CAMDEN — By PATRIC FLANNIGAN
Sports editor
As Sam Cooke sang: “It’s been a long time coming.”
Camden native and former University of Central Arkansas Bear, Jonathan Davis, was finally called up to the major leagues to suit up for the Toronto Blue Jays. Davis didn’t start but he was with the team last night as it played against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Davis is the son of Bishop Jacovis and Iretha Davis and is a 2010 graduate of Camden Fairview High School where he was a three-sport athlete. However it was baseball where Davis excelled the most. He received a scholarship to continue his education and career at UCA. Davis was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays his junior season after amassing an .317 hitting average, stealing 73 bases, hitting eight home runs and recording 118 RBIs in his collegiate career.
Despite injuries, Davis excelled over his six years in minor league ball playing in Vancouver, Puerto Rico, Arizona and Florida. In June, he made history for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats becoming the only player to hit a cycle (a single, double, triple and a home run in the same game.) He has amassed several accolades including making the minor league All Star team over the summer. Davis hit a career high 14 home runs in 2016 and hit 10 home runs in 2017
Davis attended a friend’s wedding over the weekend and was surprised to learn the news that he was being called up to the majors. He spoke with the Toronto Star about his meeting with his former team’s manager. He was preparing to go home for the off-season.
“I was like, ‘Stop,’ ” Davis said of the meeting with Triple-A Buffalo Bisons manager Bobby Meacham, coach Devon White and Ben Cherington, the Blue Jays vice president of baseball operations. “I had all my stuff packed, I had a 16-hour road trip. It was awesome.”
Davis was one of four prospects to join the team Tuesday. The outfielder was added to the active roster after pitcher Mike Hauschild was designated for assignment, while fellow outfielder Dwight Smith Jr., infielder Richard Urena and first baseman Rowdy Tellez were recalled. Urena was the only one of the four to start against Tampa Bay.
Smith and Urena have played 25 and 20 games, respectively, in the big leagues this season, with Smith hitting .255 and Urena .273. But this is the first nod for 26-year-old Davis and Tellez