Philadelphia Phillies TV analyst Ben Davis is counting his blessings after a terrifying chainsaw accident at home left him with a brutal knee injury.
The former MLB catcher, 48, revealed this week that he was cleaning up fallen trees in his yard when things took a painful and unexpected turn. While speaking on the WIP Morning Show on Tuesday, March 2, Davis described how he was cutting up white pine trees on his property when one quick move nearly ended in disaster.
According to Davis, he was finishing up work on a second fallen tree when he noticed a branch stuck in the ground. He said he cut the branch, but it snapped back suddenly — and the chainsaw slashed straight into his kneecap.
The injury was no small scrape.
Davis said the cut was about three inches long and went all the way to the bone, leaving those around him horrified as he calmly explained what happened.
What shocked people even more was what happened next — or rather, what didn’t happen.
Despite suffering a deep chainsaw wound, Davis admitted he never went to the hospital.
He said the injury likely needed stitches, but insisted he was fine, adding that he had simply wrapped it up and kept going. He even treated it himself with Neosporin and a bandage.
Still, the painful reality of the injury has been hard to ignore. Davis said he has to keep his leg straight because every time he bends his knee, the wound opens back up.
As gruesome as the accident was, Davis said he knows it could have been much worse. He later told listeners that he felt lucky the damage wasn’t more severe, saying he was actually relieved it ended the way it did.
The close call left a big impression on his family, too. Davis shared that his wife, Megan, told him she was sorry he had to go through it, while he focused on the fact that he narrowly avoided an even more devastating injury.
Davis and his wife share four children, including their son Tague, who currently plays baseball at the University of Louisville.
Before becoming a familiar voice for Phillies fans, Davis spent six seasons in the majors, playing for the San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, and Chicago White Sox from 1999 through 2004. After later making the unusual switch from catcher to pitcher and spending time in the minors, he officially retired from pro baseball in 2011.
He has been a Phillies analyst for NBC Sports Philadelphia since 2015.
For now, Davis appears to be taking the frightening accident in stride — but fans may never look at yard work the same way again.
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