On the blog today we add former Los Angeles Dodger MVP Maury Wills to my on-going 1971 "Minor League Days" sub-set:
Wills
was just about to come up to the Big Leagues for good in 1959 when this
photo was taken, showing him suited up with the Spokane Indians where
he played for a couple of seasons.
He
would steal 25 bases each season for Spokane, hitting .253 and .313
respectively, giving everyone a sense of what to expect once he hit the
Major League base paths.
Of course the pinnacle of his career is the 1962 season where he took
home the National League MVP Award after setting the new single-season
stolen base record with 104 while collecting 208 hits and 130 runs
scored for the Dodgers.
This was right in the middle of a six-year run of leading the league in stolen bases, while also appearing in five all-star games and taking home a couple of Gold Glove Awards.
Overall he retired with a .281 batting average based on 2134 hits in 7588 at-bats with 586 stolen bases and 1067 runs scored in 1942 games.
This was right in the middle of a six-year run of leading the league in stolen bases, while also appearing in five all-star games and taking home a couple of Gold Glove Awards.
Overall he retired with a .281 batting average based on 2134 hits in 7588 at-bats with 586 stolen bases and 1067 runs scored in 1942 games.