David West was born on September 1, 1964, in Memphis, TN, to Eugene C. West and Vivian Womble West. David passed away in Palm City, Florida from brain cancer on May 14, 2022.
West fell in love with baseball at an early age. According to Ripbaseball.com, West excelled in American Legion ball, playing for Millington Telephone, but the big left-hander with the 90 mile-per-hour fastball had to wait a bit to play at Craigmont High School. He was declared scholastically ineligible and missed his first two seasons of high school ball. After his Senior season he was named to second team of American Baseball Coaches Association High School All-America squad.