From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Maury Wills
Maury Wills
Maury Wills Pittsburgh Pirates (1967–68) and Montreal Expos (1969).
He was an essential component of the Dodgers’ champi-
onship teams in the mid-1960s, and is credited for reviv-
ing the stolen base as part of baseball strategy.[1]
In 14-seasons career, Wills batted .281 with 20 home
runs, 458 runs batted in, 2,134 hits, 1,067 runs, 177 dou-
bles, 71 triples, and 586 stolen bases in 1,942 games.
As of 2009, Wills is a member of the Los Angeles
Dodgers organization serving as a representative of the
Dodgers Legend Bureau.
Early Days in DC
Wills in 2009.
Maurice, or Sonny as he was called at Cardozo Senior
Shortstop High School, first showed up as an All City Pitcher in the
local Washington Daily News. He played on Sal Hall’s ’48
Born: October 2, 1932 (1932-10-02)
Washington, D.C. Cardozo football team that went unbeaten and unscored
on. In the ’49–’50 school year, 3 sport standout Sonny
Batted: Both Threw: Right Wills, was named All City QB in football, basketball and
MLB debut Pitcher in baseball. On May 8, 1950 in a game against
Phelps, P Wills threw a 1-hitter and struck out 17.
June 6, 1959 for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Last MLB appearance
Playing career
October 4, 1972 for the Los Angeles Dodgers
In his first-full season (1960), Wills hit .295 and led the
Career statistics league with 50 stolen bases, being the first NL player to
steal 50 since Max Carey stole 51 in 1923. Wills stole 104
Batting average .281
bases in 1962 to set a new Major League record, breaking
Hits 2,134 the old modern era mark of 96, set by Ty Cobb in 1915.[ci-
tation needed] Wills also outstole all of the other teams that
Runs batted in 458
year, the highest total being the Washington Senators’
Stolen bases 586 99.[2] Besides this, he hit .299, led the league in triples
Teams (10), and was selected the NL Most Valuable Player (beat-
ing out Willie Mays by seven points). He also played in
• Los Angeles Dodgers (1959–1966) 165 games in 1962, setting a record that still stands for
• Pittsburgh Pirates (1967–1968)
• Montreal Expos (1969)
games played in a single season.
• Los Angeles Dodgers (1969–1972) Although Luis Aparicio had been stealing 50+ bases in
the American League for several years prior to Wills’ in-
Career highlights and awards
surgence, Wills brought new prominence to the tactic.[ci-
• 7× All-Star selection (1961, 1961², 1962, 1962², 1963, 1965, tation needed] Perhaps this was due to greater media expo-
1966) sure in Los Angeles, or to the Dodgers’ greater success, or
• 3× World Series champion (1959, 1963, 1965) to their extreme reliance on a low-scoring strategy that
• 2× Gold Glove Award winner (1961, 1962)
emphasized pitching, defense, and Wills’ speed to com-
• 1962 NL MVP
• 1962 MLB All-Star Game MVP pensate for their lack of productive hitters. Wills was a
significant distraction to the pitcher even if he didn’t try
Maurice Morning "Maury" Wills (born October 2, 1932) to steal, because he was a constant threat to do so.[citation
needed] The fans at Dodger Stadium would chant, "Go! Go!
is a former Major League Baseball shortstop and switch-
hitting batter who played most prominently with the Los Go, Maury, Go!" anytime he got on base.[citation needed] A
Angeles Dodgers (1959–66, 1969–72), and also with the winner of the Gold Glove Award in 1961 and 1962, Wills
was selected five times for the All-Star Game.
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Maury Wills
On September 21, 1969 in a game against the Dodgers’ im big-league manager). Years later, Wills admitted he
fierce arch-rival, the San Francisco Giants, Wills commit- probably should have gotten some seasoning as a minor-
ted an error to allow the Giants to win the game in walk- league manager prior to being hired in Seattle.
off fashion 4-3. Ironically, this game was the MLB de- The Maury Wills Museum is in Fargo, North Dakota
but of Bill Buckner, who would be infamous for commit- at Newman Outdoor Field home of the Fargo-Moorhead
ting an error that would allow the New York Mets to win RedHawks. Maury was a coach on the team from
Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. [3] 1996–1997 and currently serves as a radio color commen-
tator for the RedHawks on KVOX-AM "740 The Fan" with
Managing and retirement play-by-play announcer Scott Miller.
After retiring, Wills spent time as a baseball analyst at
NBC from 1973 through 1977. He also managed in the
Personal
Mexican Winter League for four seasons, and let it be In his autobiography, "On the Run: The Never Dull and
known he felt qualified to pilot a big-league club. In his Often Shocking Life of Maury Wills," Wills claims to have
book, How To Steal A Pennant, Wills claimed he could take had a love affair with actress Doris Day as noted. Day de-
any last-place club and make them champions within nied this in her autobiography Doris Day: Her Own Story,
four years. The San Francisco Giants allegedly offered and said it was probably advanced by the Dodgers orga-
him a one-year deal, but Wills turned them down. Finally, nization for publicity purposes.
in 1980, the Seattle Mariners fired Darrell Johnson and Wills was well known as an abuser of alcohol and co-
gave Wills the reins. caine until getting sober in 1989.[1] In December 1983,
Wills’ tenure was an unmitigated disaster. Baseball Wills was arrested for cocaine possession after his former
writer Rob Neyer, in his Big Book of Baseball Blunders crit- girlfriend, Judy Aldrich, had reported her car had been
icized Wills for "the variety and frequency of [his] mis- stolen. During a search of the car, police found a vial al-
takes" as manager, calling them "unparalleled." In a legedly containing .06 of a gram of cocaine and a water
short interview appearing in the June 5, 2006 issue of pipe. The charge was dismissed three months later on the
Newsweek, Neyer said, "It wasn’t just that Wills couldn’t grounds of insufficient evidence.[2]
do the in-game stuff. Wills’s inability to communicate The Dodgers paid for a drug treatment program, but
with his players really sets him apart. He said he was go- Wills walked out and continued to use drugs until he be-
ing to make his second baseman, Julio Cruz, his perma- gan a relationship with Angela George, who encouraged
nent shortstop. Twenty-four hours later he was back at him to begin a vitamin therapy program. The two later
second base. As far as a guy who put in some real time married.[3]
(as a manager), I don’t think there’s been anyone close to In his New Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James is
Wills." highly critical of Wills as a person, but still calls him one
According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Steve Rud- of top 20 shortstops of all time, ranking him #19.
man, Wills made a number of gaffes. He called for a relief He is the father of former major leaguer Bump Wills,
pitcher even though there was nobody warming up in who played for the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs dur-
the bullpen, held up another game for 10 minutes while ing his five-year MLB career. The two had a falling out
looking for a pinch-hitter and even left a spring-training following the publication of Maury’s autobiography in
game in the sixth inning to fly to California. 1991, involving a salacious anecdote, but now occasional-
The most celebrated incident of Wills’ tenure as man- ly speak.[4]
ager occurred on April 25, 1981. He ordered the Mariners’
grounds crew to make the batter’s boxes one foot longer
than regulation. However, Oakland Athletics manager
Highlights
Billy Martin noticed something was amiss and asked • 5-time All-Star (1961–63, 1965–66)
plate umpire Bill Kunkel to investigate. Under question- • All-Star Game MVP (1962)
ing from Kunkel, the Mariners’ head groundskeeper ad- • NL MVP (1962)
mitted Wills had ordered the change. Wills claimed he • Twice Gold Glove (1961–62)
was trying to help his players stay in the box. However, • Twice led National League in At Bats (1961 and 1962)
Martin suspected that given the large number of • Led National League in Triples (1962)
breaking-ball pitchers on the A’s staff, Wills wanted to • Led National League in Stolen Bases for 6 consecutive
give his players an advantage. The American League sus- seasons (1960–65)
pended Wills for two games and fined him $500. • Led National League in Singles 4 times (1961–62, 1965
After leading Seattle to a dismal 20-38 mark to end and 1967)
the 1980 season, Wills was fired on May 6, 1981 with the • Led National League in Sacrifice Hits (1961)
M’s deep in last place at 6-18 (giving him a career mark • Los Angeles Dodgers Career Stolen Base Leader (490)
of 26-56, one of the worst records ever for a non-inter-
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Maury Wills
• Holds MLB record for most Games Played in a single • Career statistics and player information from
season (165 in 1962) Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball
• Holds Los Angeles Dodgers Single-Season for At Bats Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
(695 in 1962) • Baseball Hall of Fame: Wills’ Speed Ushered In New
• 7th MLB player to hit home runs from each side of Baseball Era
the plate in a game (1962) • 2007 Baseball Hall of Fame candidate profile at the
• Won the Hickok Belt award (1962) Internet Archive
• Stole 104 in 1962, still an MLB-record among switch- • Maury Wills Museum
hitters Persondata
Name Wills, Maury
The stolen base “asterisk” Alternative names
While Wills had broken Cobb’s single season stolen base Short description Baseball player and manager
record in 1962, the National League had increased its Date of birth October 2, 1932
number of games played per team that year from 154 to
162. Wills’ 97th stolen base had occurred after his team Place of birth Washington, D.C.
had played its 154th game; as a result, Commissioner Date of death
Ford Frick ruled that Wills’ 104-steal season and Cobb’s Place of death
96-steal season of 1915 were separate records, just as he
had the year before (the American League had also in-
creased its number of games played per team to 162) af-
ter Roger Maris had broken Babe Ruth’s single season
home run record. Both stolen base records would be bro-
ken 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.[citation needed]
See also
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball stolen base records
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen
bases
• List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions
• List of Major League Baseball triples champions
• Major League Baseball titles leaders
Notes
[1] "They Were There 1962: Maury Wills".
Thisgreatgame.com. 2010.
http://www.thisgreatgame.com/1962twt.html.
Retrieved August 6, 2011.
[2] 1962 Team Hitting Stats at MLB.com
[3] http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/tag/_/
name/1986-mets
External links
• Official website
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maury_Wills&oldid=466953950"
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Maury Wills
Categories:
• 1932 births
• Living people
• Major League Baseball shortstops
• Los Angeles Dodgers players
• Montreal Expos players
• Pittsburgh Pirates players
• National League All-Stars
• National League stolen base champions
• Gold Glove Award winners
• Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVPs
• Seattle Mariners managers
• Major League Baseball announcers
• Northern League managers
• Los Angeles Dodgers Legend Bureau
• Hornell Dodgers players
• Miami Sun Sox players
• Pueblo Dodgers players
• Fort Worth Cats players
• Seattle Rainiers players
• Spokane Indians players
• Baseball players from Washington, D.C.
• African American baseball players
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