51s’ Davis, Schilling linked by bunt

During a recent trip to Fresno, 51s manager Lorenzo Bundy needed a player to lay down a sacrifice bunt in a close game.

It didn’t take long for him to realize he had someone in his lineup who had delivered one of the most famous — or infamous, depending on one’s point of view — bunts in baseball history.

Ben Davis, a solid 6-foot-4-inch, 215-pound catcher who joined the 51s on Saturday, bunted for a base hit to break up a perfect game by Curt Schilling with one out in the eighth inning of a 3-1 win by the Arizona Diamondbacks over the San Diego Padres on May 26, 2001.

"Ironically, a couple nights ago I asked him ‘can you bunt?’ " Bundy said. "Then I thought about it and said to (hitting coach Mike) Easler, ‘You know what, that’s the same guy that laid down the bunt to break up a no-hitter.’ So I know he can bunt, and he told me he could."

Davis, drafted by the Padres with the second overall pick in 1995, was berated by many of the Diamondbacks’ players and fans after reaching base for breaking one of baseball’s "unwritten rules." After the game, Arizona manager Bob Brenly called the play "chicken (crap)."

It didn’t matter to the Diamondbacks that the Padres were tied with them for the division lead and were trailing only 2-0 when Davis dropped down his drag bunt — or that Schilling walked the next batter and later allowed two hits and a run.

Davis, who played for the Las Vegas Stars in 1999 and 2000, declined to relive the episode Thursday.

"To be honest with you, I’d rather not talk about it," he said. "It’s just something that happened a long time ago and I answered a lot of questions about that in the past. But it’s just something I thought was the right decision at the time and it worked out for us. Most people agree with what I did."

Davis, 30, is a career .237 hitter with 38 home runs and 204 RBIs in parts of seven big league seasons.

He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2005 and was released by Chicago after the season. Davis signed with the New York Yankees last year but was released April 1 and joined the independent Camden (N.J.) Riversharks in May.

Davis, who said his throwing arm feels better than ever, hit .331 in 36 games to land a deal with the Dodgers. He’s hitting .250 (4-for-16) after six games with Las Vegas.

"It’s been a disappointing last couple of years, but hopefully I can start to rebound from that," Davis said.