Maury Wills

Seven Time All-Star

When it comes to baseball players, there are few who have left as big of a legacy as Maury Wills. A shortstop who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wills is considered one of the game's greatest base stealers of all time.

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Legacy

Celebration

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Baseball player Maury Wills was born in Washington, D.C. and played for the Dodgers, Pirates, and Expos during his Major League career. He is best remembered for his time with the Dodgers, where he was a key part of the team that won the 1965 World Series.

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Legendary

Maury Wills

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He played sandlot baseball as a youngster and was good enough to be signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950. He spent several years working his way up through the Dodgers' farm system before making his major league debut in 1959.

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One Of DC's

Proud Sons & Heroes

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Wills played his first game for the Dodgers on June 6, 1959, and went hitless in four at-bats. His batting average stood at a meager .175 after one month in LA Finally, he began to rap groundballs that eluded infielders. Thanks to a burst of speed, he beat out plenty of throws to first base from opposing shortstops and third basemen.

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All-Star &

Golden Glove
Recipient

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In addition to setting the record for stolen bases in a season (104 in 1962), he was a two-time All-Star and won Gold Glove Awards for his defensive play at shortstop. Wills' 1962 MVP season helped lead the Dodgers to their first World Series title since 1955.

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MAURY WILLS LEGACY CELEBRATION

LEGACY

1932

Washington, DC

Born on October 2, 1932, in Washington, D.C., Maurice Morning Wills grew up in the district’s Anacostia neighborhood, along with four brothers and eight sisters. His father, Guy Wills, born in 1900 in Maryland, worked as a machinist at the Washington Navy Yard and part-time as a Baptist minister. His mother, Mable Wills, born in 1902, also in Maryland, worked as an elevator operator.

1932

1950

Professional Career

Maury began playing organized baseball at age 14, in a local semipro league. He starred in baseball, basketball, and football at Cardozo High School in Washington, earning all-city honors in each sport as a sophomore, junior, and senior. On the diamond, Wills pitched and played third base. Several colleges liked Wills for his gridiron skills. He played quarterback on offense, safety on defense, and kicker on special teams. Wills, though, opted to pursue a professional baseball career. Wills signed with the Dodgers in the summer of 1950.

1950

1962

National League MVP

Wills played 14 big-league seasons and retired with 2,134 hits and a .281 batting average. Of course, he also stole bases. He did that better than almost everybody, retiring with 586 thefts. Wills led the National League in steals six times, broke the single-season mark, and earned a Most Valuable Player award. Fans in LA, and often in other stadiums, yelled, “Go! Go! Go!” as soon as he reached first base. Usually, he took off, daring the opposing catcher. Former Dodgers executive Buzzie Bavasi wrote in his memoir that Wills “was electrifying in his prime, in the early ’60s.”

1962

1962

Stealing Bases Nearly Every Day

Commissioner Ford C. Frick tossed Wills a curveball in the 1962 season. He said that Wills would have to break Cobb’s stolen-base mark in 154 games, the same number of scheduled games in 1915. Due to expansion, the National League lengthened its season to 162 games in 1962. Wills ran past Cobb on September 23, stealing two bags in a 12-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals and getting to 97 thefts, in the Dodgers’ 156th game. Wills enjoyed a dream season for the Dodgers. He not only stole a record 104 bases, opposing catchers threw him out just 13 times. He also set a major-league record in 1962 by playing in 165 games. He went to bat 695 times and hit safely 208 times for a .299 batting average. Wills topped the NL with 10 triples. And he smacked a career-high six home runs. Writers voted him the league’s Most Valuable Player. “This is the best award a player can get,” Wills said.

1962

1980

The Manager & Broadcaster

After his playing career ended, Wills worked as a coach and television commentator. He took a job broadcasting for the NBC Game of the Week. His son Bump Wills broke in as an infielder with the Texas Rangers in 1977 and played six seasons in the big leagues. Maury made it known that he wanted to manage in the major leagues. Bavasi encouraged him to take a minor-league managing job before accepting a major-league gig. The Seattle Mariners thought Wills was ready. They hired him as skipper on August 4, 1980, to replace the fired Darrell Johnson.

1980