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James Houston Davenport
San Francisco Giants
Third Base
Born: August 17, 1933, Siluria, AL
Signed: Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent before 1955 season
Major League Teams: San Francisco Giants 1958-1970
World Series Appearances: San Francisco Giants 1962
As a Manager: San Francisco Giants 1985
Died: February 18, 2016, Redwood City, CA (age 82)
Jim Davenport played his entire 13-year big league career with the Giants, making the All-Star team in 1962 and serving as the team's first every day third baseman following its move to San Francisco. He was the Giants lead-off hitter on opening day 1958, taking the team's first at bat on the West Coast and striking out against the Dodgers' Don Drysdale (#400). He batted a career high .297 in 1962, with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs and also won the N.L. Gold Glove at third base.
Known for his defense, Davenport led all N.L. third baseman in fielding percentage for three years in a row between 1959 and 1961. Between July 1966 and August 1968, he played 97 consecutive errorless games at third base. His sole postseason experience came against the Yankees in the 1962 World Series, in which the Giants lost in seven games. His 1,501 games with the Giants are the fifth most in San Francisco history behind Willie McCovey (#440) with 2,256, Willie Mays (#190) with 2,095, Barry Bonds with 1,976 and Brandon Crawford with 1,655.
After his playing days, he served as a coach and manager mostly in the Giants' organization, with brief stops with the Padres, Phillies, Indians and Tigers. He was the Giants' manager to start the 1985 season, but was fired in favor of Roger Craig after a 56-88 start to the season. After he had passed away in 2016, the Giants wore a memorial patch in his honor on their jerseys during that season.
As a Manager: San Francisco Giants 1985
Died: February 18, 2016, Redwood City, CA (age 82)
Jim Davenport played his entire 13-year big league career with the Giants, making the All-Star team in 1962 and serving as the team's first every day third baseman following its move to San Francisco. He was the Giants lead-off hitter on opening day 1958, taking the team's first at bat on the West Coast and striking out against the Dodgers' Don Drysdale (#400). He batted a career high .297 in 1962, with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs and also won the N.L. Gold Glove at third base.
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| 1987 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards |
After his playing days, he served as a coach and manager mostly in the Giants' organization, with brief stops with the Padres, Phillies, Indians and Tigers. He was the Giants' manager to start the 1985 season, but was fired in favor of Roger Craig after a 56-88 start to the season. After he had passed away in 2016, the Giants wore a memorial patch in his honor on their jerseys during that season.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #142
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Giants Team Set / Accuracy Index +1
1969 Season
Davenport, with 68 starts, still started more games at third base for the Giants than any other player, but his playing time was dwindling. He batted .241 in 112 games with a pair of home runs and 42 RBIs for the second place Giants. Towards the end of the season, he was used primarily as a late inning defensive replacement, with Tito Fuentes getting most of the starts at third base.
Phillies Career
Jim Davenport joined the Phillies for their 1986 season as manager John Felske's third base coach. He held the role for two years, lasting just as long as Felske did as the team's manager. Davenport appears on two Phillies baseball cards from the 1986 and 1987 Tastykake-sponsored, team-issued photo cards.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1958 Topps #413
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1958-1970, 1985
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1989 Pacific Legends II #118
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 102 in the Beckett online database as of 10/3/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
Building the Set / Card #142
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 65th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing less than a dollar.
The Card / Giants Team Set / Accuracy Index +1
Topps used the exact same photo from Davenport's 1967 Topps card for this card. The cartoon highlight on the back goes all the way back to 1955 when Davenport was playing in his first professional season with the El Dorado Oilers. His 1,000 career hit was collected on April 11, 1968, a third inning single off the Pirates' Bob Veale (#520).
Accuracy Index: Davenport slips to a +1 given Topps had used the same photo two years before.
1969 Season
Davenport, with 68 starts, still started more games at third base for the Giants than any other player, but his playing time was dwindling. He batted .241 in 112 games with a pair of home runs and 42 RBIs for the second place Giants. Towards the end of the season, he was used primarily as a late inning defensive replacement, with Tito Fuentes getting most of the starts at third base.
Jim Davenport joined the Phillies for their 1986 season as manager John Felske's third base coach. He held the role for two years, lasting just as long as Felske did as the team's manager. Davenport appears on two Phillies baseball cards from the 1986 and 1987 Tastykake-sponsored, team-issued photo cards.
Dave Bristol (#234) had been the club's third base coach in 1985, and Davenport's tenure marked the last short-term third base coach for the franchise for quite a while. Larry Bowa would hold the job from 1988 to 1996 (9 seasons), followed by John Vukovich from 1997 to 2004 (8 seasons).
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First Mainstream Card: 1958 Topps #413
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1958-1970, 1985
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1989 Pacific Legends II #118
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 102 in the Beckett online database as of 10/3/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
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