Davis, Mark W.
Baseball
b. Oct. 19, 1960, Livermore, CA
The left-handed Davis, a reliever in the best years of his major league career, was with the Philadelphia Phillies briefly in 1980 and 1981 and joined the San Francisco Giants in 1983. The Giants used him primarily as a starter for two seasons, then put him in the bullpen.
He was traded to the San Diego Padres during the 1987 season and he blossomed with San Diego in 1988, when he had 28 saves and a 2.01 ERA. The following year, he won the Cy Young Award by leading the league with 44 saves. He also had a 1.85 ERA.
Davis became a free agent after that season and went to the Kansas City Athletics in the AL. He had a terrible year in 1990, suddenly developing control problems, and his pitching arm was injured late in the season. He spent a good part of 1991 on the disabled list, then was traded to the NL's Atlanta Braves during the 1992 season.
He started the 1993 season with the Philadelphia Phillies but was released and picked up by the San Diego Padres in July. The Padres released him the following year.