Davis catching on as 1st-year skipper: Former Cubs backstop hopes to return to Wrigley Field as big-league manager

PEORIA -- Former Cubs catcher Jody Davis says managing nevercrossed his mind during his decade in the major leagues.

Instead, the rookie manager of the Cubs' Class A affiliate inPeoria says the itch started on bumpy Little League and AmericanLegion fields in his native Georgia, coaching his sons after packingup his Gold Glove and two All-Star appearances and heading home in1990.

"It's not near as aggravating and frustrating for me as it waswatching my kids play," Davis said, referring to his first few weeksin the Peoria Chiefs' dugout. "I guess Dad always wants his kids todo well, and when you're sitting there and they're in the heat of abig situation, you want them to do so good. It was murder."

But not quite as gut-wrenching, Davis says, as the Cubs taking a 2-0 lead in the National League Championship Series against the SanDiego Padres in 1984, only to lose three games in a row and head homewithout a shot at the Cubs' first world championship since 1908.

"We were hugely disappointed, but I think we got over it quickerthan the fans did," Davis said. "We were all young and figured we'dpick right up there next year. It just didn't happen that way."

Now Davis is using his head to help end the Cubs' drought, moldinga fresh-faced roster that features only one player who was born whenhe started his big-league career in 1981.

"The guys respect him," Chiefs president Rocky Vonachen said."He's been an All-Star, in the playoffs. He's someone they look up toand hope to be."

The presence of Davis has stirred a spring baseball buzz aroundPeoria, where fan loyalty is nearly evenly split between the Cubs andSt. Louis Cardinals.

"He's a name people know and has a lot of experience in baseball,"Chiefs fan Darrell Byrd said last week. "Hopefully, he'll increasethe crowd here."

Outside of his sons' games, Davis' only managing experience beforethis season came in 2003, when he led a team in a fledgling Canadianleague founded by former Cubs pitcher Ferguson Jenkins. He called theCubs when the league folded after a half-season because of poorattendance, then waited two years for a job to open.

Davis says being back in the Cubs' system is like coming home,even though he grew up less than 60 miles from Atlanta and finishedhis career with the Braves.

"After your career's over, you kind of associate more with oneorganization than the other," Davis said. "The fact that I playedeight years with Chicago and it was the highlight of my

career, it's awfully exciting."

Davis acknowledges he has a lot to learn as a manager, saying hehas relied largely on gut instincts rather than statistics,tendencies and other computer-generated aids.

His boss, Cubs player-development director Oneri Fleita, saysDavis' years behind the plate were good on-field training for hisshift to the dugout.

"Usually, catchers make good managers," Fleita said. "They see thewhole field and have a sense for the whole game. ... Most of thetime, you can gamble on catchers, and it's going to pay off."

Davis said the success of several other former catchers helpedpique his interest in managing. After retiring, he says, he onlywatched about a game a week on TV but didn't lose sight of BobBrenly's World Series title with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001 orMike Scioscia's with the Los Angeles Angels in 2002.

"As a catcher, you're always involved in the game with defensiveplays, where to position players," Davis says. "It's a littledifferent now, but you know the situations when they come up."

Davis says he hopes managing carries him back to the majors, wherehe caught Hall of Famers Jenkins, Dennis Eckersley and Bruce Sutter.

"I'd say the odds of getting there are astronomical," he said. "Iknow there's a bunch of guys who manage their whole lives in theminor leagues and never get that chance."

Still, three other former Chiefs players or coaches are managingin the big leagues -- the Pittsburgh Pirates' Jim Tracy, the FloridaMarlins' Joe Girardi and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' Joe Maddon. If hejoins them, Davis says he wouldn't mind returning to Wrigley Field.

"If the Cubs ever win a World Series, they'll need a new ballparkbecause the fans are going to tear it down," Davis said. "I believeeverybody will want a brick, a piece of ivy or a piece of grass. Whenyou wake up the next morning, there will be nothing but a vacant lotthere."