Curt Davis was born on September 7, 1903 in Greenfield, Missouri with the name of Curtis Benton Davis. He didn’t make it to the major leagues until he was 30 years old with his debut on April 21, 1934 for the Philadelphia Phillies. The right-handed pitcher, nicknamed “Coonskin” became a two-time National League All-Star over a 13-year career spread among the Philadelphia Phillies (1934–1936), Chicago Cubs (1936–1937), St. Louis Cardinals (1938–1940) and Brooklyn Dodgers (1940–1946).
Curt Davis career
He started his professional carer in 1928 as a 24 year-old pitcher for the Salt Lake City Bees in the Class C Utah-Idaho League. The 6’2″ 185 pounder won 16 BS lost 14. He was jumped to the top minor league team San Francisco of the Pacific Coast League..
Spending five years there, he was 90-77. Davis was selected in the Rule 5 draft on October 2, 1933 by the Phillies. Nicknamed “Coonskin”, Davis stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg). He began his career in professional baseball in 1928 at the age of 24 with the Salt Lake City Bees of the Class C Utah–Idaho League, and promptly won 16 of 30 decisions. The following year, he jumped all the way to the top minor-league level as a member of the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. In five seasons in San Francisco, he won 90 games and lost 77. Then he was selected on October 2, 1933, by the Phillies in that year’s Rule 5 draft.
In 1934, his rookie campaign, he won 34% of the Phillies wins with a 19-17 mark.He followed that up in 1935 with a 16-14 record and was acquired in May of 1936 by a first division team, the Chicago Cubs. The good fortune for Davis saw him win 21 and lose 14 in 52 games pitched and a member of the 1936 All Star team. that was held in Bostn. He appearedin the seventh inning with his team leading 4-0. He faced Jimmy Foxx, Luke Appling, Bill Dickey and Earl Averill. He allowed four hits and three runs in 2/3 of an inning and was relieved Lou Warneke. His team won the game 4-3. Here is the Box score for that game.
Curt Davis was now involved in a trade to the St. Louis Cardinals for the great Dizzy Dean . Even though most knew Dean’s are was toast, the Cubs took a chance it it never paid off for them. In 1939, Davis was 22-26 with a 3.62 ERA. He was third in wins in the National League and again an All-Star or the second time.
In 1940, the baseball world was shocked when the Cardinals traded Davis and Joe Medwick to the Brooklyn Dodger for four players and $125,00. In Brooklyn he won 13 games in 1941 and the Dodgers had their first pennant. He finished his career with the Dodgers in 1946. Great article by Retro Simba on this trade. Read this website daily.
Here is his lifetime record:
- Wins- 158
- Losses- 131
- Earned Run Average- 3.42
- Strikeouts- 684
Teams
Philadelphia Phillies (1934–1936)
Chicago Cubs (1936–1937)
St. Louis Cardinals (1938–1940)
Brooklyn Dodgers (1940–1946)
Career highlights and awards
2× All-Star (1936, 1939)
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