You can have your Josh Hamiltons and Joey Vottos and Jose Bautistas and Mike Trouts. Baltimore Orioles fans are quite happy with their less heralded first baseman, Chris Davis.
The 27-year-old slugger had a first week to remember in Major League Baseball as the Orioles won three of their first four games. He became only the fourth player in major league history to hit home runs in each of his first four games - the fourth one coming with an exclamation point (!) as his grand-slammer helped Baltimore beat Minnesota 9-5.
But as far as amazing first weeks go, he had company: Justin Upton of the Braves and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers came out of the gate faster than a greyhound chasing an electronic rabbit.
Upton, picked up in a trade from Arizona in the off-season, pounded five homers in his first five games for the Braves, but his RBI numbers paled in comparison to those of Davis's. And Kershaw's mound numbers were sensational: Two starts, two shutout wins, 16 innings pitched, six hits allowed, one walk, 16 strikeouts. Like, wow!
Davis's numbers after four games were like stats you might see in Little League. Besides his four homers, he was batting .600 and had a whopping 16 runs-batted-in, the most ever in MLB over a team's first four games.
"You put him in the Grand Canyon, he'll hit it out," cleanup hitter Adam Jones said of Davis.
After bouncing back and forth between the minor leagues and the Texas Rangers (for whom he hit 17 homers in 2008 and 21 in 2009 before going back to AAA in 2010 due to a habit of striking out), Davis finally got a real chance with Baltimore after being traded there in June, 2011. He belted 33 homers for the Orioles in 2012, but still struck out 169 times, the fourth-highest total in the American League. In that magic four-game run to start this season, Davis had only one whiff. His 16 RBIs (a pace that would give him 648 for the season) were more than double that of his nearest rival in that department.
April numbers, of course, mean nothing. The season is long, a real grind that stretches out over a full six months. But for 'Crush' Davis, Justin Upton and Clayton Kershaw, it's been quite a start. The fun part will be seeing how long they can maintain their amazing paces.
Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald: "The Buffalo Bills released starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Whereupon the Bills' general manager slapped his face and went, "He was our starter?"
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: "Can you believe the cities of Sacramento and Seattle are fighting over an NBA team like the Kings? This is like two vultures in a tug of war over a possum carcass."
Rick Reilly of espn.com on the Nike ad featuring Tiger Woods declaring that 'Winning Takes Care of Everything': "If winning took care of everything, why is the winning prison softball team still in prison?"
@DougFerguson405 on Twitter:" Can't get used to (Tim) Lincecum and his short hair. It's like seeing John Daly in a coat and tie."
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald: "And in other NBA news, Boston's Kevin Garnett continues to be sidelined with a dislocated scowl."
Dickson again: "The Texas Rangers' Yu Darvish came within one out of a perfect game versus the Houston Astros. Now Darvish is excited to see how he can do against major league hitting."
Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com: "A-Rod is making more in the 2013 season than the Houston Astros. But they both have about the same chance of making the playoffs."
R.J. Currie of sportsdeke.com: "Now that Jarome Iginla is a Penguin, how long before Consol Energy Center gets called The Iggyloo?"
Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: "Samoan Airlines began charging passengers by their weight last week. Needless to say, the NFL won't be expanding to Pago Pago any time soon."
Comedian Argus Hamilton, after President Obama hit just two of 22 basketball shots during the White House Easter Egg Roll: "That night, he was demoted from Commander-in-Chief to Washington General."
From CBS's David Letterman's Top 10 list, on signs your baseball team isn't ready for the season:
- "Minutes before first pitch, clubhouse kid runs to Dick's to buy bats."
- "Opening-day giveaway is a letter of apology from the general manager."
Letterman again, on the Yankees' Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez opening the season on the disabled list: "Jeter, of course, is recovering from a broken ankle. A-Rod is still getting over Cameron Diaz."
Some 2013 slogans for MLB teams, from SportsPickle.com:
- Tampa Bay Rays: "Great baseball without all that annoying fan noise."
- Washington Nationals: "Only six years left with Bryce Harper before he signs with the Yankees! Enjoy him while you can!"
Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News, not impressed with Notre Dame's NCAA tournament uniforms: "That was an outfit even Manti Te'o's imaginary girlfriend wouldn't have been caught, well, dead in."
