What years did Willie Davis play?

Willie Davis played in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1979.

Was Willie Davis a pitcher?

No. Willie Davis was a position player (Outfielder).

How many home runs did Willie Davis hit?

Willie Davis hit 182 career home runs with 2561 hits.

What was Willie Davis's career batting average?

Willie Davis batted .279 over his career, with 2,561 hits in 9,174 at bats.

How many RBI did Willie Davis have?

Willie Davis drove in 1,053 runs in his career.

Is Willie Davis in the Hall of Fame?

No. Willie Davis has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Willie Davis

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1960-1979)

Willie Davis was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1979 for 6 teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, a span of 20 seasons. In 2,429 career games, he hit .279 with 2,561 hits, 182 home runs, and 1,053 RBI. Willie Davis was a 2-time All-Star and a 3-time Gold Glove. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 5,833.

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 October 12, 2026

AVG .279

HR 182

RBI 1,053

H 2,561

OPS .723

PIV 5,833

Position: Outfielder
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'2" / 180 lb
Born: 4/15/1940 in Mineral Springs, AR, USA
Died: 3/9/2010 in Burbank, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1960-09-08
Last Game: 1979-09-30
Awards: 2× All-Star · 3× Gold Glove

Full name: William Henry Davis

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Willie Davis — Batting
PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
58.0	55.0	11.0	17.0	3.0	1.0	1.0	5.0	3.0	0	0	.309	.345	.455	.800

Negro Leagues (season totals). Additive Retrosheet-digitized totals for seasons not already in the logs above; they are not summed into the career line. No team/league breakdown is available, and coverage may be partial.

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Willie Davis — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1937	58.0	55.0	11.0	17.0	3.0	1.0	1.0	5.0	3.0	0	0	.309	.345	.455	.800
Listed seasons · 1	58	55	11	17	3	1	1	5	3	0	0	.309	—	—	—

Career Batting Statistics

Willie Davis — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
2,429	9,174	1,217	2,561	395	138	182	1,053	398	418	977	.279	.311	.412	.723	5,833

Career AVG .279 vs. league average .252 across their career seasons — +10.8% above league average.

Career OBP .311 vs. league average .318 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .412 vs. league average .374 across their career seasons — +10.2% above league average.

Career OPS .723 vs. league average .692 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Willie Davis (b. 1940) 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
1960	LAN	NL	22	88	12	28	6	1	2	10	3	4	12	.318	.255 (+25%)	.323 (+7%)	.387 (+23%)	.711 (+16%)	203.1
1961	LAN	NL	128	339	56	86	19	6	12	45	12	27	46	.254	.258 (-2%)	.328 (-4%)	.399 (+13%)	.727 (+5%)	246.3
1962	LAN	NL	157	600	103	171	18	10	21	85	32	42	72	.285	.257 (+11%)	.326 (+2%)	.393 (+15%)	.719 (+9%)	978.0
1963	LAN	NL	156	515	60	126	19	8	9	60	25	25	61	.245	.246 (-1%)	.308 (-9%)	.371 (-2%)	.680 (-5%)	-548.6
1964	LAN	NL	157	613	91	180	23	7	12	77	42	22	59	.294	.250 (+17%)	.312 (+1%)	.377 (+9%)	.690 (+6%)	453.5
1965	LAN	NL	142	558	52	133	24	3	10	57	25	14	81	.238	.245 (-3%)	.310 (-15%)	.371 (-7%)	.682 (-11%)	-1082.3
1966	LAN	NL	153	624	74	177	31	6	11	61	21	15	68	.284	.248 (+14%)	.309 (-2%)	.376 (+8%)	.685 (+3%)	146.9
1967	LAN	NL	143	569	65	146	27	9	6	41	20	29	65	.257	.242 (+6%)	.306 (-4%)	.357 (+3%)	.663 (avg)	-164.0
1968	LAN	NL	160	643	86	161	24	10	7	31	36	31	88	.250	.236 (+6%)	.298 (-5%)	.340 (+3%)	.638 (-1%)	-226.1
1969	LAN	NL	129	498	66	155	23	8	11	59	24	33	39	.311	.248 (+25%)	.320 (+11%)	.369 (+23%)	.689 (+18%)	1515.1
1970	LAN	NL	146	593	92	181	23	16	8	93	38	29	54	.305	.253 (+20%)	.325 (+3%)	.385 (+14%)	.711 (+9%)	755.6
1971	LAN	NL	158	641	84	198	33	10	10	74	20	23	47	.309	.249 (+24%)	.316 (+4%)	.365 (+20%)	.682 (+13%)	1245.8
1972	LAN	NL	149	615	81	178	22	7	19	79	20	27	61	.289	.243 (+19%)	.310 (+2%)	.353 (+25%)	.664 (+14%)	1296.7
1973	LAN	NL	152	599	82	171	29	9	16	77	17	29	62	.285	.256 (+11%)	.325 (-1%)	.378 (+17%)	.703 (+9%)	730.5
1974	MON	NL	153	611	86	180	27	9	12	89	25	27	69	.295	.256 (+15%)	.324 (-1%)	.369 (+16%)	.693 (+8%)	633.1
1975	TEX	AL	42	169	16	42	8	2	5	17	13	4	25	.249	.257 (-4%)	.327 (-17%)	.374 (+9%)	.701 (-3%)	-157.7
1975	SLN	NL	98	350	41	102	19	6	6	50	10	14	27	.291	.257 (+13%)	.327 (-2%)	.374 (+15%)	.701 (+7%)	-157.7
1976	SDN	NL	141	493	61	132	18	10	5	46	14	19	34	.268	.255 (+5%)	.320 (-8%)	.360 (+4%)	.681 (-2%)	-303.1
1979	CAL	AL	43	56	9	14	2	1	0	2	1	4	7	.250	.265 (-6%)	.329 (-9%)	.397 (-19%)	.727 (-15%)	-131.0
Career · 19 seasons			2,429	9,174	1,217	2,561	395	138	182	1,053	398	418	977	.279	—	—	—	—	5,434

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

Willie Davis — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
17	56	6	10	3	0	0	3	0	12	.179

Playoff Batting by Year

Willie Davis — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	SO	AVG
1979	ALCS	CAL	2	2	1	1	1	0	0	.500
1966	WS	LAN	4	16	0	1	0	0	4	.062
1965	WS	LAN	7	26	3	6	0	0	2	.231
1963	WS	LAN	4	12	2	2	2	3	6	.167

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (2426 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Willie Davis — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	1204	4432	540	1205	70	471	.272
Away	1222	4734	677	1356	112	582	.286

Last 10 Games — Batting

Willie Davis — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
1979-09-30	LAA	TEX	W	0	0	0	0	1	0
1979-09-29	LAA	TEX	L	2	1	2	0	0	0
1979-09-28	LAA	TEX	L	1	0	1	0	0	0
1979-09-26	LAA	KCR	L	1	0	0	0	0	1
1979-09-21	LAA	TEX	L	1	0	1	0	0	0
1979-09-18	LAA	KCR	W	3	2	1	1	0	0
1979-09-09	LAA	MIL	W	0	0	0	0	0	0
1979-09-04	LAA	CHW	L	0	0	0	0	0	0
1979-08-30	LAA	CLE	L	1	0	0	0	0	1
1979-08-29	LAA	DET	L	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Willie Davis — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
OF	2323	2219	5449	143	127	23

Season-by-Season Fielding

Willie Davis — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1960	LAN	OF	22	21	52	1	1	0
1961	LAN	OF	114	84	224	4	4	1
1962	LAN	OF	156	152	379	13	15	0
1963	LAN	OF	153	139	337	16	8	3
1964	LAN	OF	155	152	400	16	7	2
1965	LAN	OF	141	136	318	6	11	1
1966	LAN	OF	152	150	347	9	11	0
1967	LAN	OF	138	135	300	6	9	2
1968	LAN	OF	158	157	345	9	10	2
1969	LAN	OF	125	122	271	8	6	1
1970	LAN	OF	143	139	342	12	3	4
1971	LAN	OF	157	153	404	7	8	0
1972	LAN	OF	146	146	373	10	5	1
1973	LAN	OF	146	145	344	6	7	0
1974	MON	OF	151	144	369	8	12	1
1975	TEX	OF	42	39	100	1	1	1
1975	SLN	OF	89	81	187	5	6	2
1976	SDN	OF	128	121	349	6	3	2
1979	CAL	OF	7	3	8	0	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Willie Davis (b. 1940) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Left Field	12
Center Field	2239
Right Field	79
Designated Hitter	8

Awards & Honors

Willie Davis — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1973	Gold Glove	OF
1973	Player of the Week	Week of 1973-07-13
1972	Gold Glove	OF
1971	Gold Glove	OF
1971	TSN All-Star	OF

Award Voting History

Willie Davis — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max
1973	Most Valuable Player	NL	16th	12.0	336
1971	Most Valuable Player	NL	16th	13.0	336
1969	Most Valuable Player	NL	21th	7.0	336
1966	Most Valuable Player	NL	28th	1.0	280

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

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

Willie Davis: the record in brief

Willie Davis played a first major league game on September 8, 1960 and a last one on September 30, 1979. The season rows list, in order, the Los Angeles Dodgers (1960 to 1973), the Montreal Expos (1974), the Texas Rangers (1975), the St. Louis Cardinals (1975), the San Diego Padres (1976), and the California Angels (1979). Born on April 15, 1940, in Mineral Springs, AR, USA, Davis is listed as an outfielder and threw and hit left-handed. Davis's listed size is 180 pounds on a 6-foot-2 frame. Davis died on March 9, 2010, in Burbank, CA, USA. Willie Davis was the playing name; the full given name is William Henry.

Davis finished with 2,561 hits from 9,174 at bats in 2,429 games, which works out to .279, plus 182 homers, 1,053 runs batted in, and 398 stolen bases. Davis's career OPS of .723 combines a .311 on-base mark with .412 slugging. Davis's .279 average ran 10.8% above the .252 that the league posted over the same seasons.

Frequently Asked Questions about Willie Davis

What years did Willie Davis play?: Willie Davis played in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1979.
Was Willie Davis a pitcher?: No. Willie Davis was a position player (Outfielder).
How many home runs did Willie Davis hit?: Willie Davis hit 182 career home runs with 2561 hits.
What was Willie Davis's career batting average?: Willie Davis batted .279 over his career, with 2,561 hits in 9,174 at bats.
How many RBI did Willie Davis have?: Willie Davis drove in 1,053 runs in his career.
Is Willie Davis in the Hall of Fame?: No. Willie Davis has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.