Davenport grew up in Siluria, Alabama, the hometown of future teammate Willie Kirkland, and not far from Willie Mays\' hometown. Growing up, Davenport had wanted to play football for the University of Alabama. However, Davenport married after high school and Alabama had a policy of not recruiting married players. Instead, he earned a football scholarship to the University of Southern Mississippi (then called Mississippi Southern College), where he played quarterback and also joined the baseball team. In 1952 and 1953, he beat an Alabama football team who were quarterbacked both times by Bart Starr. In 1954, Davenport hit .439 for the Southern Miss baseball team, and signed a professional contract with the Giants after the season.\n', '

Davenport made his major league debut with the San Francisco Giants on April 15, 1958, taking the team\'s first at-bat on the West Coast, striking out against Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers at Seals Stadium. His best season was 1962, when he batted .297 with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs and made the All-Star team for the only time in his career. \n', '

Davenport was known for his fielding, leading National League third basemen in fielding percentage each season from 1959–61 and winning a Gold Glove at third base in 1962. Davenport played 97 consecutive errorless games at third base from July 26, 1966 to April 28, 1968, a record that stood until it was broken by John Wehner in the 1990s.\n', '

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