HISTORY

A Major League Ballplayer Who Quoted Shakespeare at the Umpire

And who happened to be my mother’s uncle

My mother’s uncle wrote this book

Lloyd Garrison “Chick” Davies was an unusual baseball player. He only played four widely separated seasons in the major leagues and four more in the minors, but he did distinguish himself playing for the New York Giants in the 1926 World Series, leading the National League with 6 saves and 29 games finished. He also happened to be my great-uncle.

See below for an update that explains that he did not play in the 1926 World Series but did play against Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Shoeless Joe Jackson.

Oh, and he wrote a book about pitching. I vaguely remember seeing a copy of it when his sister, my grandmother, lived with us after her husband died. I wasn’t interested then in pitching or great-uncles I had never met; I wish now that I had been.

My quest

I recently bought a well-worn copy of that book, titled “Art of Pitching”, for $55.00 on eBay. I had been looking for a copy for several years now, but it usually sells for hundreds of dollars, and I didn’t want to pay that much. I snapped up that $55 book instantly, hoping that it would give me more information about a man I never knew.