Maury Wills

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maurice Morning "Maury" Wills (born October 2, 1932 in Washington, DC) is a former Major League Baseball shortstop and switch-hitting batter who played most prominently with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1959-66, 1969-72), and also with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1967-68) and Montreal Expos (1969). He was an essential component of the Dodgers' championship teams in the mid-1960's, and deserves much credit for reviving the stolen base as part of baseball strategy.

In his first-full season (1960), Wills hit .295 and led the league with 50 stolen bases, being the first NL player to do it since Max Carey stole 51 in 1923. Wills stole 104 bases in 1962 to establish a new record in baseball, breaking the old mark of 96, set by Ty Cobb in 1915. Besides this, he hit .299, led the league in triples (10), and was selected the NL Most Valuable Player (beating out Willie Mays by seven points).

Although Luis Aparicio had been stealing 50+ bases in the American League for several years prior to Wills' insurgence, Wills brought new prominence to the tactic. Perhaps this was due to greater media exposure in Los Angeles, or to the Dodgers' greater success, or to their extreme reliance on a low-scoring strategy that emphasized pitching, defense, and Wills' speed to compensate for their lack of productive hitters. Wills was a significant distraction to the pitcher even if he didn't try to steal, because he was a constant threat to do so. The fans at Dodger Stadium would chant, "Go! Go! Go!" anytime he got on base. A winner of the Gold Glove Award in 1961 and 1962, Wills was selected five times for the All-Star Game.

After retiring, he managed the Seattle Mariners (1980-81), but did not do so well there. Baseball writer Rob Neyer criticized Wills in his Big Book of Baseball Blunders for "the variety and frequency of [his] mistakes" as manager, calling them "unparalleled." In a short interview appearing in the June 5, 2006 issue of Newsweek, Neyer said, "It wasn't just that Wills couldn't do the in-game stuff. Wills's inability to communicate with his players really sets him apart. He said he was going to make his second baseman, Julio Cruz, his permanent shortstop. Twenty-four hours later he was back at second base. As far as a guy who put in some real time, I don't think there's been anyone close to Wills."

Wills also spent time as a baseball analyst at NBC from 1973 through 1977.

In 14-seasons career, Wills batted .281 with 20 home runs, 458 RBI, 2134 hits, 1067 runs, 177 doubles, 71 triples, and 586 stolen bases in 1942 games.

Wills claims to have had a love affair with Doris Day.

[edit] Highlights

• 5-time All-Star (1961-63, 1965-66)
• All-Star Game MVP (1962)
• NL MVP (1962)
• Twice Gold Glove (1961-62)
• Twice led National League in At Bats (1961 and 1962)
• Led National League in Triples (1962)
• Led National League in Stolen Bases for 6 consecutive seasons (1960-65)
• Led National League in Singles 4 times (1961-62, 1965 and 1967)
• Led National League in Sacrifice Hits (1961)
• Los Angeles Dodgers Career Stolen Base Leader (490)
• Holds MLB record for most Games Played in a single season (165 in 1962)
• Holds Los Angeles Dodgers Single-Season for At Bats (695 in 1962)
• 7th MLB player to hit home runs from each side of the plate in a game (1962)
• Won the Hickok Belt award (1962)

[edit] The Stolen Base “Asterisk”

While Wills had broken Cobb's single season stolen base record in 1962, the National League had increased its number of games played per team that year from 154 to 162. Wills' 97th stolen base had occurred after his team had played its 154th game; as a result, Commissioner Ford Frick ruled that Wills' 104-steal season and Cobb's 96-steal season of 1915 were separate records, just as he had the year before (the American League had also increased its number of games played per team to 162) after Roger Maris had broken Babe Ruth's single season home run record. Both stolen base records would be broken in 1974 by Lou Brock's 118 steals; Brock had broken Cobb's stolen base record by stealing his 97th base before his St. Louis Cardinals had completed their 154th game.

[edit] External links

• Official web site
• Player and managerial careers at Baseball Reference

Preceded by: Frank Robinson	National League Most Valuable Player 1962	Succeeded by: Sandy Koufax
Preceded by: none	Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player 1962	Succeeded by: Willie Mays
Preceded by: Ty Cobb	Major League Baseball single season stolen base record holder 1962–1974	Succeeded by: Lou Brock
Preceded by: Darrell Johnson	Seattle Mariners Manager 1980-1981	Succeeded by: Rene Lachemann