By Larry LaRue
The News Tribune
PEORIA, Ariz. – Ben Davis was introducing himself to new friends in the Seattle clubhouse Friday when he learned he’d lost an old one.
The news of San Diego Padre Mike Darr’s death broke his heart.
“He was my best friend,” Davis said. “I flew all day yesterday from Philadelphia, and when I got to the apartment complex last night he was there – we were going to be in the same complex.”
About 7 p.m., Davis said, he and ex-teammate Darr ran into each other.
“He was going out with a couple of friends, and I was beat,” the Mariners catcher said. “I gave him a big hug. I didn’t realize it was the last time I’d see him alive.”
About seven hours later, Darr and a friend were killed instantly in a one-car accident four off-ramps away from the exit to the Seattle-San Diego spring training complex.
Darr was driving. A third man in the car, Padres minor leaguer Ben Howard, survived the accident.
“This is a tough day. I’ve spent a lot of time with Mike – he was the kind of guy that was impossible not to like,” Davis said.
Teammates last year in San Diego, Davis 24, and Darr, 25, became close quickly.
“You had to like him, for who he was, for how he played the game,” Davis said.
Davis’ new teammates – some of whom hadn’t met him before camp opened Friday – consoled him, as did manager Lou Piniella.
“I had a little talk with him,” said Piniella, who once lost friend and teammate Thurmun Munson to a plane crash. “I told him, ‘Take the time off to go to the service, whenever it is. Baseball will wait.’”
Davis was numb through most of his first workout in a Seattle uniform.
“I love the game, but my heart and my head aren’t here right now,” he said. “I’ve spent time in this man’s home, he’s spent time in mine. It’s just overwhelming.
“I called my dad this morning when I’d heard, and he started crying – that’s how much Mike meant to all of us. It’s just a terrible situation, because he has a wife and two young kids.”
A little after 7 a.m., Davis heard there’d been a fatal accident involving a Padre, but not who the victim was. He quickly called the San Diego clubhouse, but could get not immediate word.
“You spend years with a team, you know you’ve lost someone, you know it’s going to be bad,” Davis said.
When he got word that Darr was dead, Davis quietly stood and walked out of the Mariners’ locker room, standing alone for some time outside.
“I hugged him last night,” he said quietly. “Things like this just shouldn’t happen to anyone.”
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