Like a plot straight out of a movie, a son discovers he shares more than just talent with one of MLB’s legendary figures. Eric Anthony nearly spent a decade in the MLB world, launching home runs and making headlines. However, while he knew the game, the ins and outs of everything else, one thing he never knew was his true lineage.
For years, Anthony was told very little about his biological father. Being raised by a loving mother and his siblings in San Diego, he never really pushed too hard. Later, he found baseball, or well, baseball found him, as he was a natural. He starred alongside legends like Bagwell and Biggio and played for five MLB teams. But the questions of why baseball flowed so easily through him and his father also lingered in the background.
That question was finally answered decades later, thanks to a simple DNA test that was actually encouraged by his daughter in 2017.
Sunday Notebook: How ex-MLB player Eric Anthony learned his dad was Dodgers legend Willie Davis https://t.co/AdWlluVG4p
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 1, 2025
Anthony told USA TODAY Sports, “I spit in the bottle, sent out the DNA, and when it came back, I started getting all of these Davis’ showing up in my profile. I had to investigate.” One call led to another, until a cousin in Phoenix casually dropped a bombshell: “Oh, so you’re the second-most famous baseball player in our family.” The most famous one, you wonder? Willie Davis. The same player in MLB who won two World Series with the Dodgers and held the franchise record for hits and triples. And someone who left the fans in awe with his cheetah speed.
When Anthony’s wife realized this, she Googled Davis, and the resemblance was simply uncanny. “My wife Googled him, and then she started screaming, ‘Oh my God, that’s your father!’” Anthony said. His mother later confirmed that it was the truth. She carried the truth for years and didn’t really want fame or favors, and she was protecting her children and also Willie in the process.
Though David passed away in 2010, Anthony has since embraced his hidden heritage. He has gone on to build relationships with his half-siblings, cousins, and even David’s elder brother, Thomas. And he fact, told Anthony, “You’re giving me a piece of my little brother back.” There is a bittersweet joy in the way Anthony talks about the connection. Now he has a small shrine for his father at home and several stories coming in from his father’s teammates, and is finally getting to know him, even if indirectly.
Anthony strives to honor his legendary MLB father, Willie Davis
Since uncovering the truth about his biological father, Eric Anthony has made it his mission to honor Davis’s legacy. How? By writing, a glaring oversight—the Hall of Fame snub that has haunted Davis for decades. Even though David has had a resume perfect for Cooperstown with 2,561 hits, 384 stolen bases, three Gold Gloves, and two World Series titles with the Dodgers, he has not appeared on a single Hall of Fame ballot.
Not even once on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) ballot, or even the veteran committee list. And here is the kicker. David still holds MLB’s highest WAR, 60.7, of any player never to make the ballot. Anthony was flabbergasted and said, “Willie has not been given the respect he deserves in his career….It’s just baffling to me that he never appeared on a Hall of Fame ballot.”
A reason for this foresight traces back to 1985, when David first became eligible. That year, a special committee reinstated 11 players who had been dropped before. So it crowded the ballot and pushed Davis behind. Not just the Hall of Fame, but Anthony also feels that the Los Angeles Dodgers should retire his No. 3 in his honor. For now, though, Anthony is embracing the new family he has found. And mostly, he is thrilled to know who he really is.
Does this journey from reel to real surprise you? Let us know in the comments.
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