best known for his record breaking 104 stolen based in 1962, wills played in 72 games in 1972. his season was somewhat bipolar, in that he was the starting shortstop until mid july when he was supplanted by bill russell, and then for the final two months of the season he appeared exclusively as a pinch hitter/pinch runner/late inning defensive replacement at third base. i don't think topps would have added a third base designation to his card, though.
wills attempted only two stolen bases in his final season, with one success - a steal of second in the second inning of a 14-inning game against the mets on may 10. the mets battery was jon matlack and (future dodger) jerry grote. it was his 586th stolen base of his career, good for 4th all-time in the modern era at the time of his retirement, behind hall of famers ty cobb, eddie collins, and honus wagner. lou brock would pass wills in 1973 and then go on to break his single season record in 1974.
i have recently seen maury in the jackie robinson short that runs on the mlb network every once in a while. it's a great tribute to jackie and many of the other african-americans that followed, even if davey lopes gives thanks for ryan howard rather than jim gilliam.
here's to you maury wills, and thanks baseball reference!
3 comments:
I had the same thought when Topps didn't issue a final card for Reggie Jackson!
Where's the back? :)
Nice job. It's a shame when the companies don't pay tribute to a top player.
Man that's cool! I didn't realize they had given him the shaft like that.
My father actually says Wills should be a HOFer and refuses to go until Wills is in. You Dodger fans are nothing if not hard core.
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