Ex-Cub Davis traveling down memory lane

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By Steve Batterson | Wednesday, July 12, 2006 1:18 AM CDT | () comments

John Schultz/QUAD-CITY TIMES Jody Davis led the Peoria Chiefs to a playoff berth in the first half of the season.

Hopping on a bus this season as the first-year manager of the Peoria Chiefs has been a trip down memory lane for Jody Davis.

The former Chicago Cubs catcher has been amazed at the stuff Midwest League baseball fans have shown him as the Chiefs have made their way from one city to the next.

“There are times when I feel like I’ve been living my life all over again,” Davis said during his team’s recent visit to the Quad-Cities. “It’s been pretty incredible; some of the things that people bring out to ballpark because they want to show me.”

Davis is used to penning his name on baseball cards.

This summer, he’s been handed scorecards from the Cubs’ 1984 playoff season, dozens of snapshots taken by fans on vacation outings to Wrigley Field, old caps and even well-worn batting gloves.

“There was a guy in Burlington who had a DVD of me and (Cubs pitcher Greg) Maddux sliding all over the tarp in the rain at the first night game at Wrigley,” Davis said. “Every place we’ve gone, people have been walking up to me, wanting to share something and that’s fine.

“The fans have always been a big part of the Cubs, and that’s one reason I’m enjoying what I’m doing now. I spent eight years of my career in Chicago, and I’m happy to be working with an organization that was awfully good to me.”

Many fans want to talk about 1984, when the Cubs came within one game of their first World Series appearance since 1945.

A 2-0 lead in a best-of-5 series against San Diego vanished with three straight losses, DAVIS

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setbacks Davis can tell still bother fans today.

“The fans, they’ve waited a long time for the Cubs to win and to be so close, that hurts,” Davis said. “At the time, I think the players probably didn’t feel that as much as the fans did.

“That ’84 team was pretty young and probably didn’t know better, but there was a feeling that we’d just roll right back next season.”

Once his career ended, Davis stepped away but got the urge to return and give managing a try after helping coach his sons as they played youth baseball in Davis’ home state of Georgia.

His only other managerial experience came in 2003, when he headed a team in a Canadian league founded by former Cub Ferguson Jenkins. The league folded at mid-year because of financial problems, but Davis walked away knowing that he wanted to manage or coach.

“It took some time for things to work out, but I am enjoying this,” Davis said. “The bus rides are still bus rides, and it’s still A ball, but I’ve seen some pretty nice stadiums in this league and it’s been a good chance to get back at it.”

Davis managed the Chiefs to the first-half championship in the Western Division, watching his team win 10 of its last 11 games to overtake Kane County and clinch a postseason playoff berth.

“To watch players grow and improve, that’s the satisfaction you take from a situation like this,” Davis said. “My job is to develop players who hopefully one day will get a chance to experience some of the good things I experienced.

“The guys at this level are a long way from that, but I’ve enjoyed being around this team and watching it come together.”

Davis, 49, limped from the dugout to third base coach’s box during his team’s recent visit to John O’Donnell Stadium, the result of a knee injury he suffered while throwing batting practice.

“I’m playing hurt — but I think that sends a message to my team, too. Sometimes, you have to go out and give it what you’ve got whether you are in perfect shape or not,” he said.

Chiefs catcher Mark Reed said Davis has taught his team a lot of lessons this season.

“He’s been there. He’s coming at us from a position of experiencing what it takes to play in the big leagues and that means something,” Reed said. “I’ve learned a lot this year and he’s a big reason why.”

Davis understands.

“If I can help each of these guys just a little bit, then I’ll have done my job, but I want to win as badly as they do and accomplishing that as a team, that’s something I’ll take a lot of satisfaction from,” Davis said. “We had a good first half, but I want a good second half, too.”

Steve Batterson can be contacted at (563) 383-2290 or sbatterson@qctimes.com.