Around NL West Spring Training, 3/9: Life, Death, And What's In Between

Diamondbacks LF/1B Conor Jackson went 3-for-3 today, and is hitting .500 after the first week of spring. He struggled badly last season after catching a fungal lung disease which turned into pneumonia, but looks primed to rebound. “You take a lot of things for granted in your life, and one thing for me was the opportunity to play major-league baseball every single day. That was taken from me last year,” said Jackson.

Dodgers Former Dodgers outfielder, Willie Davis, who held the records for most hits and runs for the team since they moved to Los Angeles, was found dead in his Burbank home, the LA Times reports. His death appears to have been of natural causes, at the age of 69. Davis was a two-time All-Star and won the Gold Glove three consecutive years, from 1971-73.

Giants Might we see top-tier catching prospect Buster Posey play some at first or third this year? Worth noting that Pablo Sandoval was mostly a catcher in the minors, but now plays almost exclusively at third. Grant discusses this at McCovey Chronicles, and feels he’d rather see Posey play regularly behind the plate in Triple-A, than get bounced around in the Majors.

Padres Sporting legend Muhammad Ali showed up at the San Diego training camp yesterday. “It was almost eerie seeing him come into the room,” said third-baseman Chase Headley. Will it help the Padres add some, ah, punch to their offense? Boxing’s finest ambassador has been promoting his ‘Athletes for Hope’ charity, and also visited the Giants’ clubhouse in Scottsdale on Tuesday.

Rockies Mixed news for Colorado closer Huston Street. His shoulder felt “surprisingly good” after his bullpen session today. However, ESPN reports Street has been notifed that federal investigators may want to question him about Dr. Anthony Galea, currently under investigation for HGH and another drug