Vic Davalillo Marquee

b. July 30, 1939 · Cleveland Indians 1963–1968, California Angels 1968–1969, St. Louis Cardinals 1969–1970, Pittsburgh Pirates 1971–1973, Oakland Athletics 1973–1974, Los Angeles Dodgers 1977–1980

He hit .292 for Cleveland in 1963 and .270 with 156 hits in 1964, when he won a Gold Glove in center field and made his only All-Star team. He was from Cabimas, Venezuela, and one of the fastest players in the league in his twenties.

He reinvented himself as a pinch hitter in his late thirties, going to Mexico for two years and coming back to hit 24 pinch hits for the 1978 Dodgers, helping the club to a second straight pennant. Sixteen seasons gave him 1,122 hits, 160 doubles, 125 stolen bases and a .279 average.

He finished with the Dodgers in 1980 at forty-one, one of the oldest position players active that season. The 1986 ballot gave him no votes of 425. He died in 2023, at eighty-four.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	1	1965
Gold Glove	1	1964

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1963	CLE	90	370	44	108	18	5	7	36	16	41	3	.292
1964	CLE	150	577	64	156	26	2	6	51	34	77	21	.270
1965	CLE	142	505	67	152	19	1	5	40	35	50	26	.301
1966	CLE	121	344	42	86	6	4	3	19	24	37	8	.250
1967	CLE	139	359	47	103	17	5	2	22	10	30	6	.287
1968	CAL/CLE	144	519	49	144	17	7	3	31	18	53	25	.277
1969	CAL/STL	96	169	25	37	4	1	2	11	13	13	4	.219
1970	STL	111	183	29	57	14	3	1	33	13	19	4	.311
1971	PIT	99	295	48	84	14	6	1	33	11	31	10	.285
1972	PIT	117	368	60	117	19	2	4	28	26	44	14	.318
1973	OAK/PIT	97	147	14	27	2	0	1	7	5	11	0	.184
1974	OAK	17	23	0	4	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	.174
1977	LAD	24	48	3	15	2	0	0	4	0	6	0	.313
1978	LAD	75	77	15	24	1	1	1	11	3	7	2	.312
1979	LAD	29	27	2	7	1	0	0	2	2	0	2	.259
1980	LAD	7	6	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.167
Career	—	1458	4017	510	1122	160	37	36	329	212	422	125	.279

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1969	STL	0	0	2	0	0	0.0	2	1	2	0	—
Career	—	0	0	2	0	0	0.0	2	1	2	0	—

On this day & linked events

1939

Born July 30, 1939

Cabimas, Zulia, Venezuela

2023

Died December 6, 2023

1963

Major-league debut: Vic Davalillo

Vic Davalillo made a major-league debut on April 9, 1963.

1980

Final major-league game: Vic Davalillo

Vic Davalillo played a final major-league game on October 6, 1980.

Image: MLB / California Angels, public domain