Chris Davis Sports Illustrated cover
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If you’re a person who believes in jinxes (not me) or just someone who wants to use odd superstitions to explain the Orioles disappointing last few games (sort of me), then you won’t be happy to hear that Chris Davis is featured on the regional cover of Sports Illustrated.

Senior writer Tom Verducci charts Davis’ rise from being a frustrated part-timer who was twice demoted to the minors in 2010 to becoming the majors’ top slugger just three years later. The first step was some advice Davis got from an AL East rival that Davis says now “was like a revelation in my life.” The second step was to rebuild his swing, from his stance to his stride to the movement of his head. The changes were transformative. In 2012, his first season with more than 500 at-bats, Davis hit 33 home runs, eighth-best in the AL. This year, he has not only already established personal bests in runs, walks, home runs and RBIs, he is on pace for career highs in hits, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. He is also helping keep Baltimore in the thick of the AL playoff chase as the O’s seek their second consecutive postseason berth.

Davis’ cover hits news stands (and other places that people buy magazines that aren’t from the 1920s) on August 26.