When Tague Davis received the news that he had earned a spot on the 2026 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, there was only one person he wanted to call.
His dad.
Ever since he was a little kid, Tague wanted to be just like him.
Not because Ben Davis was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1995 MLB Draft. Not because he spent seven seasons in the major leagues or now serves as the television color analyst for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Tague wanted to be like the father who taught him how to play baseball with joy, who asked about his day instead of his batting average, and who showed him that the greatest lessons in the game often have nothing to do with baseball.
This summer, another chapter will be added to the Davis family story as Tague follows Ben’s path onto the international stage with the Collegiate National Team in Taiwan, more than three decades after Ben represented the United States on the 1994 18U National Team.
Ben was on the road covering a Philadelphia Phillies game as the club’s television color analyst when his phone rang around 1 a.m.
“I’m a crier. He’s a crier,” Tague said with a laugh. “I called him and said, ‘Dad, I made the team,’ and we kind of broke down on the phone.”
The call quickly became a family celebration as Tague added his mother and grandmother to the FaceTime conversation. It was a moment years in the making, connecting two generations through the same opportunity: representing their country in the same red, white, and blue jersey.
For Ben, USA Baseball was a defining moment in his young baseball career. In 1994, he helped Team USA reach the gold medal game at the World Junior Championship in Brandon, Manitoba, earning recognition as the tournament’s Best Defensive Player before becoming the No. 2 overall pick in the 1995 MLB Draft.
Now, more than 30 years later, he gets to watch his son experience that same honor.
For Tague, the opportunity means far more than making another team.
“To make this team means the world to me because my dad did it for the 18U National Team,” he said. “I’ve wanted this since I was 12 years old. Just having my dad in my corner, there’s nothing like it. I’ve always wanted to be just like him. Obviously, we’re different players, but I just want to do the same thing he did and listen to all the great stories he had. Now, I’ll get to tell him some of my own when I get to experience this.”
The admiration Tague has for his father is undeniable.
Ask him about Ben’s major league career, and the conversation quickly shifts away from draft selections, big league seasons, and accomplishments.
Instead, he talks about the person his dad is.
“When I think of my dad, I never think of him as a baseball coach,” he said. “I just think about him as a father to four children.”
“I call him every day,” Tague said. “Even if I go 0-for-4 or 4-for-4 in a game, he always just asks me how my day is going. It’s never about why I struck out or why I hit a home run. He’s just a mentor in life.”
To Tague, that’s what makes Ben special.
“He’s the best fisherman I know. He’s the best outdoorsman. He’s the best father I know,” he said. “I strive to be like him. He’s just a good person to be around. He makes people’s days.”
Ben’s greatest impact on his son’s baseball career wasn’t teaching him how to hit or catch.
It was teaching him how to love the game.
Before Tague’s breakout sophomore season at Louisville in 2026, Ben shared one piece of advice that would help shape his son’s mindset.
“My dad said to me before the season started, ‘Once you start treating this game like a job, it’ll probably be your last season,” Tague recalled. “That really resonated with me because even when he reached the pinnacle of baseball, he was still playing it like a 12-year-old.”
That philosophy stuck.
“I just tried to have fun again,” he said. “I tried to be the loosest guy on the field and realize I’m just playing a little kid’s game. We’re so fortunate to do this at the level we do. There was really no pressure. I just wanted to go out there and enjoy playing baseball.”
The results spoke for themselves.
After one of the most dominant offensive seasons in college baseball, which saw him be named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, Tague returned to USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team Training Camp and secured his place on the final 28-man roster.
When he received the news, his first thought was sharing it with his dad.
The moment carried even more meaning because Tague’s grandfather and Ben’s father, William “Bill” Davis, passed away just a month earlier.
“I wish I could call him, but he already knows,” Tague said. “He was sitting on the coach’s shoulder trying to make all the decisions.”
That connection across generations is something Tague carries with him every time he steps onto a baseball field.
Some of his favorite memories date back to when he was just six years old, when three generations of the Davis family would gather for batting practice. His grandfather would begin with a soft toss before Ben stepped in to throw batting practice, while Bill moved to the outfield to shag baseballs. Every session ended the same way: with a stop at Wawa for a slushie.
One afternoon, after Tague pulled another ball trying to hit a home run, Ben encouraged him to drive the ball to left-center field instead.
“I hit a line drive to the opposite field,” Tague remembered. “My grandfather yelled from the outfield, ‘That’s a lot of money!”
Looking back, Tague sees those afternoons as the beginning of something much bigger than baseball.
That same love for the game is something Tague hopes to share with his younger brother.
“I have a little 11-year-old brother, Mickey, and before every prayer that I say in my game, I try to play like Mickey,” Tague said. “I just remember those times when I was 11 years old playing baseball. It was the coolest thing ever.”
“I’ve always wanted to be just like my dad,” he said. “It’s really cool to see what my grandfather passed on to him, what my dad passed on to me, and the things I learned I get to pass on to my little brother. It’s just right down the tree, I feel blessed.”
This summer, another Davis will wear U-S-A across his chest.
For Ben, it’s a chance to watch his son experience a journey he once took.
For Tague, it’s an opportunity to create stories of his own while following the example of the person he’s admired for as long as he can remember.
And for the Davis family, it’s another chapter in a legacy built not by accolades, but by a father who showed his son that baseball is at its best when it’s played with joy, and by a son whose greatest goal is not simply to match his father’s accomplishments, but to become the kind of person his father has always been.
