Not every athlete’s post-sport career goes the Alex Rodriguez or Michael Jordan business magnate way or the Larry Bird/ Don Mattingly way, to remain associated with the game in a coaching or managerial role. But then, there comes former Oakland Athletics star, Khris Davis. While his legacy may not match that of the aforementioned legends, he certainly did pick a unique post-baseball path, with the undying hope of someday returning to the big leagues.
On October 3, 2021, Khris Davis, nicknamed ‘Khrush’, played his last big league game. Before retiring, he spent a brief stint in 2022 playing for Diablos Rojos del Mexico in the Mexican League during April and May, followed by a few months with the Wild Health Genomes in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball from June to September. Ever since, he’s been away from baseball, and pursuing his new-found career dream, of being a car mechanic. Talking retirement with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Khrush said,
“There was no more opportunity for me in baseball. So it took a lot of searching of who I was outside baseball. I’m still young. I didn’t want to just sit at home.”
Khris Davis, to pursue his dream of being a car mechanic, started attending the Arizona Automotive Institute for one year, and graduated just a few weeks ago. Coming from a background where baseball was his only focus, the 2018 MLB star admitted that he had little knowledge about cars—he didn’t even know how to change a tire.
He attended classes from 7 AM to 1 PM, five days a week, and was impressively one of only four students out of fifteen to graduate from the course by the year’s end. At 36, Davis was among the oldest in his class, but the journey, inspired by his love for the ‘Fast & Furious’ movie series, was so exciting that the age difference hardly mattered to him.
“I just wanted to be part of that scene where you just have like car friends and guys hang out at shows and races. There’s something to be said about having a nice car.”
After completing his course, Khris Davis plans to start job hunting after this summer, with the hope of starting an entry-level role in the automotive field. From the grandeur of big league ballparks to a hands-on, foundational task of changing tires and oiling vehicles. From bats to wrenches, quite literally.
“I’m going to get a job after the summer and family vacations are over. I’ll be an entry-level tech doing tires, oils and lubes, everything. I’d love one day to do tune-ups on street racing cars, customization, restoration, just to be part of a club and go to car shows and just enjoy that scene.”
All things said, while Davis is pursuing his new love of cars, he hasn’t entirely closed the book on baseball. He plans on returning to the sport as a player, or even as a coach to complete his unfinished goal of being in the big league for 10 years. That would also qualify him for the pension program, and keep him comfortable for a good amount of time. However, given his age and the trajectory of his career numbers in the later years of his career, this comeback, at least as a player appears to be challenging. But he remains hopeful of closing out the baseball chapter perfectly.
“Ideally, that would be a nice way to close out the chapter. It would meet my goal of playing in the big leagues for 10 years. It just feels incomplete because I didn’t reach my goal. It would be cool to finish out like that.”
For three years with the Athletics (2016-2019), Davis was a powerhouse consistently managing 40+ home runs each season, with a career-best 48 in 2018. But his took a sharp downturn and fell drastically in 2019 and the struggle continued in 2020, when he was traded to the Texas Rangers. He had one last stint with the A’s in 2021 before effectively bidding adieu to the big leagues and finding a new passion. Will he ever return to the big leagues? What do you think? Let us know below!
