Iván Davis, Cuban Baseball Umpire, Dies in Miami

September 14, 2022

Iván Davis was an umpire with a long career in Cuban baseball and is considered one of the elite figures in the history of Cuban baseball umpiring.

Iván died on September 9 in the city of Miami at the age of 82 from diabetic coma.

The prestigious umpire was born in 1940 in El Cerro, very close to Estadio Latinoamericano. When his family moved to Luyanó, he began playing baseball in a tournament where excellent ballplayers competed. From a young age he acted as a pitcher in the Liga Popular with the team Las Galletas Billy, in the Amateur Athletic Union he did so with Aduana de Cuba, and in the Quivicán League with La Salud where star ballplayer Pedro Chávez played.

Davis was signed by Tony Pacheco with the Cincinnati branch, acting briefly in Minor Leagues in the United States. Later he did so in the Almendares reserve team in Cuba's last professional championship, pitching eleven innings with the blues. In professional baseball he recorded a record of 21 wins and 20 losses, with his best season pitching for the Palatka team in the Florida State League in 1960, when he finished with 15-11 and an earned run average of 2.48.

When professionalism was eliminated in the 1960-61 season, Davis had the opportunity to continue in the Minor Leagues seeking to advance to a higher level, but he decided not to do so to avoid being separated from his family. He returned to Havana and played with the Almendares team that participated in the last season of the Cuban Professional League in 1960-1961. Davis then met the woman who would become his wife and who would be the magnet that tilted his decision to remain in Cuba, just at the moment when he received a contract to sign as a Major League player (Class A).

In the first tournaments of the National Series he worked as a pitching coach, and at 25 years of age (1965) he decided to become an umpire and later became the best of his era and one of the greats in the history of Cuban baseball. As an umpire he distinguished himself for his excellent counting of balls and strikes. Also for his personal courage on the field where his hands never trembled when making difficult decisions or ejecting from the game any player or manager who committed offensive actions, whether verbal or physical.

During his tenure he had as colleagues in umpiring men such as Alfredo Paz, Francisco Belén Pacheco, Alejandro Montesinos, Francisco Fernández Cortón, Manuel "El Chino" Hernández, Orlando Valdés, Mario Cossío, Julio Ramón Vélez, Felipe Casañas and Juan Rodríguez Tabares, among others; including the Guireño Nelson Díaz who was the one who replaced him as head official of the National Series and in international competitions.

It became a ritual that upon his arrival on the field of Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana, Armandito Torres "El Tintorero", popular announcer for the Industriales team, presented him from the stands as "El Elegante" amid the traditional whistles of the fans.

He was part of the group of umpires designated for the decisive games of the National Series and participated in numerous international events in recognition of his skill and command of baseball situations.

"I liked to umpire in full stadiums… I felt more comfortable, because that way I didn't hear the insults," Davis confessed.

For the next 28 years, Davis consolidated a professional career that placed him in the forefront of baseball umpiring in Cuba and internationally. In 1992, during a tour of the Cuba team to the United States to face a university selection of this nation, he took the opportunity to stay at Miami Airport.

In Miami he worked in local tournaments, in the United States he worked at a car sales agency, and served as an umpire in softball leagues and local tournaments until health problems began to limit him.

In addition to Gladys, his wife of 59 years, he is survived by two daughters and grandchildren.