MVP Profile: Willie Mays, 1954

Outfielder, New York Giants

Age:  23 (May 6)

3^rd season with Giants

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 5’10” Weight: 170 

Prior to 1954:

An Alabama native, Mays was the son of a father who played semipro baseball and a mother who was a high school track and basketball star. His high school lacking a baseball team, Mays played second base and center field as a teammate of his father with a club in the Fairfield Industrial League. He also played semipro ball and briefly was with the Chattanooga Choo-Choos in 1947, which was a minor affiliate of the Negro American League Birmingham Black Barons. In 1948, at age 17, he joined the Black Barons on a part-time basis while he finished high school and batted .262 in 61 at bats. Still with Birmingham in 1949, Mays hit .311 in 75 games and was impressive defensively in center field. Following a strong start with Birmingham in 1950, Mays was signed by the Giants for $250 per month with a $4000 signing bonus. Initially assigned to Trenton of the Class B Interstate League, where he was the first black player, over the course of 81 games he hit .353 with 20 doubles, 8 triples, and 4 home runs. Mays started the 1951 season with the Minneapolis Millers of the Class AAA American Association and was batting .477 after 35 games, when he was called up to the Giants at the behest of manager Leo Durocher. He was immediately installed in center field and, despite a slow start, he went on to bat .274 with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs as the club got hot down the stretch and forced a season-extending playoff with the Brooklyn Dodgers to decide the pennant. The Giants won thanks to a walk-off home run by Bobby Thomson and went on to lose the World Series to the New York Yankees. Mays received NL Rookie of the Year recognition. He was limited to 34 games in 1952 before being inducted into the Army. Mays missed the remainder of the ’52 season and all of 1953, but he played service baseball. He returned to the Giants for the 1954 season. 

1954 Season Summary

Appeared in 151 games

CF – 151

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 641 [20]

At Bats – 565 [20]

Runs – 119 [3]

Hits – 195 [3, tied with Stan Musial]

Doubles – 33 [10, tied with Ray Jablonski]

Triples – 13 [1]

Home Runs – 41 [3, tied with Hank Sauer]

RBI – 110 [6]

Bases on Balls – 66 [17]

Int. BB – 14 [6]

Strikeouts – 57

Stolen Bases – 8 [8, tied with four others]

Caught Stealing – 5 [11, tied with six others]

Average - .345 [1]

OBP - .411 [5]

Slugging Pct. - .667 [1]

Total Bases – 377 [2]

GDP – 12

Hit by Pitches – 2

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 7 [13, tied with five others]

League-leading triples were +2 ahead of runner-up Granny Hamner

League-leading batting average was +.003 ahead of runner-up Don Mueller

League-leading slugging percentage was +.020 ahead of runner-up Duke Snider

 

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 15, 3B – 6, HR - 31, RBI - 73, AVG - .328, SLG - .710, OBP – .396

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) vs. Brooklyn 5/28, (in 4 AB) vs. Phila. Phillies 8/17, (in 4 AB) at Chi. Cubs 8/26

Longest hitting streak – 21 games

Most HR, game – 2 (in 4 AB) at Phila. Phillies 5/24, (in 5 AB) at St. Louis 6/3, (in 4 AB) vs. St. Louis 6/21, (in 4 AB) at Brooklyn 7/8

HR at home – 20

HR on road – 21

Multi-HR games – 4

Most RBIs, game – 5 at St. Louis 6/3, at Brooklyn 7/8

Pinch-hitting – No appearances

Fielding

Chances – 468

Put Outs – 448

Assists – 13

Errors – 7

DP – 9

Pct. - .985

 

Postseason: 4 G (World Series vs. Cleveland)

PA – 18, AB – 14, R – 4, H – 4, 2B – 1,3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 3, BB – 4, IBB – 0, SO – 1, SB – 1, CS – 0, AVG - .286, OBP - .444, SLG - .357, TB – 5, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – 0

Awards & Honors:

NL MVP: BBWAA

MLB Player of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star

Top 5 in NL MVP Voting:

Willie Mays, NYG: 283 pts. – 16 of 24 first place votes, 84% share

Ted Kluszewski, Cin.: 217 pts. – 7 first place votes, 65% share

Johnny Antonelli, NYG: 154 pts. – 46% share

Duke Snider, Brook.: 135 pts. – 40% share

Al Dark, NYG: 110 pts. – 1 first place vote, 33% share

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Giants went 97-57 to win the NL pennant by 5 games over the Brooklyn Dodgers while leading the league in home runs (186, tied with the Dodgers). The Giants were in fifth place on May 22 but surged into first by mid-June and were 5.5 games ahead at the All-Star break. Benefiting from Mays’ hitting and the pitching of LHP Johnny Antonelli and RHP Sal Maglie, the Giants held off the Dodgers, clinching the pennant in the final week. Won World Series over the Cleveland Indians, 4 games to 0. Mays made a brilliant defensive play in Game 1 at the Polo Grounds to chase down a ball hit over his head by Cleveland first baseman Vic Wertz, making an over-the shoulder catch and whirling to throw to the infield that kept a runner from scoring, setting the stage for the Giants to win in extra innings.

Aftermath of ‘54:

The Giants dropped to third in 1955 but Mays hit .319 with 127 RBIs and topped the league with 13 triples, 51 home runs, a .659 slugging percentage, and 382 total bases. He also led all NL outfielders in assists (23) and double plays (8). The home runs dropped to 36 in 1956, but with his speed and daring on the basepaths he led the league with 40 stolen bases. He further compiled 84 RBIs and hit .296. In the Giants’ final season in New York in 1957, Mays led the NL in triples (20), slugging (.625), and stolen bases (38), while hitting 35 home runs with 97 RBIs and a .333 batting average. With the move to San Francisco in 1958, he was joined in the lineup by power-hitting rookie first baseman Orlando Cepeda and Mays led the NL with 121 runs scored and 31 stolen bases to go along with 33 doubles, 11 triples, 29 home runs, 96 RBIs, and a .347 average. After being enormously popular in New York, he found the San Francisco fans slow to warm up to him and there was a racial incident when he sought to buy a house in the city. The local sportswriters were slow to warm up as well and he had a less pleasant relationship with manager Bill Rigney than the one he had enjoyed with Leo Durocher. A charismatic, enthusiastic, and energetic player known as “the Sey Hey Kid” due to his standard greeting, who did flashy things on the field like utilize a basket catch, he was prone to bouts of nervous exhaustion throughout his career and was briefly hospitalized during the season for rest. Another power-hitting rookie first baseman, Willie McCovey, joined the Giants during the 1959 season and the team contended for the NL pennant (McCovey would later go on to become the strong lefthanded bat behind Mays in the lineup). Mays contributed a .313 average, 34 home runs, 104 RBIs, 27 stolen bases, and his usual impressive play in center field, despite suffering leg and hand injuries. The move into Candlestick Park in 1960 diminished Mays’ power numbers, although he hit well on the road and led the NL with 190 hits while also batting .319 with 29 home runs and 103 RBIs. In 1961 he had his greatest single-game hitting performance as he homered a record-tying four times in a game against the Braves at Milwaukee’s County Stadium. Benefiting from the presence of Cepeda batting behind him, Mays hit .308 with 40 home runs, 123 RBIs, and scored a league-leading 129 runs. The Giants won the NL pennant in 1962 and “the Say Hey Kid” contributed a league-high 49 home runs along with 141 RBIs and a .304 average. He was at his best down the stretch, despite passing out in the dugout in Cincinnati as a result of fatigue, as the Giants battled the Dodgers and ended up facing off in a season-extending playoff. He was narrowly edged out in the league MVP voting by LA shortstop Maury Wills. Mays, now the highest paid player at $105,000, had a rough first half in 1963 that led some observers to speculate that he was slowing down at age 32. He picked up the pace in the season’s second half to finish at .314 with 38 home runs and 103 RBIs. With the Giants contending in 1964, Mays led the NL with 47 home runs and a .607 slugging percentage while batting .296 with 111 RBIs. He followed up with his second MVP season in 1965 by again topping the NL with 52 home runs, a .398 on-base percentage, and a .645 slugging percentage while hitting .317 with 112 RBIs. Mays remained highly productive in 1966, hitting .288 with 37 home runs and 103 RBIs. Along the way he passed Jimmie Foxx to reach second on the all-time home run list at the time. Problems with injury and illness limited him to a .263 average with 22 home runs and 70 RBIs in 1967, although he still was an All-Star and received a Gold Glove. His average rebounded to .289 in 1968 along with 23 home runs and 79 RBIs. Mays reached 600 career home runs in 1969 in a year in which he totaled only 13 with 58 RBIs and a .283 average. He reached 3000 hits in 1970 as he batted .291 with 28 home runs and 83 RBIs. The Giants won the NL West in 1971 and Mays contributed 18 home runs, 61 RBIs, and league-leading totals in walks drawn (112) and on-base percentage (.425). He played 48 games at first base in addition to 84 in center field to rest his aging legs. Seeking a long-term contract entering 1972, and now making $160,000 per year, he was dealt to the New York Mets in May. In his return to New York he homered in his first at bat, one of 8 for the year for the 41-year-old slugger. He again split his time between center field and first base and received a salary boost from his new club to $175,000 with a guarantee of $50,000 per year following his retirement if he remained a coach for the team. He lasted one more year as a player in 1973, struggling with rib and knee injuries and appearing in 66 games. For his career, Mays batted .302 with 3283 hits that included 523 doubles, 140 triples, and 660 home runs. He further scored 2062 runs and compiled 1903 RBIs and 338 stolen bases, as well as drawing 1464 walks. He compiled 12 100-run seasons, eleven 30-home run seasons, which included two over 50 and six with at least 40, and ten 100-RBI years. With the Giants he batted .304 with 3187 hits, 504 doubles, 139 triples, 646 home runs, 1859 RBIs, 336 stolen bases, and 2011 runs scored. Appearing in 25 postseason games, Mays hit .247 with a home run and 10 RBIs. A 24-time All-Star (where he often showcased his impressive talents) he placed in the top ten in NL MVP voting twelve times, including two wins. He also received 12 Gold Gloves. The Giants retired his #24 and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.