Willie Davis and his error-filled inning
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Willie Davis, the gifted baseball player who roamed center field for the Dodgers from 1960 to 1973, was found dead Tuesday at his home in Burbank at age 69.
Davis was a bright offensive star for the Dodgers, hitting in 31 consecutive games in 1969. But many will remember the day in 1966 when he made three errors in one World Series game. On Oct. 6, 1966, against the Baltimore Orioles, Davis lost three fly balls in the sun at Dodger Stadium.
According to reporter Charles Maher’s account in The Times the next day, Davis came back to the dugout after the inning and told pitcher Sandy Koufax, ‘I’m sorry, I just lost them in the sun.’
Koufax said: ‘Don’t let it get you down.’
Pitcher Don Drysdale said: ‘Hell, forget it. ... You’ve saved a lot of games for me with great catches.’
Read the rest of the story here. And you’ll find Jim Murray’s column from that day here.
The Dodgers wound up making six errors total that day and were swept by the Orioles in four games.
A full obituary will appear later at www.latimes.com/obits.
-- Claire Noland
