R.I.P. Willie Mays

Willie Mays, the Hall of Famer often regarded as the best center fielder, and perhaps most complete all around baseball player ever, passed away on June 18th, 2024. He was 93.

Mays could hit for both power and average, could steal bases, and was a tremendous defensive player, winning 12 Gold Gloves over the course of his career. An Alabama native, he began his professional career at age 17, playing in 13 games for the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League. In 1951, Mays joined the New York Giants in 1951 and hit 20 home runs while hitting .274, helping the Giants to win the National League Pennant. (The Giants lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series). He was voted the National League Rookie of the Year. Mays played in just 34 games in 1952, and none in ’53 due to military service.

Back with the Giants in 1954, Mays hit a major league leading .345 with 41 homers and 110 RBIs, and won the first of two NL Most Valuable Player Awards. The Giants again won the National League Pennant, then went on to a four game sweep pf the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. In Game 1 of the World Series, Mays made one the most famous catches in baseball history, an over the shoulder catch with his back to the infield of a 425 foot blast off the bat of Vic Wertz.

Mays continued to put up big numbers in 1955, hitting 51 homers and driving in 127. He began to show more speed on the basepaths, with 24 stolen bases that year. In 1956, he stole a career high 40 bases, leading the majors. He led the majors in stolen bases in 1957 and 1958 as well, the first two years after the Giants relocated to San Francisco. In 1962, Mays hit an MLB best 49 homers, with a career high 141 RBIs, while hitting .304. He finished second in the MVP voting to the Los Angeles Dodger’s Maury Wills, who had set a then single season record for stolen bases of 104 that year. The Giants won the pennant but lost to the Yankees in the World Series.

Mays did win one more MVP Award. This one was in 1965, when he hit a career high 52 homers, with 112 RBIs and a .317 batting average. He remained with the Giants until May 11th, 1972, when he returned to New York, in this case the Mets, in a trade. A part time player for the Mets, Mays continued through the pennant winning 1973 season before announcing he would retire. He played in three games in the ’73 Series, and was two for seven with a run scored and an RBI to close out his career. The Mets lost the World Series to the Oakland Athletics. Mays was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979.