Maury Wills

Maury Wills

Birthdate	10/02/1932
Death Date	9/19/2022
Debut Year	1959
Year of Induction
Teams	Dodgers, Expos, Mariners, Pirates
Positions	Manager, Shortstop, Third Base

A five-time All Star, Maury Wills counts 1962 as his best season — NL MVP, All Star MVP, Gold Glove. He was also a three-time World Series champ.

Maury Wills credited his MLB success to Dodger coach Pete Reiser

When spring training opened in 1960, Maury Wills was a 27-year old with 9 minor league seasons and 83 big league games to his credit. Thanks to Pete Reiser, everything changed. The two-time NL stolen base champ Reiser took Wills under his wing. The pair worked together all spring and into the regula

Maury Wills received congratulatory telegrams after his first MLB homer

Maury Wills was a veteran of 329 Major League games before he hit his first big league homer. The shortstop’s first big fly went over the fence at the Los Angeles Coliseum in the bottom of the 4th on August 6, 1961. In this autographed picture Wills holds up congratulatory telegrams he receive

Maury Wills got slowed by the Giants groundskeepers in his MVP season

In 1962, Maury Wills set the big league mark with 104 stolen bases. So remarkable was the total that no MLB team has as many steals as the Dodger shortstop that season. Max Carey of the 1920 Pittsburgh Pirates was the last National Leaguer to steal even half as many as Wills in ’62. Teams knew

Maury Wills set Major League Baseball's single-season stolen base record in 1962

In 1962, Maury Wills set the single-season record by swiping 104 bases en route to winning the Most Valuable Player Award. Fifteen years later Topps chewing gum put out the baseball card shown above commemorating Wills’ memorable season. The Dodger shortstop has adorned the card with his signa

Wills broke Ty Cobb's single-season steals record which stood for nearly a half century

When Maury Wills stole 104 bases in 1962 he broke Ty Cobb’s record set in 1915. Cobb broke Clyde Milan’s three-year old record then held it for 47 seasons. Will’s 1962 theft mark stood for a dozen years until Lou Brock totaled 118 swipes. Here is an example of Cobb’s signature. I

Wills' selection over Willie Mays for the Most Valuable player Award is puzzling

The 1962 NL MVP vote was a tough one for Willie Mays. The major league leader in home runs and total bases, Mays’ 141 RBI was more than every big leaguer but Tommy Davis. His 130 runs runs scored were outpaced only by Frank Robinson. The Say Hey Kid boasted fine all-around play. The Gold Glover

Despite his success, Wills had few endorsement opportunities

The Major League Baseball Players Association sent out questionnaires like this one to its players to determine what endorsements each man had. Today’s players compliment their baseball salary with off field endorsement but that wasn’t always the case. This document filled out by Maury Wills on

May 29th, 2020 Leave a comment

They tried and tried again. No matter what National League clubs did, they just couldn’t slow down Maury Wills in 1962. Wills’ Dodgers were in their fifth year in Los Angeles and thirsty for another World Series appearance. Winners of the 1959 Fall Classic, the team finished a disappointing fourth in 1960. They climbed to second place in ’61 and seemed poised for a post-season return in ’62. Wills did his part. The Dodger shortstop was historically great on the bases, swiping 104 bags. To put that into perspective, the last time a National Leaguer stole even half that many was in 1920. No big league team matched Wills’ total in ’62. The Dodger squad had one .300 hitter in batting champ Tommy Davis whose 153 runs batted in led the league. Davis got help from Frank Howard, the only other Dodger to tally 100 RBI. Together they counted on Wills to get aboard and make his way into scoring position. Dodgers and Giants vie for NL supremacy While Wills was on his way to the stolen base record, the Dodgers fought the Giants for the top spot in the NL. Behind Wills, Davis, and the pitching of Cy Young […]