Vic Davalillo and the 4,000 Pro Hits Club

[JLange]

RIP Vic Davalillo, who passed away this week in Caracas, Venezuela. His MLB career included stints with CLE, CAL, STL, PIT, OAK, and LAD. He was a member of two WS winning squads, with the Pirates in 1971 and A’s in 1973. I just learned that across all of his years of professional baseball, including MLB, Minors, Venezuelan Winter League, and Mexican League Baseball, Davalillo amassed over 4,100 professional base hits. That puts him in rarified company, with Ty Cobb, Pete Rose, Ichiro Suzuki, Hank Aaron, Jigger Statz, Julio Franco, Minnie Minoso, Derek Jeter, and Stan Musial, in the 4,000 professional hits club. If anyone knows of others in this club, please share.

Here’s Vic Davalillo in a 5”x7” Publicity Photo with Cleveland in his rookie season, 1963.


Show your Vic Davalillo cards and collectibles

[Harliduck]

Great information...I had no idea or would have guessed he was in the over 4000 pro hits club...quite an accomplishment. As a kid I just loved his name, and sought after his cards. I'll be the first to post his Topps rookie card. Most don't like the 63 Topps rookie "floating heads" cards...I do...because of the Rose and Stargell...they all look iconic to me!






Edit to add...stinks that it seems every two weeks we lose another Post War hero of our youth...RIP Vic...

[deweyinthehall]

A short time ago, I posted on another thread a (mostly) complete inventory, team by team, of each image in the '78 set - where and when each was captured. I was even able to figure out the paint jobs with the help of others. Davalillo's was one of the only ones I couldn't figure - it could have been by Topps when he was still with Oakland or it could originate from a Mexican League image in the mid-70s (the only time he seems to have worn a moustache, at least in MLB, was in Oakland).

If anyone has any thoughts as to the origins and potential un-painted truth of this image, please share!

[John1941]

I'm sorry to hear he's dead. I've always been a fan, and I really appreciate his long Venezuelan Winter League career. Here's his card from the 1987-88 set that's waiting for me at COMC.