Last week I read three obituaries about Willie Davis, the former Los Angeles Dodgers great center fielder who died March 9 in Burbank, Calif.
Predictably, they focused on his career in L.A. as a young speedster and an integral part of the powerhouse Dodger teams of the early 1960s; those pennant-winning clubs featuring Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Maury Wills, Tommy Davis and the fearless baserunner Willie.
Also mentioned was the fact he later played for Montreal, Texas, St. Louis, San Diego and the Angels, but none of the three articles mentioned his two seasons in Japan. He was here in 1977 with the Chunichi Dragons and 1978 with the Crown Lighter Lions in Fukuoka, and he left behind a few memories.