Known for his speed and agility as an outfielder as well as a base runner, Davis was a three-time Gold Glove Award winner and a two-time National League (NL) All-Star player during his tenure with the Dodgers.

[1] He also played for the Montreal Expos, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, and the San Diego Padres before spending two seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball league with the Chunichi Dragons and the Crown Lighter Lions.

After his stint in Japan, Davis returned to Major League Baseball where he played one final season with the California Angels in 1979.

He ranked seventh in major league history in putouts (5,449) and total chances (5,719) in the outfield, and third in games in center field (2,237).

As a youngster, Davis moved to Los Angeles, where he was a three-sport standout in baseball, basketball, and track and field at Theodore Roosevelt High School.

Widely considered to be one of the fastest baseball players of the 1960s, Davis had 20 or more stolen bases in eleven consecutive seasons, with a career-high 42 in 1964.

In 1962, these two players "set the table" for teammate Tommy Davis to lead the National League with 153 runs batted in (RBI), a Los Angeles Dodgers single-season record.

When he recovered the Etchebarren ball, Davis threw it over third base, allowing Boog Powell and Blair to score.

In Game Four, Davis made a leaping catch at the centerfield fence, robbing Powell of a home run.

[citation needed] Davis was traded from the Dodgers to the Montreal Expos for Mike Marshall at the Winter Meetings on December 5, 1973.

[9] Davis hit .249 with five home runs and 17 RBI in 42 games with the Rangers before being sent to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ed Brinkman and Tommy Moore on June 4, 1975.

[10] After batting .291, he was traded for a third time within a year when he was dealt from the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for Dick Sharon on October 20, 1975.

His total of 2,237 games in center field ranks behind only Willie Mays (2,827) and Tris Speaker (2,690) in major league history.

[citation needed] Davis married Jeanna LemYou, whom he met in Los Angeles while a member of the Dodgers, on September 5, 1963.

[citation needed] A convert to Buddhism via his marriage to Jeanna, Davis constantly fingered his prayer beads and chanted before games.

However, his enthusiastic display of his religion disturbed his Japanese teammates and his fervent pregame chanting made them feel as if they were attending a Buddhist funeral, according to his manager, Wally Yonamine.

[15] Davis appeared in several TV programs, including Mr. Ed, The Flying Nun, and Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, and was a co-star of the Jerry Lewis comedy film from 1970, Which Way to the Front?.

In a 1969 episode of Bewitched, Samantha, attending a game at Shea Stadium to see the New York Mets host the Dodgers, remarks "Willie Davis just hit a grand slam!"