Trying to figure out the Yankees' day-to-day DH the past several years has been a lesson in futility. In the end, the slot evolved into a grazing ground for disgruntled position players. Not this year. Chili Davis enters New York with one goal in mind. Having played just four games in the field in the past five years, the 38-year-old is focused on producing runs.
Davis does not subscribe to the 'jack of all trades' theory. Luckily for Yankees fans, he is the master of one skill: hitting. He picks apart pitchers, patiently looking for a ball to drive for power or contact. He hits the ball equally well to all fields, batting lefty or righty, and is especially powerful in the clutch (.314 with 60 RBI with runners in scoring position in '97).
The Kingston, Jamaica native ranks as one of the all-time best switch-hitting power men, and is among the major league's career active leaders in both homers and RBI. Age has not slowed this slugger one bit- like a good wine, he has actually improved.
Coming off perhaps the best season of his 17 years in the bigs, Davis' dream of playing for a contender has come true in the Bronx. With the man they call "Chili Dawg" in the line-up, the Yanks now have one of the most potent 3-4-5-6 quartets in all of baseball heading into '98.
