Davis Appears To Be Promising Off the Field
By Mike Silva ~ November 28th, 2009. Filed under: Mets Minors.
Kevin Kernan of the NY Post caught up with Ron Davis, father of Mets prospect Ike, this week. It’s natural to be excited about the power and defense Davis can bring to first base. According to Ron he believes his son can play 10-15 years in the big leagues. The Mets haven’t really developed a first baseman of their own since Dave Magadan, and before that, Ed Kranepool. Most of their famous first baseman (Keith Hernandez, John Olerud, Todd Zeile, and Carlos Delgado) made their mark outside of New York before coming here.
The best part of the piece is where Ron talks about how his son supported a boyhood friend who was suffering from cancer. Michael Lio unfortunately passed away on October 29th, but Davis spent countless nights in the hospital with Michael while playing in the Arizona Fall League.
He finished the AFL season with a .958 OPS, 4 homers, and 16 RBI. He even did a decent job against lefties hitting .263 with a .778 OPS.
If the Mets developed a stud power hitting first baseman, who is a good guy to boot, fans should be very excited about the arrival of Ike Davis.
November 28th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Pretty good timing too with Delgado on the way out.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
You mentioned Kranepool and Magadan but omitted John Milner (“The Hammer” ?
November 28th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Bob
You are right, Milner was a homegrown one that I left off.
If I had to rank homegrown 1B it would be
Kranepool (Longevity)
Magadan
Milner
I give Magadan the age because 1) I saw him play and 2) he was a better all around hitter than Milner who was more of a homer run guy. Can’t speak for Milner’s defense