Virgil Lawrence Davis was born December 20, 1904, in Birmingham, Alabama. He spent 16 active years as a baseball catcher with the Philadelphia Phillies, the Cincinnati Redlegs, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the old St. Louis Gas House Gang. In 1931 he led National League catchers with 78 assists and 3 errors in 120 games while fielding .994. In 1932 he batted in 70 runs. In 1933 he batted .349 in 141 games. His lifetime batting average was .308. "Spud" had about 10 years as a manager, a coach and a scout before retiring to Birmingham. He passed away in 1984.