Vic Davilla

Victor Manuel Davilla

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.
• School Westchester Community College

• Born October 27, 1972 in New York, NY USA

Minors BR page

Biographical Information

Vic Davilla played four years in the Toronto Blue Jays organization and many years in the independent leagues. He hit .300 for his pro career.

Davilla did not play baseball in high school. Selected by the Blue Jays in the 26th round of the 1993 amateur draft out of junior college, Davilla made his pro debut that summer with the GCL Blue Jays, hitting .302/.352/.423 in 50 games as a utility infielder. He missed the Gulf Coast League top 10 in average by .002. He was the main 2B for the '94 Hagerstown Suns and batted .244/.298/.387. In 1995, he hit .257/.319/.384 as a utility player off the bench for the Dunedin Blue Jays. Starting in left for Dunedin in 1996, he produced at a .269/.336/.405 clip with 72 RBI, 9th-most in the Florida State League.

He joined the Adirondack Lumberjacks of the independent Northeast League in 1997, hitting .283/.309/.405 with 6 triples while playing all four infield slots and both corner outfield ones. He tied for 6th in the NEL in triples. The following year, he moved on to the Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs, for whom he played through 2002. He hit a combined .324/.399/.436 with 16 steals between the Lumberjacks and Diamond Dogs in '98. He missed the NEL top 10 in average by .003. In 1999, he hit .270/.368/.415 for Albany-Colonie, fielding only .898 at third base, his main spot that year. He fielded .929 at the hot corner for the 2000 Diamond Dogs while batting .334/.390/.528 with 58 runs and 60 RBI in 82 contests. He was among the Northern League Eastern Division leaders in average (6th), slugging (3rd), OPS (5th), total bases (169, 2nd behind Scott Samuels), runs (5th), hits (107, 2nd, 8 behind Trey Beamon), doubles (22, 7th), triples (5, tied for third), home runs (10, tied for 3rd) and RBI (4th). He was named the league's All-Star 3B.

Back in a utility role in 2001, he hit .283/.322/.482 with 13 home runs, 53 runs and 52 RBI in 86 games. He tied for 10th in the division in runs, tied for 9th in doubles and tied for 5th in home runs. In 2002, Davilla mainly played first base for Albany-Colonie. He batted .329/.405/.573 with 73 runs, 20 home runs and 72 RBI in 87 games played. He was third in the Eastern Division in average (behind Lorenzo de la Cruz and Billy Rich), second in OBP (behind De La Cruz), 3rd in slugging (trailing Travis Bailey and De La Cruz), third in OPS (after De La Cruz and Rich), tied Mitsuru Kabayashi for second in runs, second in hits (108, one behind De La Cruz), led in home runs and was 4th in RBI. He was named the All-Star 1B.

With the Allentown Ambassadors in 2003, Davila remained an indy star, hitting .338/.419/.601 with 25 doubles, 20 home runs, 58 runs and 74 RBI in 90 games, playing 1B and 2B. He was second in the Northeast League in average (.003 behind Dennis Abreu), led in OBP (.009 ahead of Rafael Alvarez), led in slugging (.040 ahead of #2 Darren Blakely), led in OPS (56 points ahead of Alvarez), was second in runs (four behind Marcos Agramonte), was second in hits (112, 4 shy of Agramonte), ranked 9th in doubles, was second in home runs (one short of the lead) and led in RBI (8 ahead of Blakely). He not only was named the All-Star first baseman but was a clear pick for Player of the Year. Baseball America named him an Independent League All-Star at 2B, with Eddie Pearson picked at 1B.

Vic was the Team USA first baseman in the 2003 Baseball World Cup. He hit .250/.269/.458 with 5 runs and 8 RBI in 8 games. In his 8th season in the Northeast League or Northern League Eastern Division (during the time the NEL merged with the NL), he hit .330/.401/.490 with 14 home runs, 67 runs and 56 RBI for the 2004 North Shore Spirit. He was 4th in average (after Wilton Veras, Francisco Matos and Yuji Nerei), 6th in OBP (between Jimmy Hurst and Veras), third in runs (one shy of the co-leaders), second in hits (116, 2 behind Veras), tied for 8th in home runs and 10th in RBI. He was again the league's All-Star first baseman.

He moved on to the Canadian-American Association along with the Spirit in 2005; most of the NEL teams had moved to the CAA when the league folded. Davilla kept on hitting at age 32, with a batting line of .333/.394/.577, 65 runs, 23 home runs and 86 RBI in 91 games. He was 6th in average (between Buck McNabb and Bill Peavey), second in slugging (68 points behind fellow indy veteran Eddie Lantigua), 3rd in OPS, 2nd in total bases (211, trailing Lantigua), 7th in runs, second in hits (122), second in home runs (8 behind Lantigua) and second in RBI (26 behind Lantigua). He was the All-Star 1B in his league for the fourth year in a row, with Lantigua taking home the Player of the Year.

Vic then planned to retire and began 2006 as the hitting coach for North Shore. After one game, though, he asked to be allowed to play again. He hit .299/.403/.474 with 61 RBI and 53 walks in 88 games, finishing among the Canadian-American leaders in runs (56, 4th), hits (96, tied for 6th), homers (12, 4th), RBI (tied for first with Lantigua), walks (1st), average (9th), OBP (2nd to Lantigua) and total bases (152, 3rd behind Lantigua and Chris Colabello). He was the All-Star 1B again, not bad for someone who had planned on never playing again. He also won his second Player of the Year award.

In 2007, he managed the Spirit, leading them to a 57-36 record; he only played 20 games but continued to show a fine bat (.329/.386/.570, 22 RBI). He split 2008, his final season, between the New Jersey Jackals (.279/.343/.443, 15 RBI in 15 G), Brockton Rox (8 for 22, 4 2B, 5 R in 5 G) and the Wichita Wingnuts (.269/.316/.435 in 28 G).

In 1,274 games as a pro, Davilla hit .300/.366/.475 with 272 doubles, 156 home runs, 762 runs and 798 RBI. He allowed 5 runs (3 earned) in 1 2/3 IP. He played every single position, fielding .993 in 363 games at 1B, .911 in 292 at 3B, .956 in 229 at 2B, .970 in 196 in the OF, .893 in 42 at SS and getting no errors at P (2 G, 0 TC) or C (1 G, 8 TC).

Sources

• 1994-2009 Baseball Almanacs
• 2006 Article on Davilla

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