Phillies Amateur Scout Joey Davis has been selected as the 2017 recipient of the Dallas Green Award, the club announced today.
Davis, who just completed his 18^th year in scouting, including the last 14 with the Phillies, covers the Northern California and Northern Nevada regions in his current role. He signed four players who made their major league debuts with the Phillies this season (Drew Anderson, Rhys Hoskins, Andrew Knapp and Brock Stassi).
"Scouting and player development is a team effort. Watching players achieve their dreams of reaching the big leagues is extremely gratifying," Davis said. "This is a humbling honor, especially with the award being named after Dallas Green. It's probably the highlight of my scouting career. To be holding an award with Dallas Green's name on it is definitely a dream come true."
Davis played college baseball at Ohio Dominican University. He also spent parts of three seasons coaching in minor league baseball, including one with double-A Reading, and spent 11 seasons coaching collegiately at three different schools.
The 2017 Dallas Green Award will be presented on the field on Wednesday, September 20, prior to the 7:05 p.m. game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The award was established in 2011 to honor the accomplishments of Green, who spent 62 years in professional baseball, 46 of which were with the Phillies. Green passed away this year on March 22 at the age of 82.
The award is presented annually to an amateur or professional scout who best exemplifies the Phillies' standard for scouting while demonstrating the same loyalty, work ethic, dedication and passion as the award's namesake. It is also recognition of the scout's ability to judge not only a player's talent, but also his character and heart.
Past winners of the Dallas Green Award have been Dick Lawlor (2011), Bill Harper (2012), Eddie Bockman (2013), Gordon Lakey (2014), Sal Agostinelli (2015) and Roy Tanner (2016).