Virgil Davis

Catcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1928-1945)

Virgil Davis was a catcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1928 to 1945 for 4 teams, including the St. Louis Cardinals, a span of 18 seasons. In 1,458 career games, he hit .308 with 1,312 hits, 77 home runs, and 647 RBI. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 8,321.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

AVG .308
HR 77
RBI 647
H 1,312
OPS .799
PIV 8,321
Position
Catcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'1" / 197 lb
Born
12/20/1904 in Birmingham, AL, USA
Died
8/14/1984 in Birmingham, AL, USA
MLB Debut
1928-04-30
Last Game
1945-09-05

Full name: Virgil Lawrence Davis

📋 View Manager Career

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Batting Statistics

Virgil Davis — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,458 4,255 388 1,312 244 22 77 647 6 386 326 .308 .369 .430 .799 8,321

Career AVG .308 vs. league average .275 across their career seasons — +11.9% above league average.

Career OBP .369 vs. league average .340 across their career seasons — +8.5% above league average.

Career SLG .430 vs. league average .391 across their career seasons — +10.0% above league average.

Career OPS .799 vs. league average .731 across their career seasons — +9.3% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Virgil Davis Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1928 SLN NL 2 5 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 .200 — — — — 0.0
1928 PHI NL 67 163 16 46 2 0 3 18 0 15 11 .282 .280 (avg) .342 (avg) .395 (-12%) .737 (-6%) 0.0
1929 PHI NL 98 263 31 90 18 0 7 48 1 19 17 .342 .289 (+18%) .353 (+11%) .415 (+18%) .769 (+15%) 775.3
1930 PHI NL 106 329 41 103 16 1 14 65 1 17 20 .313 .293 (+7%) .354 (-2%) .429 (+15%) .784 (+8%) 466.7
1931 PHI NL 120 393 30 128 32 1 4 51 0 36 28 .326 .276 (+18%) .338 (+13%) .388 (+14%) .726 (+14%) 1080.9
1932 PHI NL 125 402 44 135 23 5 14 70 1 40 39 .336 .275 (+22%) .335 (+19%) .391 (+33%) .726 (+27%) 2159.5
1933 PHI NL 141 495 51 173 28 3 9 65 2 32 24 .349 .270 (+29%) .329 (+20%) .377 (+25%) .707 (+23%) 2248.0
1934 SLN NL 107 347 45 104 22 4 9 65 0 34 27 .300 .278 (+8%) .340 (+7%) .392 (+18%) .733 (+13%) 872.2
1935 SLN NL 102 315 28 100 24 2 1 60 0 33 30 .317 .279 (+13%) .342 (+13%) .399 (+4%) .742 (+8%) 563.6
1936 SLN NL 112 363 24 99 26 2 4 59 0 35 34 .273 .283 (-4%) .349 (-2%) .404 (-4%) .753 (-3%) -189.2
1937 CIN NL 76 209 19 56 10 1 3 33 0 23 15 .268 .276 (-3%) .342 (-1%) .398 (-7%) .740 (-4%) -121.6
1938 CIN NL 12 36 3 6 1 0 0 1 0 5 6 .167 — — — — 0.0
1938 PHI NL 70 215 11 53 7 0 2 23 1 14 14 .247 .272 (-10%) .341 (-14%) .392 (-22%) .734 (-18%) 0.0
1939 PHI NL 87 202 10 62 8 1 0 23 0 24 20 .307 .274 (+12%) .342 (+12%) .393 (-9%) .735 (+1%) 114.6
1940 PIT NL 99 285 23 93 14 1 5 39 0 35 20 .326 .267 (+22%) .335 (+20%) .387 (+12%) .722 (+16%) 992.6
1941 PIT NL 57 107 3 27 4 1 0 6 0 11 11 .252 .262 (-4%) .332 (-3%) .373 (-17%) .705 (-11%) -167.2
1944 PIT NL 54 93 6 28 7 0 2 14 0 10 8 .301 .261 (+15%) .325 (+13%) .357 (+23%) .683 (+18%) 291.4
1945 PIT NL 23 33 2 8 2 0 0 6 0 2 2 .242 — — — — 0.0
Career · 18 seasons 1,458 4,255 388 1,312 244 22 77 647 6 386 326 .308 — — — — 9,087

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Virgil Davis — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Virgil Davis — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1934 WS SLN 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1.000

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1458 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Virgil Davis — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home757219221369740357.318
Away701206217461537292.298

Last 10 Games — Batting

Virgil Davis — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1945-09-05 PITBROL 100000000
1945-09-04 PITSTLL 200000001
1945-07-26 PITSTLL 200000000
1945-07-22 PITBSNW 000000010
1945-07-21 PITBSNW 301000000
1945-07-18 PITNY1L 301000200
1945-07-08 PITBSNL 302100000
1945-07-08 PITBSNW 100000000
1945-07-07 PITBSNL 100000000
1945-07-06 PITBSNL 100000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Virgil Davis — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 5 0 48 0 0 4
3B 2 0 1 4 0 0
C 1282 0 4374 684 84 97

Season-by-Season Fielding

Virgil Davis — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1928 SLN C 2 0 6 0 2 0
1928 PHI C 49 0 149 46 4 7
1929 PHI C 89 0 198 47 10 7
1930 PHI C 96 0 307 50 5 6
1931 PHI C 114 0 420 78 3 10
1932 PHI C 120 0 408 54 6 15
1933 PHI C 132 0 395 69 8 9
1934 SLN C 94 0 459 42 6 7
1935 SLN 1B 5 0 48 0 0 4
1935 SLN C 81 0 335 34 3 2
1936 SLN 3B 2 0 1 4 0 0
1936 SLN C 103 0 390 59 7 7
1937 CIN C 59 0 300 40 7 3
1938 CIN C 11 0 43 7 2 1
1938 PHI C 63 0 217 27 5 5
1939 PHI C 85 0 260 40 0 1
1940 PIT C 87 0 288 61 12 11
1941 PIT C 49 0 97 16 0 3
1944 PIT C 35 0 76 10 3 3
1945 PIT C 13 0 26 4 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Virgil Davis Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Catcher 1284
First Base 5
Third Base 2

Award Voting History

Virgil Davis — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1933 Most Valuable Player NL 25th 1.0 80 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Virgil Davis (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Smoky Burgess
    .295 avg, 126 HR
  2. 80
    Thurman Munson
    .292 avg, 113 HR
  3. 76
    Buster Posey
    .302 avg, 158 HR
  4. 76
    Don Slaught
    .283 avg, 77 HR
  5. 74
    Jack Clements
    .287 avg, 77 HR
  6. 73
    Paul Lo Duca
    .286 avg, 80 HR

Virgil Davis: the record in brief

The profile opens with Virgil Davis's first major league game on April 30, 1928; the last one listed came on September 5, 1945. By club, Davis's seasons break down as the St. Louis Cardinals (1928 through 1936), the Philadelphia Phillies (1928 to 1939), the Cincinnati Reds (1937 through 1938), and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1940 through 1945). The bio lists Davis as a catcher who batted and threw right-handed. Davis is listed at 6-foot-1 and 197 pounds. Davis was born on December 20, 1904, in Birmingham, AL, USA. The bio records the death on August 14, 1984, in Birmingham, AL, USA. Davis's full given name, per the bio, is Virgil Lawrence Davis.

Davis's career batting table shows 1,458 games, 4,255 at bats and 1,312 hits, a .308 average, plus 77 home runs and 647 runs batted in. On-base and slugging figures of .369 and .430 give Davis a career OPS of .799. Davis's .308 average ran 11.9% above the .275 that the league posted over the same seasons. 1930 was Davis's biggest home run year, with 14.

Frequently Asked Questions about Virgil Davis

What years did Virgil Davis play?
Virgil Davis played in Major League Baseball from 1928 to 1945.
Was Virgil Davis a pitcher?
No. Virgil Davis was a position player (Catcher).
How many home runs did Virgil Davis hit?
Virgil Davis hit 77 career home runs with 1312 hits.
What was Virgil Davis's career batting average?
Virgil Davis batted .308 over his career, with 1,312 hits in 4,255 at bats.
How many RBI did Virgil Davis have?
Virgil Davis drove in 647 runs in his career.
Is Virgil Davis in the Hall of Fame?
No. Virgil Davis has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.