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Pete Rose now eligible for Hall of Fame after years of ineligibility<\/p>\n
USA TODAY Sports’ Bob Nightengale discusses Pete Rose now being eligible for the Hall of Fame and what it means for the steroid era players.<\/p>\n
Sports Pulse<\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES \u2014 Eric Anthony<\/a> was always curious, but never obsessed, to learn the family secret.<\/p>\n He grew up asking his mother about the identity of his biological father, but always received vague answers, saying it was a man who was briefly stationed at a San Diego Naval base.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t really matter. Anthony was surrounded by love in the family with three brothers, food on the table, clothes in the closet and a ballfield nearby.<\/p>\n He was a star baseball player growing up in San Diego, drafted in 1986 by the Houston Astros<\/a>, making his major-league debut three years later, and spending nine years in the big leagues. He lead the Astros with 19 homers and finished second with 80 RBIs in 1992 on a star-studded team that featured Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, along with Ken Caminiti, Steve Finley and Luis Gonzalez.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until eight years ago \u2013 Oct. 10, 2017 to be exact \u2013 that his oldest daughter, Erica, asked him if he would do a genealogy test.<\/p>\n \u201cShe goes, ‘Dad, I\u2019ve been watching some of these ancestor DNA commercials,'” Anthony tells USA TODAY Sports. \u201cShe\u2019s always been\u00a0curious who was on both sides of the family. …<\/p>\n \u201cI spit in the bottle, sent out the DNA, and when it came back, I started getting all of these Davis’ showing up in my profile. I had to investigate.”<\/p>\n He made a series of calls and wound up contacting a woman that showed up as one of the Davis relatives in Phoenix named Martha Burt Sells. He identified himself, and they figured out together they were cousins. Anthony explained his background and sent pictures of him in his baseball uniform where he played for Astros, Mariners, Reds, Rockies and Dodgers \u2013 when Sells stopped him cold.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, so you\u2019re the second-most famous baseball player in our family,” said Sells, who discovered two years earlier in a DNA test that her biological father and Davis\u2019 mother were brother and sister.<\/p>\n \u201cWho\u2019s the first?” Anthony said.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, my first cousin,” Sells said.<\/p>\n \u201cWillie Davis.”<\/p>\n Yes, that Willie Davis<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMy wife Googled him,\u2019\u2019 Anthony said, \u201cand then she started screaming, ‘Oh my God, that\u2019s your father!'”<\/p>\n Yes, the two-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and two-time World Series champion with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He still holds Dodgers franchise records since their move to Los Angeles for hits and triples. His 31-game hitting streak still remains the all-time Dodgers record.<\/p>\n \u201cI grew up loving Wally Moon and Duke Snider, and then Willie Davis came along,” said Dodgers All-Star outfielder Rick Monday, who grew up in Santa Monica and became the first player selected in the history of the MLB draft in 1965. \u201cBeing a center fielder, I watched Willie really close because I was in awe of the way he ran after a ball and the way he ran the bases. His strides, he was like an antelope. He just devoured ground with every long stride that he took.”<\/p>\n Said Dusty Baker, who grew up in Riverside and won a World Series with the 1981 Dodgers: \u201cWe all wanted to be Willie Davis. He ran like a gazelle the way he would fly around the bases. We all tried to imitate him. We thought he was the coolest dude ever.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Oh, could Davis run. He twice led the National League in triples. He stole 398 career bases, including 42 in 1964, and stole three bases in one game during the 1965 World Series. He was nicknamed \u201c3-Dog” with his blazing speed.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was such an important part of Dodger history,” said former Dodgers GM Fred Claire, who spoke at Davis’ memorial service in 2010. \u201cHe was so full of life, with such high energy and so extremely talented. Nothing was too big for him. There was no intimidation. Great speed. A very good arm. No one ran from first to third like Willie. Three steps between bags. What an athlete.”<\/p>\n Learning the truth<\/p>\n Anthony, now 57, couldn\u2019t believe it. Everyone always wanted to know where he got his athleticism. Why did he gravitate towards baseball and not another sport? Why did everything seem so natural to him as a left-handed hitter?<\/p>\n And, of course, why didn\u2019t his mother ever tell him the truth?<\/p>\n \u201cShe could never give me a detailed answer,” Anthony said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to disrespect your parents. Just one of those things I kept inside. I thought maybe one day I\u2019d find out.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I did.”<\/p>\n Anthony confronted his mom, Jo Carole Ighner-Phillips, who died at the age of 82 in February, and she confirmed his dad indeed was Davis. She certainly didn\u2019t mean any harm in keeping the secret. She was a proud woman. She wasn\u2019t looking for a handout from a baseball star. She was just fine raising four boys by herself.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t angry with my mother or was I angry with Willie,” said Anthony, who retired from baseball in 2001, after also playing in Japan and Mexico. \u201cI think my mother was protecting all of us from any scandal and did the best thing for all parties involved. She was protecting me. And she was protecting Willie.”<\/p>\n Anthony\u2019s oldest brother, Michael Phillips, 66, knows that while Eric is now at peace, he can\u2019t hide the desire to have known when Davis was still alive.<\/p>\n \u201cMy Mom was private as Eric, but she wanted to keep it away from everyone,” Phillips said. \u201cShe was devastated that Eric found out the way he did. There was some tension there. It took a few weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t imagine it happening to me. Willie Davis being your actual father, that\u2019s a little bit of a shocker.”<\/p>\n Anthony discovered that few people ever knew the identity of his father. No one knew on the Davis side. So, he started making calls. He introduced himself to family members he didn\u2019t know existed. He soon discovered he had two new half-sisters and a half-brother.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was really strange, and just never connected the dots,” said Thomas Davis, 87, Willie\u2019s oldest brother, who still lives in Los Angeles and struggles with his brother\u2019s death. \u201cWhen we talked, I believed Eric. If someone was that interested in reaching out, and going through all that trouble, why wouldn\u2019t I believe him?<\/p>\n \u201cI just had no idea. I really wish we had known him growing up.”<\/p>\n Anthony, who lives in Houston with his wife, Robin and is now a proud grandparent, met Thomas Davis and three cousins in a Mexican restaurant in Irvine, California. They shared pictures and gasped at the resemblance. He couldn\u2019t believe how warmly he was embraced.<\/p>\n \u201cMy uncle grabbed me and hugged me,” Anthony said, \u201cand said, ‘You\u2019re giving me a piece of my little brother back.’<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, it was a shock to that side of the family at first since Willie was married. I was a love child. But now, it\u2019s like one big family.”<\/p>\n The families started reminiscing, and Anthony was reminded by his brother that Davis actually was at their house. In those days, everyone in the neighborhood were San Diego Padres fans, and when Davis was traded before the 1976 season to the Padres, he became a household name.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember there was this beautiful blue Corvette parked outside our apartment one afternoon,” Phillips said, \u201cand a kid runs up to me and says, ‘Why is Willie Davis at your house?’ I ran upstairs, and there he was sitting on the couch.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t even put two and two together until later. I started playing everything back in my head. ‘Oh my God, that\u2019s why he was at the house.’<\/p>\n Said Anthony: \u201cSo, it looks like I did meet him twice. That day, and when my Mom took me to watch the Dodgers play the Padres when I was two years old.”<\/p>\n Turning point<\/p>\n Anthony has since tried to learn as much about Davis as possible, collecting old photographs, jerseys, hats, magazine covers, everything relating to his dad. He has a small shrine to Davis at his Houston home.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Eric reached and told me about the connection,” Claire said, \u201cI wanted to put Eric in touch with players that knew Willie. I reached out to Tommy Davis, Maury [Wills] and others. I wanted to give him the opportunity to know as much as he could about his dad. I sent him pictures I had of Willie.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was quite fascinated by it.”<\/p>\n Anthony began sharing his discovery with Baker and Bill Russell, his former Dodgers manager who also played with Davis. He remembers the day he telephoned his close friend, actor Kenny Medlock, whom he met in 1992, to share his discovery. Medlock played nine years in the minor leagues before going Hollywood, appearing in 55 movies including \u201cMoneyball.” It was Medlock who telephoned Dodgers hitting coach Reggie Smith one day to recommend Anthony.<\/p>\n \u201cYou talk about going full circle,” Medlock said. \u201cI met Willie Davis, got him into a bunch of movies, meet Eric, get Eric a job with the Dodgers, and then find out that Willie is his biological dad.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Eric told me that was his father, it was just such a bombshell. I mean, this guy was special. He heard a different drummer drumming. He was not somebody you could control. He would have probably been a hippy if he wasn\u2019t a baseball player.”<\/p>\n Anthony, who started his own technology company, relishes hearing from his father\u2019s old friends and acquaintances. He loves hearing the stories, especially from Davis\u2019 brother, Thomas. Thomas told him that Willie\u2019s first love was basketball, but it was Dodgers scout Kenny Myers who saw his blazing speed as a track-and-field star, and was the one converted him into a left-handed-hitting outfielder, just like Anthony.<\/p>\n \u201cEric is a very quiet guy, he doesn\u2019t say much,” Phillips said, \u201cbut I think Eric finding out about his father is a turning moment in his life. It\u2019s important just for Eric to understand what happened. He\u2019s still in a fog, but in a euphoric way. This will help bring some closure and some openings too.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Securing his father’s legacy<\/p>\n Now that Anthony knows that Davis is his father, his would love to honor his legacy by correcting a wrong.<\/p>\n Strangely, Davis has never appeared on a single Hall of Fame ballot. Not on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot. Not on a veterans committee ballot.<\/p>\n Davis, who accumulated 2,561 hits and stole 384 bases to go along with his three Gold Glove awards, has the highest career WAR (60.7) never to appear on a Hall of Fame ballot.<\/p>\n The 1985 BBWAA ballot included 41 players \u2013 with Lou Brock and Catfish Hunter each elected in their first year of eligibility \u2013 but Davis never appeared, despite his 2,561 hits, 398 stolen bases and 182 home runs. He is one of only 10 players in baseball history who has achieved those numbers, and seven are in the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n \u201cWillie has not been given the respect he deserves in his career,” Anthony said. \u201cLook what he has done. He ranks first in all-time hits in [Los Angeles] Dodgers\u2019 history. He helped them win two World Series titles. It\u2019s just baffling to me that he never appeared on a Hall of Fame ballot.”<\/p>\n The biggest hindrance to Davis\u2019 candidacy in his first year of eligibility in 1985 that 11 players who had been previously dropped off the ballot, were reinstated by a special committee that year. They added Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, Clay Carroll, Ron Fairly, Curt Flood, Harvey Haddix, Denny McLain, Dave McNally, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo and Wilbur Wood, dramatically reducing the first-year eligible players.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, at the very least,” Anthony said, \u201che should have his number retired by the Dodgers. Nobody should be wearing No. 3 again.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n The last Dodger to wear No. 3 is Chris Taylor, who was just released last week.<\/p>\n Anthony can\u2019t help but wonder, too, if his baseball career might have been different if he had known Davis was his father. What if Davis had reached out and accepted him as his son while he was growing up. They lived only 100 miles away from one another with Davis in Los Angeles and Anthony in San Diego, later playing for the same team 24 years apart.<\/p>\n Just how cool would it have been to have father-son pictures at Dodger Stadium?<\/p>\n \u201cI often think about that, having my father in my life,” Anthony said. \u201cThis guy was a major-league legend, no way around it. To have a conversation with him, asking him certain questions, to have that knowledge and experience, I\u2019m sure it would have improved my career.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish I would have had my dad around, but you can\u2019t be stuck in life with what-ifs. I have a new brother, two sisters, and a host of uncles and aunts.<\/p>\n \u201cMy life is complete. It\u2019s like being on a deserted island all of these years, and then somebody found you.<\/p>\n \u201cI know who I am now.”<\/p>\n Around the basepaths<\/p>\n \u2013 The Pittsburgh Pirates are flatly rebuking all interest from teams wanting to engage in trade talks for ace Paul Skenes, but will listen to offers on every other player but him and outfielder Oneil Cruz.<\/p>\n Two intriguing players are third baseman Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes and outfielder Bryan Reynolds. They were each expected to become cornerstone pieces of the franchise and both have struggled, with the Pirates expected to put them on the market at the trade deadline. Reynolds is in the third year of an eight-year, $106.75 million deal, the largest in club history. Hayes is in the fourth year of an eight-year, $70 million extension.<\/p>\n \u2013 The Miami Marlins\u2019 plan to enhance ace Sandy Alcantara\u2019s trade value by hanging onto him until the deadline has backfired \u2013 at least in the early-going.<\/p>\n Alcantara, who\u2019s returning from Tommy John surgery, is yielding a hideous 8.47 ERA, allowing the most earned runs of any pitcher in baseball.<\/p>\n \u2013 It looks like the ABS challenge system will be on hold for another year after feedback MLB received from players this spring. It will likely be implemented for 2027.<\/p>\n \u2013 The Arizona Diamondbacks are resisting any urge to make a rash move and dismiss manager Torey Lovullo, who suddenly is drawing the ire of their fanbase with their recent struggles. They dropped to 27-30 after losing eight of their last nine games entering Saturday.<\/p>\n “These are very challenging times, I’m not going to lie,” Lovullo said. \u201cWe’re in a huge grind, every one of us. We’re a really good baseball team, and we should not be three games under .500.”<\/p>\n The Diamondbacks\u2019 pitching and sloppy defense have been the culprits. They scored six or more runs 23 times this season, but have lost a major-league leading 10 of those games, including three games in which they\u2019ve scored 11 runs.<\/p>\n \u2013 Phillies All-Star first baseman Bryce Harper echoed the Phillies\u2019 front-office sentiments when he told the Philadelphia Inquirer<\/a> that he can\u2019t imagine Kyle Schwarber not coming back to Philadelphia as a free agent this winter.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see him playing anywhere else,\u201d Harper said. \u201cObviously I don\u2019t make those decisions. But as a team leader and a captain and everything else, he brings so much value to our team.”<\/p>\n Schwarber, signed to a four-year, $79 million contract before the 2022 season, has hit 149 home runs, third behind only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani in that time.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just learned such a good way of bringing a team together,” Harper said. \u201cHe does such a great job of that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 The Dodgers are scouring the market these days for a left-handed hitting bat off the bench.<\/p>\n \u2013 The Cincinnati Reds\u2019 patience with former All-Star closer Alexis Diaz evaporated when they sent him to the Dodgers this past week for minor-league pitcher Mike Villani, with the Dodgers picking up the remaining $3 million in Diaz\u2019s contract this year. The Reds became exasperated with Diaz, and he was showing no signs of getting back to his All-Star form at Class AAA Louisville.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt it was the best thing for everybody involved just to have a change of scenery,” Nick Krall, Reds president of baseball operations, told reporters.<\/p>\n The Dodgers, who will work with Diaz at their minor-league camp in Arizona, have suddenly become desperate for bullpen help. Former closer Evan Phillips is undergoing Tommy John surgery this week, and they still are without Blake Treinen, Kirby Yates, Michael Kopech and Brusdar Graterol.<\/p>\n The Dodgers shelled out a four-year, $72 million contract for closer Tanner Scott last winter, but he has struggled, blowing five saves with a 4.62 ERA. He had only six blown saves the past two seasons combined with Miami and San Diego.<\/p>\n \u201cI think, performance-wise, he hasn\u2019t performed the way any of us expected, him included,\u201d manager Dave Roberts said.<\/p>\n \u2013 Scouts already are keeping an eye on Boston Red Sox reliever Aroldis Chapman, who will be a hot commodity at the trade deadline if the Red Sox fall out of the AL East race.<\/p>\n \u2013 Cool moment at the Yankees-Dodgers epic weekend series when Yankees manager Aaron Boone spotted Dodgers Hall of Fame broadcaster Jaime Jarr\u00edn, pulled a cell phone from the back picket of his uniform, and snapped a selfie.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, he\u2019s a legend,” Boone said.<\/p>\n \u2013 Pirates manager Don Kelly is drawing rave reviews from his players, and is showing why the Boston Red Sox nearly hired him after the 2020 season. He was one of three finalists with Alex Cora and Sam Fuld. Kelly has since turned down several job interviews, including the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland and New York Mets, to remain in Pittsburgh with his family before being promoted.<\/p>\n \u2013 Toronto Blue Jays slugger Anthony Santander has looked nothing like the man they signed to a five-year, $92.5 million contract during the winter. He\u2019s now on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation after hitting just .179 with six homers and striking out a career-high 26.3% of the time. He looks like a shadow of himself after hitting 44 homers a year ago for Baltimore.<\/p>\n \u2013 The Houston Astros and Billy Wagner are taking no shortcuts celebrating his Hall of Fame induction ceremony this summer with friends and family.<\/p>\n They have sent out invitations for Wagner\u2019s closest friends and family for two seats on the Astros\u2019 team charter to Cooperstown, including a hotel room and ground transportation for the weekend to be at Wagner\u2019s celebratory party.<\/p>\n \u2013 Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo openly roots for Paul Skenes in every game he doesn\u2019t pitch against him, forming a relationship at last year\u2019s All-Star game when he made Skenes the starting pitcher after just 11 starts.<\/p>\n \u201cI spent a little bit of personal time with him, and I don\u2019t think a lot of people get to do that that aren\u2019t inside of his organization or his circle,” Lovullo says. \u201cI will always treasure those times. Special kid, great for the game.<\/p>\n \u2018When we\u2019re not facing him, I am a fan.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, who broke his toe walking to the bathroom at his home last Wednesday night, is expected to return to the lineup this week. There has been no temptation to move him back to right field as the Dodgers did a year ago.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a major league shortstop, on a championship club \u2026” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters. \u201cHe looks like a major league shortstop right now, where last year there were many times I didn\u2019t feel that way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Classic response by Atlanta ace Spencer Strider when Hall of Fame writer Jayson Stark asked him about pitching in Philadelphia\u2019s raucous environment.<\/p>\n \u201cI love pitching here,\u201d Strider said. \u201cI mean, where else do they chant your name and ask you how your family\u2019s doing? They seem very interested in my well-being, and I appreciate that.”<\/p>\n \u2013 So much for that feel-good Tim Anderson comeback story<\/a>. He was released last week by the Angels after an ugly slash line of\u00a0.205\/.258\/.241 in 90 plate appearances. This is the second time the former batting champion has been released in the last nine months.<\/p>\n \u2013 Just in case Mets owner Steve Cohen didn\u2019t have a big enough checking account, his hopes for an $8 billion casino next to Citi Field moved ever so close after a bill in the state Senate approved the project, now needing only Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n \u2013 Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners is resurrecting memories of Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza. Raleigh, who already has the most homers by an catcher through the first four seasons of their career, is now having an MVP season in the non-Aaron Judge division. He already has 21 homers, the most by a catcher before June in history. He\u2019s on\u00a0pace for 57 home runs this season, which would shatter Salvador Perez\u2019s record of 48 homers in 2021 with the Royals.<\/p>\n \u2013 Remember when the Boston Red Sox gave second baseman Kristian Campbell\u00a0an eight-year, $60 million deal and looked like geniuses when he hit .301 with four homers and an .902 OPS through April? Well, he has crashed down to earth in May, hitting .137 with just one extra base hit and a .368 OPS.<\/p>\n \u2013 The Houston Astros say they are on the lookout for starting pitching after losing Ronel Blanco. He is the third Astros\u2019 starter to go down in the season\u2019s first two months, joining Hayden Wesneski who underwent Tommy John surgery last week, and Spencer Arrighetti (broken thumb).<\/p>\n \u2013 Rough week for Marlins second baseman Ronny Simon. He committed three errors in three innings, ran off the field in tears while teammates and coaches tried to console him, and then was designated for assignment two days later.<\/p>\n \u2013 The Yankees plan for Jazz Chisholm to return to third base when he returns from the IL with DJ LeMahieu playing second.<\/p>\n \u2013 Phillies ace Zack Wheeler can blame Atlanta if he\u2019s not in the Cy Young debate at the end of the season.<\/p>\n He as a 9.28 ERA in two starts against Atlanta this year and a 1.93 ERA in his 10 starts against everyone else.<\/p>\n \u2013 What\u2019s it like being Shohei Ohtani\u2019s teammate?<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t want to miss any of his at-bats,\u201d new Dodgers outfielder Michael Conforto said. \u201cYou want to be in the dugout. You want to see it in person. That\u2019s kind of what it is being his teammate. You want to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Congratulations to Atlanta\u2019s Chris Sale who recorded his 2,500th\u00a0strikeout<\/a> faster than any pitcher in history, accomplishing the feat in 2,206 innings, eclipsing Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, who achieved the milestone in 2,107 innings.<\/p>\n Sale idolized Johnson growing up, and still cherishes the text message he received from Johnson last winter when he won the Cy Young award.<\/p>\n \u2013 The Colorado Rockies<\/a>, if you can believe it, are now on pace to go 26-136.<\/p>\n