What Will Paul Bunyan Do For An Encore?
By Ray Flowers
Larger than life, Paul Bunyan myths abound. Created in the early 1900's by James MacGillivray who gathered the stories into the Round River Drive story, the stories told of a lumberjack who was huge, muscular and mythical, an according to some parts of the legend a giant. Paul and his companion Babe the Blue Ox traveled the countryside around the Great Lakes. Chris Davis doesn't have a Blue Ox at his side, but shockingly his 2013 performance had his name mentioned alongside another Babe... as in Babe Ruth.
Here is a brief review of the massive numbers that Chris Davis posted in 2013.
Davis his 53 homers to lead baseball.
Davis had 138 RBIs to lead baseball.
Davis led baseball with a 29.6 HR/F ratio.
Davis had a .634 SLG, the second best mark in baseball (Miguel Cabrera – .636)
Davis had a 1.004 OPS, the second best mark in baseball (Cabrera – 1.078).
Davis scored 103 runs, tied for 4th in baseball.
There's more.
The last time a right hander hit 53 homers with 138 RBIs was 2006 (Alex Rodriguez with 54-156).
The last time a lefty accomplished the feat was 2007 (Ryan Howard with 58-149).
The last time an Oriole did it was... never.
To say Davis had a historic season is an understatement. The question now becomes, what can he do for an encore?
Let's start with the biggest aspect of his performance – the big fly.
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