1989-1991
Years later, Dave Stewart described Davis as the "best fifth starter had ever .... pitched 165-170 innings (actually 169), won 19 games (19-7) and spent some time doing a pretty good job out of the bullpen, too. Storm was the perfect fifth starter." Stewart's high opinion of Davis' 1989 season is not shared by sabermetrician Bill James, who cites Davis' 19-7 winning record as a canonical example of how a pitcher's won-lost record can be misleading.
After the 1989 season, the Kansas City Royals signed Davis to a three-year, $6 million contract; this has been called one of the worst blunders in baseball history. Davis had an ERA that was worse than the league average in 1989, but Royals pitching coach Frank Funk said, "We don't want pitchers with good ERA's. We want pitchers with wins." In his two seasons in Kansas City, Davis had a win–loss record of 10-19. He pitched mostly in relief in 1991 before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles.
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