The Road to 5,000: Gerry Davis

RENO, Nev. – As you drive west on Interstate Route 80 towards the heart of the Biggest Little City, the sights and sounds of Reno are calmly waiting to glimmer as the afternoon sky folds into evening dusk. But as the midday sun starts to set over the highway, streaking across the outfield grass at Greater Nevada Field, it feels fitting.

While many might think the sun has already drifted below the horizon on long-time MLB umpire Gerry Davis’ career, the 40-year veteran has only been rejuvenated by his rehab assignment. You may wonder, an umpire on rehabilitation? Yes, and Davis is back on his own road to the show.

At 13 years old, the St. Louis, Mo., native knew he wanted to “be around the greatest players in the world” as he stared through the looking glass of Busch Memorial Stadium, who played host to the 1966 All-Star Game, in search of the cream of the baseball crop. But it wasn’t until he was forced into umping nearly a decade later that he believed his dreams would become a reality.

Davis played travel ball in his hometown through the mid-‘70’s, tossing balls and strikes for the Kiwanis Pros. The league required each squad to select one of the game’s two umpires and his manager designated him as the official.

“I was hurt and couldn’t pitch so he said ‘well, you’re going to be the umpire tonight,’” Davis said. “Afterwards, [my manager] said ‘you’re pretty decent, you should think about going to umpire school. Quite frankly, I didn’t know there was such a thing.’”

After the Kiwanis skipper acknowledged Gerry’s knack for the game, Davis traded his computer operator gig for a spot in the MLB’s umpiring academy.

Much like the players, umpires have to go through Minor League Baseball to get to baseball’s biggest stage.

After rising through the ranks and being graded highly among his peers, the long-time umpire finally received the fateful message that everyone in baseball dreams about; the call-up.

“When you receive that call, it’s really special,” Davis added. “It’s surreal to be congratulated and to get the call-up, but after that, it’s ‘we need you in Montreal tomorrow night.’”

His first game in the Majors was a long-awaited trip to officiate his hometown St. Louis Cardinals on the road at the Montreal Expos on June 9, 1982. While Whitey Herzog’s Cardinals fell, 5-1, it was just the first of nearly 5,000 games for the 40-year expert.

While he sits 43 MLB contests away from becoming just the fourth umpire in Major League history to reach the 5,000-game plateau and joining the likes of all-time leader Joe West, Hall of Famer Bill Klem and Bruce Froemming, there is nothing quite like being on baseball’s greatest stage; the World Series.

As you walk the hollow ground of the old Yankee Stadium, the iconic players that once dug their feet into the batter’s box resonate with anyone who steps foot inside the ballpark. For Davis, it is a memory he’ll never forget as he positioned himself behind current Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi for game five of the 1996 World Series.

“Back then, National League and American League umpires were separated and I only went to National League ballparks so my first plate job [in the AL] was at Yankee Stadium and that’s a temple,” Davis said with a smile. “I’m standing there getting ready to work the plate and I’m thinking Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig stood in this batter’s box.”

“The Yankees had not been good for a long time up until then and for games one and two, the fans were just happy to be there. The Yankees lost both games and then went to Atlanta and won the next three so when they came back for game six, the atmosphere was completely different because the fans were there to see [the Yankees] win a World Championship and they were on their feet the whole time. It was very exciting and it’s ironic that it happened 25 years ago and it still stands out as the game I remember the most.”

As Davis reminisces about his experiences and memorable moments, the awe expressions that rest easily on the faces of crew chief Malachi Moore, Reid Gibbs and Aaron Higgins are quite the sight. Even as the three-man crew has combined to showcase their favorite career moments of an MLB call-up, a slew of Spring Training games or even just sitting in the same room as a man that gives off an aura of wisdom, one thing rings true; knowledge is power.

As Higgins put it, “it’s huge for us at all levels to learn from the guys above us. It happens every year at Spring Training and now we have Gerry Davis in here with all the knowledge he has, we pick his brain and learn little things or nuances that he has accumulated over his 40-year career.”

“It’s very surreal and often times I’m just looking at him,” Moore added. “You see him on TV and see him in the World Series, but off the field talking with Gerry is where [learning happens].”

Even though it is a regular rehab assignment for the legendary umpire, “it has been a pretty refreshing thing for me because I look back and look at [Moore, Gibbs and Higgins] who’s aspirations are to attain the Major Leagues, it’s really been reflective. Those things have been very humbling.”

It has not been an easy road to 5,000 as Davis opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19. Not only to add to the stress of a global pandemic but the 68-year-old official was also diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat, causing him to miss the start of the 2021 season.

After switching medical treatments that required him to wait 90 days before getting back behind to plate, the MLB umpire guidelines mandated Gerry to participate in 14 games at the Triple-A level, three of which needed to be at home plate.

Davis has been a part of the umpiring crew for the last six Aces contests, serving as the home plate official in just one match but will return to Greater Nevada Field to complete his 14-game rehab stint on July 22-24.

As he continues to charge onward and upward through the final eight games of his rehab run, Davis is looking forward to making it back to the MLB.

It does not matter if it is Triple-A or the Majors, one emotion rings true every time he takes the field, “I still feel the rush.”

For all 4,957 games he’s officiated, the adrenaline rush still excites the 40-year official. As he makes his way back to Bigs, there will be a sense of nervousness but as well-respected umpire Jim Evans once said to Davis and the 1996 World Series crew, “we all have butterflies, let’s keep them in formation.”