“Those people that are in the Bible, I believe those are actual people and the things that they did actually happened,” Davis said. “And I believe if it happened to them, it could happen to me. It’s just a different time. That’s what I believe in, and you can’t convince me that it didn’t happen. And I believe if God did it for one, I can do what they did, and I can get the same results. So that’s what I’m preparing for, trying to get those results that they got, doing what they did.”

Davis says his dedication to baseball, to thriving in a game built on failure, comes from a desire to back up his beliefs. He says he is convinced that God can bestow greatness on his believers. It is the reason, Davis said, that he has had this career.

“I’m thinking about Abraham,” he said. “God told him to leave his kinfolks, his own family, go to a land I’m going to show you, and he said: ‘I’m going to make your name great. You’re not going to do it; I’m going to do it.’ That’s what God said to Abraham, and I believe if he said it to Abraham, he said it to me, too.”

Gary Carter once said that when he walked to the plate in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, with the Mets down to their final out against Boston, he felt an overwhelming sense that God would not let him fail. Carter singled, two others did the same, and a wild pitch and an error saved the Mets’ season. Whatever forces were in play for Carter or Davis, belief helped guide their actions.

For Davis, those actions included choking up on the bat handle, a concession few hitters make anymore. Bat control is less important in this era of rising power for hitters and pitchers, and Davis says he respects that hitters would rather not give up the whip in their swing.

But against Chapman, who has thrown as hard as 105 miles an hour, Davis knew he needed a short swing to have a chance. Chapman was exhausted by Game 7, worn out from extended appearances in Games 5 and 6. But he was still pumping fastballs at 98 m.p.h.