Piper Davis

Lorenzo "Piper" Davis (July 3, 1917 in Piper, Alabama – May 21, 1997 in Birmingham, Alabama) was an American professional baseball player who played in the Negro American League from 1942 to 1950 for the Birmingham Black Barons.[1][2] His nickname was the name of the mining town he was from.[3]

Piper Davis
First baseman/Second baseman/Shortstop
Born: (1917-07-03)July 3, 1917
Piper, Alabama
Died: May 21, 1997(1997-05-21) (aged 79)
Birmingham, Alabama
Batted: Right Threw: Right
debut
Birmingham Black Barons
1942
Last appearance
Birmingham Black Barons
1950

Davis was the manager of the Black Barons in the late '40s, including 1948, when they played in the last Negro World Series ever played, losing to the Homestead Grays.[4]

The Boston Red Sox signed Davis as their first black player, but he never played for the team.

Influence on Willie Mays

Willie Mays first met Davis while Piper was playing on a team in Birmingham's Industrial League with Mays's father. He had first caught the eye of Barons' manager Piper Davis in tenth grade, when Davis had Mays try out for the team. Davis encouraged Mays to work on hitting the curveball, coached him periodically for a couple years, and gave Mays a chance to play for the Barons starting in 1947, when Mays was just 16.[5] Mays credited Davis for teaching him two important lessons about how to play baseball. Davis encouraged Mays to charge balls hit through the infield, to better position himself to prevent runners from advancing.[6] To help Mays hit the curveball, Davis told him to stand straighter and face the pitcher more in his stance.[7] When the principal of Mays's high school objected to Mays playing professionally, Davis assured him that playing would not take away from Mays's schoolwork—he refused to let Mays make road trips during the school year.[8] Since Mays was so young, Davis also made sure a player looked after him on road trips.[9] "He was a warm man, fatherly, and all the players respected him," said Mays.[10]

References
  1. The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia. Sterling Publishing. 2007. p. 1699. ISBN 978-1-4027-4771-7.
  2. "Birmingham, Alabama Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  3. Mays, p. 23
  4. Mays, p. 23, 40
  5. Mays, pp. 24, 26, 30
  6. Mays, p. 26
  7. Mays, p. 28
  8. Mays, pp. 31-32
  9. Mays, p. 39
  10. Mays, p. 23
  • Mays, Willie (1988). Say Hey: The Autobiography of Willie Mays. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 65. ISBN 0671632922.



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