Nobody probably would have bet, not even on any of the games on the table of an online golden casino, on the fact that Chris Davis would make the headlines even outside the circle of baseball fans and even in Europe, but that’s what’s really going on.
The Baltimore Orioles player has articles dedicated everywhere, although perhaps not for reasons of which he’d be proud. Every professional player would like to be remembered for the records he broke, but Chris, when he retires, will hope that everyone will have forgotten his own. The O’s first baseman has become the worst player in the history of the sport by several measures, after not having reached base even once in a long line of consecutive appearances at the dish.
Since September 14, 2018, when he came in to second base against the Chicago White Sox, Davis has stumbled upon a black streak that has eclipsed the previous negative record, that of Eugenio Velez of the Giants, who had been hitless for 46 consecutive appearances.
The nightmare lasted 212 days, 54 batting turns without reaching base. To put an end to the tragedy on the diamond there was a pitch by Rick Porcello of the Boston Red Sox, sent to flying over the right side by Chris’ bat. From Crush Davis to Crash Davis. On the other hand, when you go 0-for-54, having your nickname changing for the worse is only the last of the worries. To celebrate it, there was also a really sought-after t-shirt.
The New York Times even interviewed Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler, who compared the Davis crisis to the principle of “Irrecoverable Cost”, and explained: “It’s as if you order a $15 dessert at the restaurant, but after two mouthfuls you realize you’re full. To avoid wasting the money you paid out, you finish it. So you eat more of it than you should”. The belly of the Orioles was full, but every day they continued to bite the Davis cake in the hope that something would change.
Davis thus became a lovable loser, an adorable failure who had great success in American culture. Women supported him as they would with a son in trouble on the high school team, and many hope that the spell will break. Something similar to what happens even in the crazy world of wrestling where some jobbers, those wrestlers destined to lose all encounters, become a kind of legend among fans. Suffice it to mention some names of the World Wrestling Entertainment of the 80’s such as Steve Lombardi and Danny Horrowitz.
Davis signed a $161 million contract in 2016, of which 93 million are still to be given in deferred payments over the next few years. Peter Angelos, the ninety-year-old owner of the Orioles, doesn’t want to admit that he threw away money. He has been defined by Sports Illustrated as the worst owner of a baseball team and having the worst player on the court should make him feel less lonely.
