After the first game of Ike Davis’s career, Mets Manager Jerry Manuel said his new first baseman seemed unfazed, without the anxiety you sometimes see in first-time major leaguers.
“He just seemed like one of the guys,” Manuel said Monday night. “And that’s impressive.”
But Davis was the only guy who started his day at a ballpark in Buffalo at 9:15 a.m., and finished it at a ballpark in Flushing at 10:13 p.m. In between, Davis took a flight and signed an autograph for a baggage handler before he had even arrived at the airport terminal. He had two singles in four at-bats in the Mets’ 6-1 win over the Cubs at Citi Field.
“Getting two hits and losing wouldn’t feel this good,” Davis said. “This is awesome.”
Davis’s comfort around the Mets can be attributed to his growing up as the son of a major leaguer, the former reliever Ron Davis. But Ike was 2 when Ron’s career ended in 1989, and his memories, he said, are mostly from old-timer’s days. He attended one at Yankee Stadium when he was 12, and got to meet Derek Jeter and Scott Brosius.
Ron Davis is flying overnight to be here for Tuesday’s game, when his son should again be in the lineup against the Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano. Sometime when the Mets have a day off, Davis said, he will have to return to Buffalo to retrieve his things, half of which remain in the apartment he just moved into.
“I left my first check in my locker,” Davis said, and he laughed when a reporter mentioned that the check in New York will be bigger.
It was an encouraging day for the Mets, who improved to 5-8 and got a solid start from the homegrown Jon Niese and two good innings at the end from another product of the farm system, Jenrry Mejia.
“It’s a comforting thing: ‘O.K., he’s here, I know what he does,’” Davis said, referring to Mejia. “Hopefully I’ll be able to do that with everyone else.”
Davis had never been to Citi Field until Monday, and he said he would do a little exploring, behind the -scenes, after the game. At some point, his busy first day will end.
“I’m going to sleep well tonight,” Davis said, before reconsidering. “Maybe not, who knows? I might be too excited.”