Mariners Greatest Hits: “Mr. Mariner” Alvin Davis

April 18th, 1984

Early on in his rookie campaign, Davis proved that he was ready to fight for every win he could by putting up excellent numbers in his first month in the big leagues.

By the end of April of 1984, Davis was batting a scorching .369 with seven home runs and 17 RBIs. No game, though, showed the budding potential of the first baseman like this mid-April affair against the Mariners division rival, the Oakland Athletics.

From the onset, Davis was locked in. In his first at-bat in the home half of the first frame, Davis doubled sending the first Mariner across the plate to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.

In his third plate appearance, after a groundout in the 3rd, Davis was at it again, driving in two more runs on his second double that day. Those two runs put the M’s back on top after allowing the Athletics to come back and tie that game in the top half of the 5th.

After a rocky top of the 8th by the M’s Mike Stanton, the game was tied up once more, this time at four a piece. But Davis wasn’t done with his already great game just yet. He had one more hit stored in his bat, and it would prove to be the most important of them all.

With a runner on first and two men out, it looked certain that the game would head into extra innings; then Davis stepped in the batter’s box. He wold smack his third two-bagger of the game, finding enough room in the outfield to allow second baseman, Jack Perconte, to rush 270 feet all the way to home to win the ball game.

It was Davis’s first walk-off hit and his second multiple double game in as many nights. His three hits would be the most in one game in his MLB career until he would hit four in May of 1986, which happens to be when he also broke his record of four RBI’s set in this game, but we’ll get to that match.

This was arguably the defining moment that put the league on notice that Davis was ready to make a big impact in the majors. He was so good in 1984 that aside from winning Rookie of the Year, he would be selected as an all-star, and would even end up on the MVP ballot, finishing 12th in the final tally.