Willie Davis, centerfielder was 69 *

Willie Davis, the Dodgers centerfielder through most of the 1960s who came out of Roosevelt High in Boyle Heights, was found dead today at home in Burbank. Just 20 when he debuted for the Dodgers, the 3-Dog was a complicated ball player and person. But there was nobody more thrilling to watch speeding around the bases. Fast just doesn't cover his dashes from home to third, or first to home. Jon Weisman posts a suitable appreciation from his book, "100 Things Dodgers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die."

Inside and outside the Dodger organization, they never seemed to stop psychoanalyzing Willie Davis. No matter what he did -- whether it was hitting 21 homers while stealing 32 bases in 1962, or moving up the franchise leaderboard (he remains first all-time in Los Angeles history in plate appearances, hits, total bases, triples and extra-base hits) -- second-guessing was ongoing, acceptance grudging. The focus inevitably turned to Davis’ internal struggle as a ballplayer, his identity crisis.

“People have been saying for several years that if Willie Davis ever put all his talents together he would be an outstanding ballplayer. The trouble is nobody could ever convince Willie,” Dan Hafner of the Los Angeles Times wrote just before the 1968 season.

Davis was traded for relief pitcher Mike Marshall before the 1974 season and ended his 18-season career with the Angels. He legged out 138 triples among his 2,561 major league hits, and also has a place in baseball lore for making three errors in one inning during the 1966 World Series. An LAO reader emails that Davis held the L.A. city record for the long jump, 25 feet 5 inches, for many years. Willie Davis page at Baseball Reference.com

Quote: "There was nothing more exciting than to watch Willie run out a triple. . . . He could have been a Hall of Famer, but he had million-dollar legs and a 10-cent head." - former Dodger General Manager Buzzie Bavasi.

Cameo: Davis, Sandy Koufax and Leo Durocher in an episode of "Mister Ed" from 1963, the second season of Dodger Stadium.

Photo of Davis by Herb Scharfman / Getty Images at Dodger Thoughts