Davis attended
Hueytown High School in
Hueytown, Alabama, graduating in 1987. He played for the school's baseball team as a
shortstop, but did not receive much interest from
Major League Baseball (MLB) teams because he weighed . He enrolled at
Shelton State Community College. Playing as a shortstop for Shelton State's
college baseball team in 1988, Davis had a .347
batting average with 14
home runs and 46
runs batted in (RBIs). In
Minor League Baseball, Davis became a
third baseman. He batted .285 with 22 home runs and 71 RBIs for the
Albany-Colonie Yankees of the
Class AA Eastern League in the 1992 season, and was subsequently named the league's
most valuable player. However, Davis was blocked at third base with the Yankees by
Wade Boggs. He spent the 1993 season and most of the 1994 season with the
Columbus Clippers of the
Class AAA International League. He made his major league debut in July 1994, but spent one week with the Yankees before returning to Columbus. Davis began the 1995 season with Columbus, but played for the Yankees from May 6 to 27, and was called up again on June 12. He hit his first major league home run against
David Wells on June 28, 1995. In December 1995, the Yankees traded Davis and
Sterling Hitchcock to the
Seattle Mariners for
Tino Martinez,
Jeff Nelson, and
Jim Mecir. On June 7, 1996, Davis broke his leg, ending his season. In 1997, Davis batted .271 with 20 home runs and 63 RBIs in 119 total games. In 1998, Davis set a Mariners franchise record for
errors committed. He led the
American League with 34 errors. He also hit 20 home runs with 82 RBIs in 141 games. For the 1999 season, Davis batted .245 with 21 home runs and 59 RBIs in 124 games, while committing only 12 errors. Davis became a
free agent after the 1999 season, and the Mariners opted not to offer Davis a new contract. The
San Francisco Giants signed Davis to a minor league contract in January 2000. Davis was a backup to third baseman
Bill Mueller and
first baseman J. T. Snow for the Giants during the 2000 season. The Giants traded Mueller to the
Chicago Cubs after the 2000 season and re-signed Davis. He started the 2001 season as the Giants' starting third baseman, with
Pedro Feliz backing him up. Davis struggled in 2001, and was
designated for assignment in June. ==Personal life==