Major Leagues. The Red Sox sent Davis to their minor league team in Scranton, PA at the beginning of the 1950 season. Davis was cut on May 15, despite batting .333, for "financial reasons."[3]
Later in life, Davis served as a scout for Major League Baseball teams, including the St. Louis Cardinals.[4]
The lanky Davis was also a talented basketball player spending several seasons in the 1940s with the famed Harlem Globetrotters.
Davis once told a sportswriter, "Praise the Lord . . . baseball got me out of the mines and into the sunlight."[5]
References
edit- ^ James A. Riley (20 January 2002). The biographical encyclopedia of the Negro baseball leagues. Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 9780786709595. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
- ^ John Klima (31 August 2009). Willie's boys: the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, the last Negro League world series, and the making of a baseball legend. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 9780470400135. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
- ^ Howard Bryant (2 September 2003). Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston. Beacon Press. ISBN 9780807009796. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
- ^ The Sporting News, February 21, 1971, p. 20.
- ^ The Sporting News, June 30, 1997, p. 6.