Mets Q&A with Ike Davis
Mets first basement Ike Davis rehabs his ankle at Fischer Sports Physical Therapy & Conditioning in Phoenix. Brett Fischer, right, is the owner and a trainer at the center. (Jan. 10, 2012) Credit: Michael Ging
You pitched some at Arizona State and finished your college career with a 7-5 record and four saves. Do you ever miss pitching?
Davis: "I was a pitcher all my life. I miss it. It's fun. It's part of the game that I enjoyed doing and I was decent at it. But I have so many other things to worry about. Sometimes later in the game, where I'm like, 'Man, this is when I used to come in, and how much fun that used to be.' But then I remember I've got to worry about catching the ball at first base. I threw a fastball, slider, I was working on a split. I threw a changeup a couple times in my life. It was very good and then it was awful. I never was consistent with it so I scrapped it."
You were a member of the U.S. National team that won the gold medal in Taiwan in the 2004 World Youth Championships. What was that experience like?
Davis: "It was a blast. I got to play with Justin Upton back in the day, to see how much better those kids were than me at that time. It was pretty impressive. I don't think there's a better way to play than for your country. Every time I've done that, it's been so much fun."
The Tampa Bay Rays drafted you out of high school in the 19th round in 2005 but you didn't sign with them. Why not?
Davis: "I had a really bad senior year in high school. Not really bad, but I didn't perform the way I knew I could. Obviously, my draft status wasn't high. I probably could have gone in the third round or something like that. If I had a better year, I could have gone in the first round, but I didn't. Looking back at it, I wouldn't have changed a thing. It was very simple. I told them I'd sign for a million and they're like I don't know if we're going to get that high. I don't know how much they ended up getting to, but it wasn't a million. I told teams that's what I want. That's another reason why I didn't get drafted that high."
I see you and Lucas Duda as the Mets' Killer Ds -- bookend lefty sluggers. How would you describe your relationship with Duda?
Davis: "We played against each other in college, we played with each other in Double-A and then in the big leagues. He's a quiet guy and I'm more outspoken for sure, but we get along good. I like playing with him. I think that he has so much talent that it's going to be fun to watch and hopefully fun to be part of for a while."
How much has your dad, former Yankee pitcher Ron Davis, helped prepare you for life in the majors?
Davis: "He definitely did. I'm not late to anything. There's no such thing as being late. He taught me how to act. Everything he did helped me become who I am as a person to be able to handle aspects of this life. It helped me handle playing in New York. My dad is old school -- it wasn't a job to him. It was a game and he loved it. He loves baseball. It's fun to see how much love he has for this game."
Did you learn anything from missing much of last year with the severe ankle injury?
Davis: "As a young player, you can't really take this game for granted. You can't control certain things in life. I've always been taught 'control what you can control.' Don't worry about other things you can't control. It was tough to not think about what it could have done, if I was ever going to play again. But I can't control any of it, so I tried to stay away from even thinking about it. When I was hurt, my focus was try to get healthy and get back on the field. I'll always remember missing an entire season. I've never done that my whole life. It definitely was not fun. It's not what you want to do. Now I have a better understanding when one of my teammates gets injured and what he may be going through."
