Outfielder, San
Francisco Giants
Age: 34 (May 6)
14th
season with Giants
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’10” Weight: 170
Prior to 1965:
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. Returning to the Giants in 1954 he went on a home run
tear to start the season on the way to batting a league-leading .345 with 33
doubles, a NL-high 13 triples, 41 home runs, and 110 RBIs. The Giants won the
pennant and Mays was the league MVP. In the World Series sweep of the Cleveland
Indians, he made a brilliant defensive play in Game 1 at the Polo Grounds to
chase a ball hit over his head by Cleveland first baseman Vic Wertz, making an
over-the shoulder catch and whirling to make a throw to the infield that kept
runners from advancing. 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.
1965 Season Summary
Appeared in 157
games
CF – 148, PH –
9, RF – 4, LF – 1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 638
At Bats – 558
Runs – 118 [2]
Hits – 177 [11,
tied with Deron Johnson & Jim Ray Hart]
Doubles – 21
Triples – 3
Home Runs – 52
[1]
RBI – 112 [3]
Bases on Balls
– 76 [6, tied with Ron Fairly]
Int. BB – 16
[4, tied with John Edwards]
Strikeouts – 71
Stolen Bases – 9
[20, tied with Donn Clendenon, Curt Flood & Jim Gilliam]
Caught Stealing
– 4
Average - .317
[3]
OBP - .398 [1]
Slugging Pct. -
.645 [1]
Total Bases – 360
[1]
GDP – 11
Hit by Pitches
– 0
Sac Hits – 2
Sac Flies – 2
League-leading home
runs were +13 ahead of runner-up Willie McCovey
League-leading OBP
was +.012 ahead of runner-up Frank Robinson
League-leading
slugging percentage was +.085 ahead of runner-up Hank Aaron
League-leading
total bases were +4 ahead of runner-up Billy Williams
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 23, RBI – 59, AVG - .339, SLG - .657, OBP - .414
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 6 AB) at St. Louis 5/5 – 10 innings, (in 6 AB) vs. Pittsburgh 6/20 – 15
innings
Longest hitting
streak – 18 games
Most HR, game –
2 (in 3 AB) vs. LA Dodgers 5/7, (in 5 AB) at Cincinnati 8/5, (in 3 AB) at St.
Louis 8/7, (in 5 AB) vs. Houston 9/8
HR at home – 24
HR on road – 28
Multi-HR games
– 4
Most RBIs, game
– 5 at St. Louis 8/7, vs. Houston 9/8
Pinch-hitting –
0 for 6 (.000) with 3 BB
Fielding
Chances – 356
Put Outs – 337
Assists – 13
Errors – 6
DP – 4
Pct. - .983
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
Gold Glove
All-Star
(Started for NL in CF)
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Willie Mays, SF:
224 points – 9 of 20 first place votes, 80% share
Sandy Koufax,
LAD: 177 points – 6 first place votes, 63% share
Maury Wills,
LAD: 164 points – 5 first place votes, 59% share
Deron Johnson,
Cin.: 108 points – 39% share
Don Drysdale,
LAD: 77 points – 28% share
---
Giants went 95-67 to finish second in the NL, 2 games behind the pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers while leading the league in fewest batter strikeouts (844). Locked in a tight race with the Dodgers, the Giants moved 4.5 games ahead of LA thanks to a 14-game September winning streak. The Dodgers responded with a 13-game streak of their own while the Giants closed out at 7-8, allowing LA to win the pennant.
Aftermath of ‘65:
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 twelve 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.
---
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.
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