Brock Davis' Place In Baseball History Remains Secure

You might not be familiar with Bryshear Bennett "Brock" Davis and perhaps you shouldn't be because, truth be told, he wasn't very good. But he holds a fairly dubious Brewer record, a record that no one had approached in over ten years until recently.

On April 18, 1972, Davis made his Brewer debut, pinch hitting for pitcher Jim Slaton in the sixth inning of a 2-0 loss to the Yankees. Davis went 0-for-1 that day. He picked up his first Brewer hit eight days later, a pinch hit RBI single in the ninth inning of a 3-1 loss to the Angels. 

What happened that day isn't what's relevant, though*, it's what didn't happen. You see, Davis came to the plate in five games in April, 12 in May, 13 in June, 20 in July and five in August before picking up his first Brewer extra base hit: A double off Yankee starter Mel Stottlemyre on August 13 (it was the only Brewer XBH in a 5-3 loss). After 55 games, Davis had finally connected for extra bases for the first time. His run of XBH futility by a non-pitcher was the longest in the history of the young Brewer franchise.

* - Actually, none of this is relevant. Follow the jump for more, though.

Davis finished the 1972 season with two doubles (the second one came on October 2), no triples, and no home runs. Despite his .318/.365/.331 slash line, the Brewers went just 20-65 on days when he appeared. He opened the 1973 season in the minors, was traded to the Padres and never surfaced in the major leagues again. But his record lived on.

Since then, a handful of Brewers have approached the record, but none have eclipsed it. Some of the more notable attempts:

• From 1972-1973, catcher Ellie Rodriguez went 48 games.
• From 1986-1987, first baseman Billy Jo Robidoux went 49 games.
• Juan Castillo went 51 games between XBH from September of 1987 to April of 1989.
• After Castillo, no Brewer went more than 35 games until Sean Berry went 43 in 1999-2000.