Vic Davalillo

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Vic Davalillo [da-va-LEEL-lyo], born Víctor José Davalillo Romero (July 31, 1936 in Cabimas, Zulia State), is a Venezuelan Baseball Player. Former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Cleveland Indians (1963-1968), California Angels (1968-69), St. Louis Cardinals (1969-70), Pittsburgh Pirates (1971-73), Oakland Athletics (1973-74) and Los Angeles Dodgers (1977-80). Davalillo batted and threw left-handed. He is the youngest brother of former big leaguer Pompeyo Davalillo.

In a 16-season career, Davalillo was a .279 hitter (1122-for-4017) with 36 home runs, 329 RBI, 509 runs, 160 doubles, 37 triples, and 125 stolen bases in 1,458 games.

Davalillo was noted for his ability to get on base and his speed in center field. He was a fan favorite during his years with the Indians, and became a valuable role player later in his career.

1 Highlights
2 Facts
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Highlights

All-Star (1965)
Gold Glove Award (1964)
One of only three American League hitters that reached the .300 plateau in 1965 (Tony Oliva, .321 - Carl Yastrzemski, .312 - Davalillo .301).
Four-time oldest player in MLB (1977-80; 40-43)

[edit] Facts

Davalillo won the first batting title in the Double-A Jacksonville Suns history (.346, 1962).
A lifetime .300 hitter in the Mexican League, Davalillo was the league's top hitter at .384 in 1977.
Between 1957 and 1987, Davalillo played in the Venezuelan Winter League for the Leones del Caracas (1957-74, 1987), Portuguesa (1975) and Tigres de Aragua (1976-85). He set lifetime league records that still stand in batting average (.325), hits (1505), games played (1280), at-bat (4633), runs (668), doubles (196) and career seasons (30). Beside this, he won four batting titles and set record in hits (100) in a season. Davalillo retired at 50 years of age.
Interesting coincidence: Davalillo's 24 pinch hits in 1970 broke the National League record at the time. The previous record holder was also his manager in 1970: Red Schoendienst. (Davalillo's record has itself been broken since then).