Alvin Davis

Alvin Glenn Davis, known as “Mr. Mariner,” was an American professional baseball player who spent most of his nine-year major league career as a first baseman and designated hitter for the Seattle Mariners. He was named the American League Rookie of the Year in 1984.

Davis grew up in Riverside, California, as the youngest of four boys. His father passed away in 1970. After graduating from John W. North High School in 1978, he was picked by the San Francisco Giants in the eighth round of that year’s MLB draft but chose to attend Arizona State University instead. A left-handed batter and right-handed thrower, he was later selected by the Oakland Athletics in the sixth round of the 1981 draft but stayed in school, earning a finance degree.

The Seattle Mariners drafted Davis in the sixth round of the 1982 draft after his senior season at Arizona State. That year, he played 74 games for the Double-A Lynn Sailors, batting .284 with 12 home runs and 56 RBIs. In 1983, with the Chattanooga Lookouts, he hit .296 with 18 homers and 83 RBIs in 131 games, nearly averaging a walk per game. He started 1984 in Triple-A with the Salt Lake City Gulls but was called up after just one game—a 2-for-3 performance with an RBI and a walk—when Ken Phelps injured his hand on April 6. Davis never played in the minors again.

Over nine major league seasons, Davis batted .280 with 160 home runs and 683 RBIs in 1,206 games. He hit 20 or more homers three times and drove in over 100 runs twice. He set a major league record by reaching base in his first 47 career games. Fans adored him, and he held many of the Mariners’ early offensive records until Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martínez, and Alex Rodriguez arrived. Teammate Ed Vande Berg called him “mister everything on the offense,” and pitcher Tommy John compared him to George Scott, noting that pitchers took years to figure him out.

Davis debuted at the Kingdome on April 11, 1984, homering in his first two big league games. He added two doubles in his sixth game and three in his seventh. After one week, he was hitting .370 with a .778 slugging percentage and a seven-game hitting streak. He was the only rookie selected for that year’s All-Star Game, won the Mariners’ team MVP award, and took home Rookie of the Year honors after batting .284 with 27 homers and 116 RBIs in 152 games. His career high in home runs came in 1987 (29), and his best season was arguably 1989, when he finished second in the AL with a .920 OPS.

With Pete O’Brien joining the team in 1990, Davis shifted primarily to designated hitter, playing only 52 games at first base that year and just 14 in 1991. His average dropped to .221 in 1991, with 12 homers and 69 RBIs in 145 games. With Tino Martinez in the system, the Mariners did not keep him for 1992. Davis hit the final home run at Chicago’s Comiskey Park on September 29, 1990.

After eight seasons in Seattle, Davis signed a one-year, $800,000 deal with the California Angels in February 1992. In a platoon role, he hit .250 with no homers and 16 RBIs in 40 games. He had two hits in his last major league game but was released in late June. He then played 40 games for the Kintetsu Buffaloes in Japan’s Pacific League, batting .275 with five homers and 12 RBIs.

Davis lives in Riverside with his wife, and they have three children. He has volunteered at Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church, overseeing its finances, and served on its elder board for more than 20 years. He also coached baseball at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside for a decade. After his father’s death, he grew very close to his mother, Mylie, who moved from Riverside to Tempe while he was in college. Davis was inducted into the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame in 1997 and returned to the organization as a roving minor league instructor in 2012.