Guts.
Bravery.
Heart.
Cunning.
Guile.
Call it what you will, what Doug Davis did on April 8 was one of the most incredible things you will ever witness.
Davis, pitching in his final start before undergoing surgery for thyroid cancer, threw six innings, gave up two runs, struck out seven, and—get this—got two hits.
That's absolutely incredible. This man was pitching with cancer. Yes, the thyroid cancer he had was easily curable, and yes, he'll return about a month after his operation.
But you know what? Davis could have shut it down after being diagnosed March 28.
He didn't have to pitch—I mean, again, he has cancer.
Cancer.
However, Davis decided to make two starts before his surgery. He struggled in his first, throwing 3.2 innings and allowing two earned runs on six walks and four hits against the Reds in Cincinnati.
Tonight was different.
Davis was on tonight.
He's always been a crafty lefty who never will blow hitters away, but tonight, he struck out seven over his six innings of work.
If you thought his pitching performance was impressive, though, remember that he had two hits today.
This is the same Davis who had just 20 hits in 286 career at-bats coming into this game.
His first hit came in the third, when he singled on a ground ball to left field to score Mark Reynolds. Yes, he even had an RBI.
It just keeps getting more and more incredible.
In the fifth, Davis singled on a line drive to right. This was with Justin Upton on second with one out—a normal bunting situation for a pitcher.
Not on this night.
This was Doug Davis' night to shine, and shine he did.
Just let it sink in.
He threw six innings, gave up two runs, struck out seven, and had two hits and an RBI in two at-bats.
With cancer.
Words cannot describe how amazing that is.
Get well soon, Doug. We're all anxiously awaiting your return.
comments (7) write a comment »
write a new comment
3 months ago
Nice article. Seriously, he must have had so much adrenaline going in this game, it's insane.
3 months ago
I always liked doug davis. he was the perfect antithesis to ben sheets in the brewer rotation with his big looping curveball, underpowering fastball, and deceptive cutter. best of luck to him, and he can look forward to a big ovation when he returns, wherever that might be.
3 months ago
Fitting tribute to an gutsy performance courtesy of Doug Davis. Inspiring, to say the least.
Thanks as always for the great read JJ.
3 months ago
Nice article. My job consists of sitting in a chair and typing on a keyboard, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to do it if I were diagnosed with cancer. My hat's off to Doug Davis...gutsy is right.
3 months ago
Nice article, the content was amazing. It was the many fragments that made it a little hard to read though, pretty distracting.
Nonetheless it was a cool read. I saw Davis pitch in Milwaukee (against my Cubs), he struck out 8 batters with that big looping curveball that was mentioned by Tim in an earlier comment. I'm excited to see you write an article about Davis's comeback! We're all hoping for one.
3 months ago
Thanks for the kind words, everybody—and I do look forward to writing something up after Davis comes back. I've always been partial to crafty lefties like him, so watching Davis pitch has always been fun for me. Hopefully I'll get to see him pitch again in about a month...
2 months ago
I am not a DBacks fan, although I live in AZ.
-I do however wish him the best. I watched some of the game the other night and it was very emotional.
I hope everything works out for him.
write a new comment