Sometimes, no matter how much we try, it is never good enough. That has been the case for Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis.
On Monday, Chris Davis made history. The Baltimore Orioles first baseman pushed aside former Giants and Dodgers utility man Eugenio Velez, removing him from the history books. By virtue of his 0-5 performance, Davis is currently in the midst of a 0-49 slump, the worst that the game has ever seen.
It is certainly easy to pile on Davis given this abject failure at the plate. He is a wasted contract, the remaining four years and $92 million on his deal guaranteeing that he will not be traded. It is also easy to point the finger at Davis, saying that he is the reason why the Orioles could not hang on to the likes of Manny Machado, Adam Jones, or Zack Britton.
Davis has to know that. The pressure of trying to prove that he is not a disaster has to be weighing on his mind every time he comes to bat, hoping that this time will finally be the end of his long standing nightmare. That pressure, along with the pressure he has to be feeling every time he steps to the plate, could be turning his struggles into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Davis did not go into the record books under such an ignoble feat without a fight. He had three hard hit balls on Monday, each having an exit velocity of over 90 MPH. Yet, at the end of the day, those well struck balls counted the same as the other weak grounders or strikeouts – the end result being a zero under hits.
And yet, nearly night after night, there is Davis, trudging to the plate with bat in hand. He steps into the box, ready for the pitch, and tries to envision success. The slump does not need to end with a towering homer into the night; even a little nubber on the infield where he beats the throw to first would be enough.
Orioles fans are still pulling for Davis to end this miserable experience. He received cheers when he came to the plate Monday, as Birdland did their collective best to get Davis in a positive mindset. Maybe that worked in regards to how well he hit the ball in terms of velocity. And maybe, that encouragement and positivity from the crowd will help Davis end a slump that no baseball player would ever wish upon another human being.
Eventually, that hit will come for Chris Davis, ending a personal hell that he must live through day after day. And with it, the agony of the Baltimore Orioles first baseman will also come to an end.