Shortstop, Los
Angeles Dodgers
Age: 29
4th season
with Dodgers
Bats – Both,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’11” Weight: 170
Prior to 1962:
A native of
Washington, DC, Wills played semipro baseball at age 14 and excelled in
baseball and football at Washington’s Cardozo High School. Pursued by colleges
to play football, he signed with the then-Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950. With
Hornell of the Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York League in 1951, the 18-year-old
infielder batted .280 and stole 54 bases. Staying with Hornell in 1952 he hit
.300 and again stole 54 bases. With teams at Class A and B in 1953, Wills
batted a combined .286 and stole 28 bases. With Pueblo of the Class A Western
League in 1954, he hit .279 with another 28 stolen bases. Promoted to the Fort
Worth Cats of the Class AA Texas League in 1955, what proved to be a long and
frustrating minor league journey for Wills took an especially frustrating turn
when, batting just .203 he was demoted back to Pueblo in 1956 where he stole 34
bases and hit .302 with a .373 on-base percentage. Purchased by the Seattle
Rainiers of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League in 1957, Wills batted .267 with
a .337 OBP and 21 stolen bases. Back in the Dodger fold in 1958, he remained in
the PCL, now with Spokane, where he was mentored by manager Bobby Bragan and
began switch-hitting (he was a natural righthanded batter). With an improved
outlook and attitude, Wills hit .253 with a .300 OBP and stole 25 bases. Sold
on an option basis to the Detroit Tigers (who chose not to retain him) in 1959,
the 26-year-old shortstop was hitting .313 when the Dodgers called him up in
June to fill in at short for the injured Don Zimmer. After initially struggling
as a hitter for the Dodgers, Wills proved adept at beating out ground balls for
base hits with his speed and performed well down the stretch, hitting .260 with
7 stolen bases in 83 games. The Dodgers won the NL pennant and Wills appeared
in all 6 games of the World Series against the White Sox, performing well
defensively while batting .250 in his first taste of postseason action. With
Zimmer traded to the Cubs in 1960, Wills established himself at shortstop and,
turned loose on the basepaths, he stole a league-leading 50 bases, the most in
the senior circuit since 1923, while hitting .295 with a .342 OBP, and
performing exceptionally in the field. In 1961, he was an All-Star for the
first time, although his batting average dipped slightly to .282 and his
reduced stolen base total of 35 was enough to again top the National League. He
also received his first Gold Glove for his play at shortstop.
1962 Season Summary
Appeared in 165
games
SS – 165
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 759 [1]
At Bats – 695 [1]
Runs – 130 [2,
tied with Willie Mays]
Hits – 208 [2,
tied with Frank Robinson]
Doubles – 13
Triples – 10
[1, tied with Bill Virdon, Johnny Callison & Willie Davis]
Home Runs – 6
RBI – 48
Bases on Balls
– 51
Int. BB – 1
Strikeouts – 57
Stolen Bases – 104
[1]
Caught Stealing
– 13 [1, tied with Bill Virdon]
Average - .299
[15]
OBP - .347
Slugging Pct. -
.373
Total Bases – 259
[20]
GDP – 7
Hit by Pitches
– 2
Sac Hits – 7
[20, tied with nine others]
Sac Flies – 4
League-leading
plate appearances were +36 ahead of runner-up Dick Groat
League-leading
at bats were +17 ahead of runner-up Dick Groat
League-leading
stolen bases were +72 ahead of runner-up Willie Davis
Midseason
snapshot: 3B – 6, HR - 2, RBI - 29, SB – 46, AVG - .281, OBP - .329
---
Most hits, game
– 4 on five occasions
Longest hitting
streak – 19 games
HR at home – 0
HR on road – 6
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 6 AB) at NY Mets 5/30
Multi-HR games
– 1
Most RBIs, game
– 4 vs. Houston 5/15
Pinch-hitting – No appearances
Fielding
Chances – 824
Put Outs – 295
Assists – 493
Errors – 36
DP – 86
Pct. - .956
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
MLB Player of
the Year: Sporting News
Gold Glove
All-Star
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Maury Wills, LAD:
209 points - 8 of 20 first place votes, 75% share
Willie Mays, SF:
202 points – 7 first place votes, 72% share
Tommy Davis, LAD:
175 points – 3 first place votes, 63% share
Frank Robinson,
Cin.: 164 points – 2 first place votes, 59% share
Don Drysdale, LAD: 85 points – 30% share
---
The Dodgers
went 101-61 to finish tied for first in the NL with the San Francisco Giants,
which necessitated a season-extending best-of-3 playoff. The teams split the
first two contests, but the Giants won the deciding game. LA finished second in
the NL with a final record of 102-63 while leading the league in triples (65,
tied with Pittsburgh) and stolen bases (198). In their first season in Dodger
Stadium, the Dodgers were in first place in September despite the loss of LHP
Sandy Koufax with an index finger injury. They slumped badly, going 1-6 to
close out the schedule while the Giants finished at 5-2 to catch LA and force
the climactic playoff. Wills passed Ty Cobb’s 1915 major league record total of
96 stolen bases in a season in his 156th game.
Aftermath of 1962:
Wills followed
up with another All-Star season in 1963, although his stolen base total dropped
to 40 (which was again a league-leading total) as injuries sidelined him for 28
games. He also batted .302 with a .355 OBP and remained proficient defensively,
although he played in 33 games at third base in addition to his regular duty at
shortstop. The Dodgers won the NL pennant and swept the Yankees in the World
Series in which Wills hit .133 with one stolen base. LA slumped in 1964 and
Wills hit .275 with a .318 OBP and again topped the circuit with 53 stolen
bases. The club rebounded in 1965 and Wills batted .286 with a .330 OBP and
stole 94 bases, his sixth consecutive league-leading season total. He scored
the winning run for the Dodgers 19 times (among his total of 92 runs scored)
and placed third in league MVP voting. In the field he led NL shortstops with
535 assists. In the seven-game World Series victory over the Minnesota Twins,
Wills hit .367 with 3 stolen bases (although he was caught stealing twice).
With catchers and pitchers catching up to Wills’ base stealing style, his total
dropped to 38 in 1966, and he was caught stealing 24 times. He hit .273 with a
.314 OBP as well. In the offseason, Wills was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates
for third baseman Bob Bailey and shortstop prospect Gene Michael. Wills had
drawn the ire of owner Walter O’Malley for quitting an exhibition tour of Japan
and had run afoul of the front office several seasons earlier due to his affair
with actress Doris Day. Pittsburgh had contended in 1966 and felt Wills would
provide the necessary spark to rise to the top of the National League. Already
having a top defensive shortstop in Gene Alley, the Pirates shifted Wills to
third base. He batted .302 in 1967 with a .334 OBP, 186 hits, and 29 stolen
bases. His performance at third base was outstanding, and his enthusiasm was
appreciated, but his presence failed to lead Pittsburgh to a title. The team
finished in sixth. The Pirates placed sixth again in 1968 and Wills batted .278
with a .326 OBP and 52 stolen bases. In the 1969 expansion draft, Wills was
taken by the Montreal Expos who returned him to shortstop. After 47 games with
the Expos, and hitting just .222 with 15 stolen bases, Wills was dealt back to
the Dodgers to fill their need at shortstop, where he performed very well. He
batted .297 with a .356 OBP the rest of the way and stole 24 bases, to give him
a combined total of 40 for the season. Wills continued to play well in 1970,
hitting .270 and stealing 28 bases. In 1971, the 38-year-old shortstop
performed well down the stretch and finished at .281 with a .323 OBP and 15
stolen bases. He placed sixth in league MVP balloting. Wills started off poorly
at the plate in 1972 and he gave way to young Bill Russell at shortstop. He
ended up appearing in only 71 games and batted .129. Released by the Dodgers
after the season, he retired to become a broadcaster. For his major league
career, Wills batted .281 with 2134 hits that included 177 doubles, 71 triples,
and 20 home runs. He scored 1067 runs and further compiled 458 RBIs, 586 stolen
bases, and a .330 OBP. With the Dodgers his totals were .281 with 1732 hits,
876 runs scored, 150 doubles, 56 triples, 17 home runs, 374 RBIs, 490 stolen
bases, and a .331 OBP. Appearing in 21 World Series games, he hit .244 and
stole 6 bases. In addition to leading the NL in stolen bases six times, Wills
was a seven-time All-Star and received two Gold Gloves for his defensive
prowess. He later managed the Seattle Mariners with poor results, producing a
26-56 record until his firing. He overcame years of drug and alcohol abuse in
the early 1980s and served as a spring training instructor for the Dodgers.
Wills died in 2022 at the age of 89. His son Elliott “Bump” Wills was a major
league second baseman, primarily with the Texas Rangers.
---
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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