Willie Mays, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 93, left an indelible imprint on sports history and American culture. Two primary themes connect most of the numerous tributes to Mays: he radiated joy because of how much he loved playing baseball, and he mastered all of the fundamentals of the game.
Mays' joy was twofold: he enjoyed himself while playing baseball, and he enjoyed entertaining the fans who watched him playing baseball. Some sports stars are aloof in their interactions with the customers who make them famous and pay their salaries, but there are many stories of Mays' positive interactions with fans both at MLB ballparks and also away from the playing field, such as the accounts of him playing stickball in the street with New York kids.
Mays' mastery of baseball fundamentals enabled him to become perhaps the greatest baseball player of all-time. ESPN's SportsCentury list of the top 100 North American athletes of the 20th century is not definitive, but Mays' eighth place ranking indicates the impact that he had not just on baseball but on sports overall. Mays was the second highest ranked baseball player on that list, trailing only Babe Ruth, and that is the consensus of baseball historians: Ruth is the greatest baseball player of all-time, while Mays is a close second--but a reasonable case can be made for ranking Mays ahead of Ruth: Ruth was a great hitter and a great pitcher but not much of a defensive player or threat on the basepaths, while Mays was a five-tool baseball player who had no skill set weaknesses.
A five-tool baseball player hits for power, hits for a high batting average, has superior fielding ability, has superior throwing ability, and has superior running speed. Mays easily checked off all five boxes:
1) Power: Mays demonstrated his power by leading the National League in home runs four times (1955, 1962, 1964-65). He belted more than 50 home runs in a season twice (1955, 1965) en route to posting a career total of 660 home runs, which officially ranks sixth in MLB history but ranks fourth among players who did not artificially and illegally boost their strength with performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs)--and performance-enhancing drugs do, as the name suggests, enhance performance, even though some economists illogically argue otherwise.
2) High batting average: Mays posted a career .301 batting average, including a career-high .345 in 1954 when he won his only NL batting title. He hit at least .300 in 10 of his 22 MLB seasons.
3) Superior fielding: Mays won 12 consecutive Gold Gloves (1957-68), tied with Roberto Clemente for first all-time among outfielders, and tied for sixth all-time overall regardless of position.
4) Superior throwing ability: Mays led NL center fielders in assists three times (1955-56, 1960), and he ranks seventh on the career MLB list with 188 assists as a center fielder.
5) Superior running speed: Mays led the NL in stolen bases for four straight seasons (1956-59), including a pair of 30 HR/30 SB seasons (1956-57). He ranked in the NL top ten in stolen bases for nine straight seasons (1954-62). Mays' career-high 40 stolen bases in 1956 may not look impressive at first glance, but that was the highest NL single season stolen bases total since 1944.
Mays' complete skill set enabled him to win two NL regular season MVP awards (1954, 1965) while earning 24 NL All-Star selections. Mays was as durable as he was productive: Mays played in at least 151 games in every season from 1954-1966.
Mays began his professional career in 1948 at age 17 in the Negro Leagues, and then he played in the minor leagues before joining the New York Giants in 1951. He won the 1951 NL Rookie of the Year award, and the Giants reached the World Series for the first time since 1937. Mays hit .182 in the 1951 World Series, and the New York Yankees won in six games. Mays missed most of the 1952 season and the entire 1953 season because of military service, but Mays returned to action in style in 1954, winning the batting title while also leading the NL in triples (13) and slugging percentage (.667). Mays earned the NL regular season MVP award, and then he led the Giants back to the World Series.
Greatness is defined not just by numbers, but also by iconic moments and plays--and, in game one of the 1954 World Series, Mays authored one of the most iconic moments in sports history: his spectacular over the shoulder catch of Vic Wertz' deep fly ball--forever immortalized as "The Catch"--followed by a strong throw to second base prevented a run from scoring in the top of the eighth inning of a 2-2 game with runners on first base and second base. The Giants did not allow a run in that inning, won the game in extra innings, and swept the series.
The Giants moved from New York to San Francisco in 1958. Despite Mays' superb play, the Giants only reached the postseason twice between 1955 and 1971: in 1962 they lost 4-3 to the Yankees in the World Series, and in 1971 they lost 4-2 to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Championship Series.
Early in the 1972 season, the Giants traded Mays to the New York Mets. Mays retired after the Mets lost 4-3 to the Oakland Athletics in the 1973 World Series. That series was not a highlight moment in Mays' career, but a legendary artist like Mays is defined by his entire body of work, not by his final brushstroke.
More than 50 years after he played in his last MLB game, Mays still is still MLB's career leader for games played in center field (2842), outfield putouts (7095), and extra-inning home runs (22). Mays' high career rankings are even more remarkable considering that (1) he played many of his home games in the cavernous Polo Grounds, (2) he did not have the advantages conferred by modern performance training methods, (3) he played in an era during which the rules favored pitchers, and (4) he did not gain an unfair advantage by using PEDs the way that Barry Bonds, Ryan Braun, Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi, Mark McGwire, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, and so many other cheaters did.
Henry Aaron remains baseball's authentic home run king regardless of what MLB's official record book says, and his contemporary Willie Mays will likewise always be in baseball's pantheon. Mays brought joy to millions of people while setting the standard for all-around baseball excellence.
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