Postseason hero refocusing on reading
Former New London standout spending time encouraging kids to read
After a long career halted by COVID-19, Rajai Davis is spending his first spring, summer and fall at home since 2001, the year he was drafted by the Pirates. Author of a permanent piece of postseason history, Davis now sees where he is needed most.
Each evening, Rajai Davis and his wife Marissa set time aside to read to their 7-year-old daughter Jada and their 5-year old son Jordan.
If that means missing postseason baseball and just catching the highlights later, so be it. It’s one of the simple joys of parenting, and one of those things a baseball-playing Dad often misses. “I’ve just been spending a lot of time with the family,” says Davis, 39, whose long, distinguished career in the game, though not officially over, was halted in March when the Mexican League shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I went to UConn-Avery Point and I had gone through the New London system,” Davis says. “I was in college-level classes but I wasn’t really prepared for college. And I realized the importance of reading, the magnitude of it, how much I had to progress in a really short period of time. Now I have kids and we read to them every night and I see the benefits it’s having with them.”
This has been Davis’s first spring, summer and fall at home in southeastern Connecticut since 2001, the year he borrowed gas money, drove to Pittsburgh for a workout and was drafted by the Pirates in the 38th round. A difference-maker for a number of major league teams, owner of a permanent piece of postsea
son history, Davis now sees where he is needed most.
He’s put his name and his energy this October behind a book drive for the Read To Grow organization, and he’s asking you to donate new and gently used books to be distributed to youth centers, such as B.P. Learned Mission in his hometown.
“I found out they don’t have the resources nor the books to actually give to kids they work with,” Davis says. “It was pretty disappointing. That was a problem I thought I could help and bring some awareness to.”
You can donate books online or learn more by visiting the Read To Grow website, at readtogrow.org, or drop books off at locations in the New London area, including Big Y in
Old Lyme and Tri-Town in East Lyme. The drive is on through Oct. 10, but the need will always be there.
Read To Grow says it has distributed 40,000 books in Connecticut since the pandemic began.
If you’ve followed Davis through the years, know his story, none of this surprises you. In baseball, as a role player, he always had that way of making his presence felt, especially for a pitcher trying to keep him at first or second base. That’s why he was still in the majors in 2019, outlasting the 1,133 players drafted before him.
“All things are possible through Christ,” Davis says. “Everything big starts small. And for me, it was a small belief, a small faith that I had that I could, at 10 years old, make it from a small town to the major leagues with God helping me.”
Davis has played for the Pirates, Giants, A’s, Blue Jays, Tigers, Indians, Red Sox and Mets, hitting .262 with 1,111 hits and stealing 415 bases, successful on 79.3% of his attempts, leading the AL with 43 steals at age 35 with Cleveland in 2016. But he’ll be forever remembered for one swing at the end of that season, the one that drove an Aroldis Chapman pitch over the wall to tie Game 7 of the World Series.
“I always expect to do something great,” Davis says. “I don’t know if I expected to do something that great in the World Series. But to actually do it, and come through, knowing when I was coming up, ‘OK, this is the game is on the line, you’ve got the main man on the mound, this guy’s not giving up runs, throwing 100 plus, and if you do something special the game is tied. With all that pressure to actually come though? That is just recognizing that walking up to the plate was what I’d been dreaming about since I was a little boy playing in the back yard.”
The Cubs won the game and the Series in extra innings, but they won’t soon forget Davis in Cleveland. When Chapman, now with the Yankees, was on the mound in Cleveland this week trying to close out the playoff series, Twitter was filled with references like, “where is Rajai Davis when you need him?”
“You have to be prepared for [the postseason],” he says. “It’s the same game, there is more urgency to win, to get the job done.
You have to be prepared mentally, physically, emotionally. Don’t let that moment sneak up on you. Be ready for that moment, embrace that moment, expect that moment.”
In May 2019, Davis was in the minor leagues hoping for one more shot. The Mets called him up in May, and after a $243 Uber ride from Allentown, Pa., he stepped up to the plate at Citi Field as a pinch-hitter and homered to win that game.
So, yeah, Davis had quite a ride in baseball. Some lightning-round questions: Favorite managers include Terry Francona and Bruce Bochy — a couple of future Hall of Famers. Best teammate he ever had? Torii Hunter in Detroit. Best player he ever saw?
“Barry Bonds,” Davis says. “He just worked harder than everybody else. He also had the mentality for it. He totally married the game of baseball, and he was blind to everything else, he was so focused on being the best baseball player ever.”
Davis was planning to play in the Mexican League in 2020 and stay ready for a call back to the majors, but when he heard the borders were closing in March, he packed what he could and headed home. “I just got the rest of my stuff not too long ago,” he says.
Throughout this crazy summer, as MLB got through the pandemic, dealing with outbreaks, employing larger rosters, new rules, expanded playoffs, it felt inevitable that someone would call Davis, offer the chance for another big October moment, a stolen base, a spectacular catch, a clutch hit. “No calls,” he says, and with his 40th birthday coming up Oct. 19, he knows this is probably it.
“Right now, I do not have an intention to play any more baseball,” he says. “I’m keeping myself busy. I’m trying a few different things right now. I like working with the young people. Coaching’s a definite option.”
So this week, it’s getting books into the hands of children who need to start reading. Tomorrow, there will be something else, because just as they’ll never forget Rajai Davis in Cleveland, or a few other cities, there will always be a role for him in New London, where his kids and his community will keep him busy.
“The days are kind of action-packed,” he says. “I am certainly at peace with what I’ve been able to accomplish. I haven’t officially retired, but I definitely feel my time has come and gone and I’m thankful for the teams I’ve played with and the time I’ve had.”